Part Of: Edison General File Series -- 1916

[E1622-F] (E-16-22) E-2 Explosion

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to an explosion in January 1916 aboard the Navy's E-2 submarine in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that resulted in the death of five men. Included is a draft letter in Edison's hand to the Brooklyn Eagle, along with clippings from the New York Times, New York Herald, and other newspapers. Among the newspaper accounts is the testimony before a Naval Court of Inquiry of Lt. (later Vice Adm.) Charles M. Cooke, Jr., commander of the E-2; Lt. (later Adm.) Chester W. Nimitz, an expert witness on Cooke's behalf; and Capt. (later Adm.) George E. Burd, industrial manager of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There is also a satirical poem from the Eagle critical of the Edison battery and the Navy's handling of the case. Related documents, including numerous letters attesting to the safety of Edison's batteries solicited from customers after the accident, can be found in E-16-08 (Battery, Storage -- General).

This folder also contains some items not directly related to the explosion, similar to the material in the "Battery, Storage -- Submarines" folders in previous years of the Edison General File. These include a letter written by Edison's chief engineer, Miller Reese Hutchison, one day before the accident regarding analyses of the gases in the E-2 conducted by the Bureau of Construction and Repair of the U.S. Navy Dept. Also included are instructions for the care and operation of the S-16 ("Navy Special") Heavy Duty Cells manufactured by the Edison Storage Battery Co. and a communication from Hutchison concerning competition from the Electric Storage Battery Co.

Approximately 90 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected material consists of unsolicited correspondence that received no reply from Edison.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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