Her Own Torpedo Rams The Vesuvius.

New York Times 100 years ago today, May 20, 1913:
Mechanism Defective, It Circles Back and Knocks Hole in Old Dynamite Cruiser.
BEACHED TO AVERT SINKING
With 50 Men Aboard, Chief Gunner Smith Is Quick to Act — Damage Repaired, Ship Floated.
Special to The New York Times.
    NEWPORT, May 10.— The Torpedo Boat Vesuvius — the same Vesuvius which, as a dynamite cruiser, took a spectacular part in the war with Spain by hurling explosives in to the Spanish trenches at Santiago — literally kicked a hole in her own hull this afternoon. She was saved from going to the bottom, with the fifty or more men aboard, only by the prompt action of her commanding officer, Chief Gunner Thomas Smith, who ran her ashore on Prudence Hope Island, in Narragansett Bay.
    While at torpedo instruction something went wrong with the mechanism of a practice Whitehead torpedo loosed by the Vesuvius. The torpedo circled back and struck the Vesuvius in the stern, making a hole six inches in diameter. Through this rent the water rushed into the hold and the boat began to settle. Chief Gunner Smith did what he could to check the inrush of water and headed the Vesuvius for the beach. Assistance was summoned by wireless, and the hole in the Vesuvius was patched up sufficiently to enable her to proceed under her own steam to the Torpedo Station, where she arrived to-night.
    Aboard the Vesuvius at the time of the accident were a number of seamen gunners besides her regular crew. When, the practice torpedo turned like a boomerang and crashed into the Vesuvius, Chief Gunner Smith rushed hammocks, blankets, and other material to the stern in an effort to patch up the hole. But the Vesuvius settled rapidly astern, and a call for help was sent out by wireless.
    Smith then ordered full speed ahead toward the nearest land, which was Prudence Hope Island, three miles away. All the available pumps were put to work to keep the water down. The vessel struck at high tide, with her stern settled so deep that it was swept by the waves. The crew massed in the bow, out of reach of the water, while the wireless operator notified the torpedo station of the beaching.
    Commander George W. Williams, in charge of the Torpedo Station, responded on the torpedo boat Gwin, Lieut. Commander Thomas C. Hart, with other officers, seamen gunners, and pumps, on the torpedo boat Morris, and additional, seamen gunners on the torpedo boat Blakely. The torpedo cruiser Montgomery, firing torpedoes near by, also was quick to respond.
    In less than half an hour the first of the fleet from the Torpedo Station reached the Vesuvius. Some of the seamen gunners were taken off, while others remained aboard to help the crew patch up the hole. Naval tugs and other craft stood by. The damaged vessel was able to work herself off the beach.
    No damage of consequence resulted from running aground. The vessel avoided the rocks and brought up on a bed of sand.
    The Vesuvius, as a dynamite cruiser, was one of the first of the vessels of the "new navy." Off Santiago, when she threw the dynamite into the Spanish trenches ashore. It became a saying among the sailors that "when Vesuvius coughs there's always an eruption ashore."
    The Vesuvius is famous as "the ship with the dynamite guns." When she went into commission more than twenty years ago she was hailed as the most destructive craft ever launched. The dynamite guns, of which she carried two, were said to be the most powerful pieces of ordnance on any ship afloat, and it was said the Vesuvius could send to the bottom any ship afloat.
    Came the Spanish war, and the Vesuvius steamed to Santiago. Her dynamite guns were fired several times and they raised a racket such as was never heard in that part of the world before. But the damage done was not great, and the Vesuvius steamed back home. Naval men considered her a failure.
    For several years she lay about the navy yards. The Navy Department officials did not know what use to make of her. Finally it was suggested that she be turned over to the torpedo service and used in testing torpedoes. That was done, and the Vesuvius proved a success in her new rôle.