416 
ACCIDENT ON BOARD RUSSIAN BATTLE-SHIP. 
Whichever of these two things happened, the absolute necessity of 
an automatic safety arrangement is once more made evident, and the 
Eussian naval authorities are entirely to blame for allowing guns to be 
mounted in their ships without some such device to prevent the possi¬ 
bility of the premature firing of the gun. 
The Sisoi Veliki is the only ship actually in commission at the pre¬ 
sent time carrying 12-inch L/40 Obukhof guns. Of the four first-class 
battleships, which are each to carry four guns of this type, the Three 
Saints is still undergoing trials, and the Sevastopol , Petropavlosk , and 
Poltava are still under construction. 
After the accident the Sisoi Veliki proceeded to Toulon for repairs; 
and a special commission, composed of M. Keittrifcz, of the Eussian 
Department of Naval Law, Colonel Brink, Assistant Director of 
Artillery at the Eussian Admiralty, and Lieut.-Colonel Ivanof, has 
assembled there to make a full enquiry into the accident. 
Let us sincerely hope, in the cause of humanity and for the safety of 
the Eussian naval gunners in particular, that as a result of the report 
of this court of enquiry all guns of this type in the Eussian service will 
be fitted without delay with an automatic safety firing arrangement 
which will make the recurrence of such a disastrous accident an im¬ 
possibility. 
