Died from injuries sustained in the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine at Havana, Cuba. He did not immediately die from his injuries, but died of meningitis brought on by the shock received in the explosion. He was the father of John Joseph Blanding who died in Akron Ohio in 1968.
Lieutenant Blandin’s Strange Evil Luck.
One of the unaccountable Incidents of the disaster is the fact that Lieutenant John I. Blandin was the officer of the deck when the Maine quivered under the forces of the mighty power that shattered her great steel frame to pieces. He was standing well aft in the superstructure, when the solid deck under him sprang upward, throwing him backward with considerable force.
It was not the first time that Lieutenant Blandin had felt his ship go down beneath him. When the great hurricane burst over Apia harbor, he—an ensign then— was deck officer on board the United States ship Trenton. All his watch he had walked the deck and seen the barometer go down, down till it seemed that the mercury in the glass would disappear through the deck. The British steamer Calliope was preparing to run for the open sea while there was yet time, but Admiral Kimberley, watching the anchored German ships, refused to leave the harbor till the gale swept down and held him in its grasp. So Blandin walked the deck watched the glass, while the American admiral waited.
The storm broke, the Calliope slowly pulled out to sea. While the Vandalia, Trenton and Nipsic, with the German ships they were watching, went on the reef.
Blandin, washed from the Trenton's shattered deck, floundered through the breakers and was heaved ashore, battered and bruised. He recovered from his injures, and thought of resigning, believing he had passed through enough horror for one man's life; but he remained in the service to catch the Maine.
Source: The San Francisco Call, February 17, 1898.
Provied by Kevin White.
Lieutenant Blandin’s Strange Evil Luck.
One of the unaccountable Incidents of the disaster is the fact that Lieutenant John I. Blandin was the officer of the deck when the Maine quivered under the forces of the mighty power that shattered her great steel frame to pieces. He was standing well aft in the superstructure, when the solid deck under him sprang upward, throwing him backward with considerable force.
It was not the first time that Lieutenant Blandin had felt his ship go down beneath him. When the great hurricane burst over Apia harbor, he—an ensign then— was deck officer on board the United States ship Trenton. All his watch he had walked the deck and seen the barometer go down, down till it seemed that the mercury in the glass would disappear through the deck. The British steamer Calliope was preparing to run for the open sea while there was yet time, but Admiral Kimberley, watching the anchored German ships, refused to leave the harbor till the gale swept down and held him in its grasp. So Blandin walked the deck watched the glass, while the American admiral waited.
The storm broke, the Calliope slowly pulled out to sea. While the Vandalia, Trenton and Nipsic, with the German ships they were watching, went on the reef.
Blandin, washed from the Trenton's shattered deck, floundered through the breakers and was heaved ashore, battered and bruised. He recovered from his injures, and thought of resigning, believing he had passed through enough horror for one man's life; but he remained in the service to catch the Maine.
Source: The San Francisco Call, February 17, 1898.
Provied by Kevin White.
Died from injuries sustained in the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine at Havana, Cuba. He did not immediately die from his injuries, but died of meningitis brought on by the shock received in the explosion. He was the father of John Joseph Blanding who died in Akron Ohio in 1968.
Lieutenant Blandin’s Strange Evil Luck.
One of the unaccountable Incidents of the disaster is the fact that Lieutenant John I. Blandin was the officer of the deck when the Maine quivered under the forces of the mighty power that shattered her great steel frame to pieces. He was standing well aft in the superstructure, when the solid deck under him sprang upward, throwing him backward with considerable force.
It was not the first time that Lieutenant Blandin had felt his ship go down beneath him. When the great hurricane burst over Apia harbor, he—an ensign then— was deck officer on board the United States ship Trenton. All his watch he had walked the deck and seen the barometer go down, down till it seemed that the mercury in the glass would disappear through the deck. The British steamer Calliope was preparing to run for the open sea while there was yet time, but Admiral Kimberley, watching the anchored German ships, refused to leave the harbor till the gale swept down and held him in its grasp. So Blandin walked the deck watched the glass, while the American admiral waited.
The storm broke, the Calliope slowly pulled out to sea. While the Vandalia, Trenton and Nipsic, with the German ships they were watching, went on the reef.
Blandin, washed from the Trenton's shattered deck, floundered through the breakers and was heaved ashore, battered and bruised. He recovered from his injures, and thought of resigning, believing he had passed through enough horror for one man's life; but he remained in the service to catch the Maine.
Source: The San Francisco Call, February 17, 1898.
Provied by Kevin White.
Lieutenant Blandin’s Strange Evil Luck.
One of the unaccountable Incidents of the disaster is the fact that Lieutenant John I. Blandin was the officer of the deck when the Maine quivered under the forces of the mighty power that shattered her great steel frame to pieces. He was standing well aft in the superstructure, when the solid deck under him sprang upward, throwing him backward with considerable force.
It was not the first time that Lieutenant Blandin had felt his ship go down beneath him. When the great hurricane burst over Apia harbor, he—an ensign then— was deck officer on board the United States ship Trenton. All his watch he had walked the deck and seen the barometer go down, down till it seemed that the mercury in the glass would disappear through the deck. The British steamer Calliope was preparing to run for the open sea while there was yet time, but Admiral Kimberley, watching the anchored German ships, refused to leave the harbor till the gale swept down and held him in its grasp. So Blandin walked the deck watched the glass, while the American admiral waited.
The storm broke, the Calliope slowly pulled out to sea. While the Vandalia, Trenton and Nipsic, with the German ships they were watching, went on the reef.
Blandin, washed from the Trenton's shattered deck, floundered through the breakers and was heaved ashore, battered and bruised. He recovered from his injures, and thought of resigning, believing he had passed through enough horror for one man's life; but he remained in the service to catch the Maine.
Source: The San Francisco Call, February 17, 1898.
Provied by Kevin White.
