USS Iowa Turret II Explosion: The Coverup That Almost Sank The Navy 

If you enjoyed this video, check out my latest on the USS Indianapolis ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kmnGnFUNfA8.html or check out my tour of the USS Alabama! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sPvix0Yy3F8.html

I remember talking to an old Navy sailor about this a few years ago, and his comment stuck with me. I asked him if the cover-up was just a once off thing and I assumed they usually operated in a much more professional manor, the gentleman looked at me and said "If you knew just how many snakes were walking around in officer uniforms, you'd swear the Navy was a zoo."

Hi Mountbatten. I'm a former USS Iowa sailor. I was aboard when it happened. On April 19, 2019, many of us gathered aboard Iowa to hold the 30th anniversary Turret Two memorial. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was the keynote speaker. Pacific Battleship Center Vice President David Canfield was the master of ceremonies. I say this because Dave was also a crewmember who was aboard when the explosion happened. Not only were we shipmates, we were also friends - I worked in a shop near his, and saw him nearly every day. During his speech, Dave said this: "Even though April 19th changed our lives forever, we have to remember that it was one profoundly horrendous day in a very long history of great days, and that our deceased brothers would want us to remember those great days." I took that to heart, and no longer feel the guilt of surviving when my brothers did not. I'm slowly learning to enjoy my life again, and now, 34 years later, there are even some days I don't think about what happened unless something reminds me of it. In regards to Sandia's investigation, 2 things: I strongly recommend you read "Explosion aboard Iowa" by Richard Schwobel. It's a dry read, but it's very good. Secondly, I remember footage of that bag explosion being aired on ABC news. While I'm not surprised it didn't make it into your video, I'm very sure that footage is still out there, somewhere. To those here who are disparaging Captain Moosally, I say this: He WAS held accountable. He was on a fast-track to become admiral after his tour aboard Iowa. Instead, he was told to retire or spend his remaining time in the Navy on a desk job, never rising above his rank of Captain. He chose to retire. I firmly believe that he was given the opportunity to remain in because he'd "toed the Navy line" during the investigations. Frankly, I'd follow him to hell and back to this very day, and 34 years ago I did just that. Do I condone his behavior or words during the investigation? Not one bit, but time has let me forgive him those things, including being referred to as part of a crew of "incompetents and misfits" before Congress (yes, Mountbatten, you got the quote wrong, both words were used). His direction of the damage control efforts, both across the 1MC and from orders shouted from an open window on the O-4 level bridge earned my eternal respect. I saw no other officer that day taking charge. I saw in the comments here where someone was surprised the entire ship wasn't destroyed that day. Friends, you don't know how close we came to that very thing happening. The ship's magazine sprinkler system had been de-powered when the main power breakers had been tripped to isolate the turret. Those sprinklers had to be started manually, from DC Central. DC1 Jerry Thayer who was on watch there at the time lit them off and saved the ship that day. The powder bags we removed from the magazines during the mini-yard after the explosion happened were scorched brown and some black from the flames that were in the magazine at the time the sprinklers were activated. One other thing you missed, Mountbatten - Med cruise '89. Which took place from June - December 1989. During Med cruise '89 Iowa was in port at Marseilles, France and was issued orders to proceed at best speed to patrol off the coast of Lebanon, due to the hanging of USMC Colonel Higgins. The moratorium on firing the 16" guns was lifted, and Iowa again fired her guns in practice and preparation for hostile action against Lebanon should the need arise. While Turret Two never fired after the explosion, Turrets One and Three did. And, finally, this: To this day the Navy has not officially apologized to the families of the 47 nor the crew for their mishandling of the investigation. I believe such an apology is warranted.

I will say I did not say Clay came onto me after the first two interrogation sessions. I was interogated for WEEKS, every day. The NIS did all kinds of weird psycological things like taking my belt and boot laces from me during those interrogations. I was hooked up to a lie detector for HOURS, your arm starts to hurt when getting your blood pressure taken not imagine having a blood pressure cuff on for HOURS. I was told by the NIS I better tell them what they want to know or they will charge me with accessory to murder, 47 counts! Someone had written a poem and placed it on the bulletin board and it was a rewording of Metallica's song Disposable Heroes, instead of saying Left to die with only friend, alone, I clench my gun it was changed to left to die with only friend, alone in a 16 inch gun. People who didn't know me could only tell the NIS two things about me. One Clay and I were always together and I was always listening to Metallica. For weeks the NIS thought I wrote that poem and it was part of a suicide pact between us. These interrogations went on for weeks and they wore me down and broke me. I signed a bogus confession because I couldn't take it anymore and I just wanted to be left alone and get out of there. When I came back three days later after finally getting some sleep and recomposing myself I told them the statement was BS which they NEVER believed. They leaked it to the press on purpose knowing I said it wasn't true. I have carried around the guilt of what I did for 34 years, never being able to forgive myself for betraying my best friend and the pain and damage I caused to his family.

