USS IOWA; 27 years ago today
Mick reminds us that it was 27 years ago today that the Number 2, 16-inch gun turret exploded on the World War II-era battleship, the USS IOWA killing 47 sailors off the coast of Puerto Rico. Two investigations into the cause were conducted. The first blamed a suicidal sailor, Clayton Hartwig, for intentionally causing the explosion because of a failed homosexual relationship. Upon further examination, the Navy determined that Hartwig wasn’t a homosexual. A subsequent investigation by Sandia National Laboratories determined that the crew had over-rammed powder bags into the breach of the gun, but the Navy disagreed with Sandia’s determination and merely closed the case as unsolved.
Survivors of the blast gathered in Norfolk;
Sailors who served that horrific day 27 years ago came together Tuesday to remember their fallen comrades in a ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station. They’re grayer and paunchier. Some struggle through nightmares and survivor’s guilt. Some struggle to attend the annual ceremony at all.
April 19 is the one date that some of those who served on the Iowa then are able to talk about what happened that day and in the subsequent months as Navy investigators turned the tragedy into a controversial and, ultimately untrue, story of sabotage. They feel they’re a family, one bonded by more than just grief, but also a need to bolster themselves and remember their friends….
Category: We Remember
I
Owe the
World an
Apology.
I got my first Naval Gunfire Spotter quals while controlling fires from the USS IOWA during Marine Amphibious Unit work-ups down at Vieques. You simply can’t imagine the firepower that these ships could deliver unless you’ve seen it for yourself.
Rest in peace, Navy Brethren.
Semper Fidelis.
Charles Thompson’s book “A Glimpse of Hell” does a pretty good job of explaining the whole clusterfuck that was the Navy’s investigation into this.
Rest in peace bothers.
You will never be forgotten…
no matter how hard the Navy may want to.
I’ve seen those guns, back in film from the archives. I would not want to be the target of them. What happened then was just tragic.
Rest in Peace.
A pretty accurate synopsis:
http://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/the-navys-investigation-of-the-uss-iowa-turret-explosion-was-seriously-bungled
To call that investigation a goatfuck would be kind.
Agreed, trashing one man’s reputation and then attempting to roll it back later speaks to the base level of professionalism exhibited by military authorities at the time of the investigation.
I wish there weren’t so many subsequent examples of leadership as politics over the past almost three decades, but it’s become clear that when it comes to protecting their own asses at higher rank levels it’s the same as it ever was.
What they did/tried to do to those Sailors is a freaking crime. I hope those lowlifes can sleep. Actually, I hope they can’t. I freaking hate this abuse of authority.
Rest in peace to those that were lost on the Iowa.
The investigations conducted by the Navy were so mishandled that someone should have gone to jail for a long period of time.
As for CAPT Moosally, the incompetent ass alienated his crew during the investigation – talk about the poster child for political animal in the military. I’m sure he made plenty of $$$ working on the LCS program.
Rest in peace, shipmates.
God Bless them all.
Those sailors were good men, and their commander and their Navy let them down.
Fair Winds and Following Seas brothers; may you never be forgotten, and may the assholes that disparaged your memories rot in hell….or the Red Sea without A/C.
BB’s were subject to several catastrophic potential mishaps involving black powder and black coal dust.
Both are very volatile and have destroyed more than one great vessel.
Remember the USS Maine … a second-class pre-dreadnought battleship.
Bless the men of the Maine and Iowa!
27 years….Oh….WTFO?!?