My friend's father was a battleship gunner. His very first reaction to the tragedy was that they obviously over rammed the powder bags. The attempt to scapegoat a sailor for sabotage is a heavy stain upon the honour of the USN.

Two things come to mind. First thing: I had done my active duty (79-82) and was in the inactive reserves when this happened. My Dad, a WWII vet, was still alive at the time. I remember standing in the kitchen talking to him about the turret explosion the day it happened and asking him if he thought anyone from the turret survived (remember, the turret is comprised of several vertical levels). Dad, who had been an assistant gunnery office on a light cruiser at the beginning of WWII (he was on the Phoenix at Pearl Harbor), just looked at me with that expression of his that seemed to say "I feel sorry for an idiot as stupid as you" and said that he thought it unlikely (it appears he was wrong on that score. As I understand it, there were survivors from down in the powder room, etc.). That powder, he explained in one of his rare moments of patience and forbearance, is intended to burn with such intensity and quickness that it can propel a 2,000 projectile from a stand still to nearly the speed of sound in less than 100 feet. The powder, when ignited, is therefore intense enough to vaporize everything within the turret and anything else in any other space to which the flames could gain access. Dad's voice was uncharacteristically muted, almost soft, as he seemed to be remembering something, a bad memory perhaps, and I didn't want to ask why or what. Second thing: one thing I learned from my time on active duty and life on the Ranger (I was an aviation anti-submarine warfare technician) was that you never, NEVER spoke with NIS under ANY circumstances, even if you were a victim. They had a habit of inverting everything, turning everything upside down, to get a case off closed and off their desk quickly and to hell with "justice".

Add in that Clay and I talked about what a magazine detonation would do to the ship, both of us liked history and one night we were talking about the Bismarck VS the Hood and how her magazine detonated and only three people lived through it. We talked about how if turret one and two magazines detonated there would be a chain reaction and all the five inch magazines would explode and then turret threes magazines would detonate and the ship would basically be vaporized. Like an idiot I relayed this conversation to the NIS during one of their interrogation sessions. Another hige bit of guilt I still carry around is the NIS had me so disoriented and confused that it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't. For a few days they actually had me believing that Clay did it. I don't know how that happened but it did and I have been ashamed for 34 years that I could have ever thought that my friend was capable of doing such a thing.

This was one of the most shameful coverups in military history. In part it was so shameful because they just didn’t even try to make their story plausible. I was in the USNR when they released the final report and it both pissed me off and saddened me. It was pure cowardice-cowardice on top of failure of leadership. How dare they libel a sailor after he gave his life serving his country? Why would anyone want to serve a command structure that will defame him posthumously to save their own careers? I’m not saying this the only reason I didn’t re-up in 1992, but it was one of many factors that has led me to question whether military service was worthwhile.

It’s astonishing that Moosally wasn’t held responsible. So many Navy COs have been destroyed for far less. There were so many procedural, personnel and safety violations, they’re literally hard to count. They were the fault of leadership alone, not the crew. The root cause was incorrectly bagged powder, compounded and triggered by all the procedural, technical and safety violations (including the overram). A damn shame and should never have happened. The most shameful aspect is blaming poor Hartwig and slandering his good name. The sabotage theory was insane, evil, bunk from the get-go. The NIS should have fried for their negligence as well. The investigation was a negligent, criminal mess. Micelli was the guy responsible for the incorrectly, and dangerously rebagged powder and he was put in charge of the technical aspect of the inquiry. Good god what a screw up from A-Z. And it’s criminal what all this leadership negligence did to the crew and their families. And how ironic is it that Moosally blamed the. Navy for sending him a bunch of “misfits.” They weren’t the misfits. Leadership was.

I had been out of the Navy for almost 15 years when this incident happened. My first thought was "The Brass will find a lower Enlisted to blame it on." Yep, they tried. When the fire on the Bonhomme Richard happened, the first thing I thought was "The Brass will find a lower Enlisted to blame it on." Yep, they tried. The next time a FUBAR happens, the Brass will find a lower Enlisted to blame it on." This shit is endless, mark my words. The Brass needs to look at high ranking Officers to blame these things on. Oh wait, they can't do that that goes against the APA (Annapolis Protective Association) rules and regulations which states "Blame all of your screw ups on lower Enlisted, and if necessary, higher ranking Enlisted". These people are evil!

Correction we did not touch the inside of the turret we had to sand off the scorch marks off the teak deck and repaint the exterior of turret two as well as the right side of Turret one. All the burnt pieces of lose metal and machinery were originally stored behind turret two, they made us move it to the flight deck and then amid ships and eventually it was decided by command to throw all that stuff overboard before we got back to port. The inside of turret two was not repainted for months after the accident.

I was a young, new Supply Corps officer, when the accident occurred. I was attending Helicopter Control Officer school, at NAS Norfolk, when the memorial service for the dead was held. At the time, it sounded like a horrible accident. Logically, the age of the ship and the technology involved had to be a major factor. Even as a green ensign, I knew enough about naval engineering and the politics involved in trying to create a 600 ship Navy. I had just spent 6 months learning the ins and outs of the US Navy Supply System, to obtain repair parts and other maintenance items for such things. One of the first things you learn is the older technology is harder to maintain than new, especially when the parts haven't been manufactured in decades. It was hard enough to get parts for current systems. For older ships, one of the most common methods of obtaining scarce unique parts was to cannibalized inactive ships. In other words, climb onto a mothballed ship, go down into the space and dismantle the old equipment to obtain the part necessary to fix the active ship's system. I spent most of 3 years with a Destroyer Squadron command and we had older steam destroyers and had to do this more than a handful of times. we once had to go onboard the USS Yorktown museum ship, with flashlights, to remove a component for one of our destroyers. It became clear that the Navy was looking for a scapegoat, when everything centered on sabotage and talks of homosexual relationships. The military and especially the Navy was obsessed with rooting out homosexual service members, under the guise that they were "contrary to good order and discipline." I saw too many good people hounded out of the Navy because they were gay; not because they had sexually harassed or assaulted anyone; but, simply because they were attracted to the same gender and had relationships away from their commands, in their own private lives. I saw sailors subjected to interrogations, with polygraphs (despite their notorious inaccuracies) simply because they had a perceived "effeminate voice." The tragedy and the need for a scapegoat dovetailed into the witchhunt for gay sailors. 60 Minutes did a fantastic investigative piece into the events on the ship,, the investigation and the aftermath. Anyone who did not toe the Navy line of sabotage was exiled away from anyone who could hear their testimony, including a junior officer who was assigned to the turret, but on the bridge or another duty station, during the gunnery exercise. His father, a retired captain, raised holy hell until he was summoned back from exile. As I recall, he resigned from the Navy and participated in the 60 Minutes piece and the subsequent book on the incident. The investigation revealed the maintenance issues, lack of required parts, outdated systems, lack of qualified personnel, the questionable stability of the powder bags, the improper stowing of the powder bags during a shipyard cycle or refit, in the height of summer, on barges, without climate controls. It revealed the experiments, without Navy sanctioning and by unqualified individuals. It revealed the "investigation" and conflict of interest in investigation by the very people who certified the powder as safe. It revealed the eladership issues on board the ship and that Hartwig was an unpopular sailor because of loansharking activities, which further made him an easy scapegoat. It detailed practices of assigning unqualified sailors to the gun crew as non-judicial punishment (captain's mast). I revealed previous incidents on the ship, during gunnery exercises, including a notorious "John Wayne Shoot," where all the guns were fired simultaneously, resulting in gun covers being blown off the turrets. I saw other things like this in my four years. During the Gulf War, the commanding officer of the USS Nicholas violated the rules of engagement during an attack on an Iraqi platform, in the Persin Gulf, while firing at it with their 5 inch gun. The Iraqi's signaled their surrender and the CO was notified of that signal, but ordered the gun to keep firing, until all were dead. He then put himself up for and received a Silver Star. He had the ribbon painted on the ship, along with the ship's awards, despite regulations prohibiting displaying personal awards as part of command awards displays. The wardroom of the ship was uneasy with the captain's actions and reported the incident up the chain of command. That ship was part of the DESRON 6, while DESRON 4 was acting to maintain that squadron's administrative and maintenance functions, while the bulk of the command staff was deployed to Bahrain. We spoke to officers from the ship. The CO walked around wearing a US cavalry hat, like Robert Duvall, in Apocalypse Now, and carried a sidearm at all times. He would call a halt to the engines and take his pistol and fire at sea snakes in the waters of the Gulf. He had the ship play music from Apocalypse Now. They painted a picture of a bloodthirsty, mentally unstable person. The subsequent investigation pretty much confirmed that assessment; but, it was after the victory and the Navy wasn't going to tarnish things. The CO had enough time in to be quietly retired. The Navy publicly announced that the CO exercised poor judgement, but no punitive action was recommended. The CO retired and the incident was buried. These incidents, the obvious overkill during the Gulf War, Navy politics and the Tailhook Incident all factored into my decision to resign my commission, at the end of my 4 year commitment, along with a desire to reclaim some control over my own life and destiny. I served with many fine officers, chief petty officers and sailors, men and women, gay and straight and am proud to have served; but, the Navy had severe institutional problems that it refused to address. The other services were no different; just different manifestations. It was present at the Pentagon and elsewhere and is especially present in the relationship between the military, the defense industry and politicians in the Legislative and Executive branches of government. It affects everything from foreign to domestic policy.

I remember I had an encounter with Admiral Milligen, I was assigned as a guard to turret two to keep unauthorized people out of it. I was in the powder flats and I heard some activity on the deck above me. I immediatly threw out a challenge and said I was getting ready to stomp someones ass and Admiral Milligan comes down the center column. I about had a heart attack because I had no idea he was in the turret. I apologized profusley but he laughed it off and said I was doing a good job and to carry on.

Met an electrical subcontractor for the NAVY who worked on the Iowa doing repairs after the accident. He said it was quite gruesome because despite the best efforts to remove body parts, small pieces were always being found even in what was left of electrical systems.

I was part of an Honor Guard that did the funeral for one of the USS Iowa Sailors. It was an honor to put the sailor to rest. I was the one presenting the flag to the family.

In my 20 years of naval service, I learned that in any accident especially one that results in fatalities the culprit is always "human error". Even when it isn't. And a "blue shirt" will always be sacrificed to protect "khakis".

I remember this whole sad affair very well. My dad was active duty Navy, and my mom worked at COMNAVSURFLANT. I also knew the chaplain aboard Iowa, LCDR James Danner, as his prior duty station had been as a chaplain at NAB Little Creek, where I lived. He got on the wrong side of the brass because he had talked to family members of those that had died in turret 2 and said that the first report was filled with so many inaccuracies, and that they should talk to their respective congressmen about it. He was a good man though, standing up for what was right against the story of what the Navy was wanting people to believe.

I worked on Iowa from 2012 until covid, and am very familiar with the accident, as well as several first responders. In fairness, 'coverups' are not limited to the US gov't. They happen in any large org, because, like it or not, SOMEONE has to take the fall, and who better to pin it on than one of the dead guys? It's despicable, but it happens, and this time, they picked the wrong guy, because Hartwig's sister (whom I knew as an acquaintance) was a pit bull who simply latched on and did not let go.

I was in boot camp at the time, my company commander was Chief (SW)Porter had just come from USS Iowa and he said his station was in the turret and knew everyone. It really tore him up.

It's just amazing the Navy went to lengths to cover their own asses when it was their fault in the first place Iowa was in bad material condition. The Navy did the same exact thing after what happened to the USS Indianapolis, in terms of needing a scapegoat to cover their asses and mistakes. The higherups will never learn.

At 9:26 you can see me, I am in front of the smiling guy in civvies and behind the guy with the sea bag over his shoulder.

Dude, the music and the clips in this video are a masterpiece. 80’s music, Iowa class battleships at sea, a disaster, heated investigation, wrapped together just right.

The difference between the USS Missippi's turret explosions, coincidently both in center gun of turret two happened after they had been firing the guns and it was assumed that burning embers were in the gun and detonated the powder bags. Turret two was cold and had not been fired that day.

The Captains name is pronounced Moos-sally. Petty Officer Hanyecz is pronounced Hen-Yez. It wasn't minutes later, when Petty officer Henyecz screamed out Mort Mort Mort is was only a split second later that center gun exploded. Petty Officer Mortenson is pronounced Mort-in-son. Also Petty Officer Mullahy who was assigned to the magazines in turret two entered the powder flats shortly after the explosion, saw all the burning powder bags and that everyone was dead. He buttoned up the powder flats, the anular space and the magazines and ran down to Damage Control Central and without authorization flodded the powder flats and magazines, he was only a 3rd class petty officer at the time and he got promoted to Petty Officer second class by the Admiral in charge of the investigation a few days after the accident.

Excellent research and commentary! Fascinating story and thanks for David sharing with us in the comments!

Another great video. It's a shame that senior officers were more concerned with protecting their reputation than an accurate investigation

This is the best summary on this tragedy I have ever seen! I have been looking on many documentary on this subject, but you made this much clearer, thank you for your effort, and I hope many more will see this, keep up the good work!!!

This incident came to mind when they blamed and court martialed a sailor for the fire that destroyed the Bonhomme Richard. I wondered if they were using him as a scapegoat just like they did in this case. Short answer - yes. Fortunately they failed, but still turned his life upside down.

Retired GMCS (GMCSJack in WoWs ) here , when I left shore duty in 1981 , they were putting the NJ crew together and Captain Edward Messina ( then in 1981 , a Commander , a mustang as well ) was the pre comm wep o for NJ , I called him and he said he could get me there if I wanted , but he suggested otherwise , so I followed his advice .. He had been my weps boss on Harry Yarnell .. He passed away in 2017 IIRC ..

The whole electrical timer thing came from me as well. I was on Magazine security watch with Petty Officer Stillwagon a few weeks before the explosion and we were coming up through Turret Two and we were in the center gun room and there was a tool bag there. Inside the tool bag was a small digital kitchen timer and I remember Petty Officer Still Wagon picking it up and looking at it and he said something like what is that doing here. Fast forward to the investagation and the NIS is tellimg me Clay had books on how to build bombs and had I seen any explosives or a timer of any kind. Like an idiot I told them about seeing the little square digital kitchen timer with the keyboard on it and they were off to the races after that.

I was a 16 inch GMG2 on the battleship Missouri. There is no such thing as an ordinary live fire gunnery practice. As soon as the gunners consider it ordinary they get complacent and start making mistakes.

I remember this well. I was a Marine aboard the USS Nassau at the time. Our helicopters flew the dead from the Iowa to Roosevelt Roads.

One of my father's really close friends lost his brother in that accident. Hard to believe it still hasn't resolved

WOW. I was in the USA on a visit just the other week and the first visit we made was to USS Iowa. I was onboard her 2 weeks ago today. A fascinating ship museum. Great video Sea Lord.

I knew about the explosion, but was unaware of the lurid details and aftermath. Thank you for the work you put into this and sharing it. Great video.

Many thanks for giving this incident coverage - appreciate the included news footage/archives, helps paint a more contextual picture 👍

The reason that this chapter has not ended is because the Officers in charge don’t want it to be. They will never expose themselves as the cause of this accident. I’ve explained what happened as I saw it in other RU-vid videos. No one has come to ask me what happened. NIS probably asked those who knew nothing about it, because they did not want to know the truth. I was as close as it gets without being in the turret or magazine at the time. I was actually listening to all the conversations before, during, and after of this turret crew via of the sound powered phone circuits. I was in Plot (computer room) where all the Commands are fed through. There were no discussion of a smoldering bag, but a jammed gun. They said they were working on getting it in un-jammed. It was fairly quiet while we all were waiting for them to fix it. It was like out of nowhere that the explosion occurred. I mean no call to fire the gun. But then I realized the sound was different that it had a deep rumble sound as opposed to a typical cracking sound heard before. Next they were telling the medical crew to report to turret two for possible injuries. At that same time the fire crew was reported to the that turret. Shortly after I went up to that turret to help out. I am convinced that the junior Officers that knew anything were told to shut up. Last note: next day after the accident all gun personnel PQS booklets went into a review by the Commander of the Guns and his chosen First Class Gunners-mate bucking for Chief, to help out. All could look normal with that except the weapons office was locked and they didn’t want to be exposed to what they were up too. My conclusion is simple they didn’t have the necessary training and the Command was at fault for that. Also, there was the cover up and to give distracted false information about what happened. Maybe some others thought that the people could not handle the truth and went along with the false narrative.

I knew a retired chief petty officer who had served on the Iowa in turent 2, and he told me when they were recommissing the Iowa that the number 2 was going to blow up, he tried to explain to me why, but having no knowledge about battleships he might as well have been speaking romoulin. He also said that one of the dead sailors that nobody liked would be blamed. DAMED IF HE WASN'T RIGHT ON ALL COUNTS!!!!!

Eric Casey , a friend of mine, was killed in this tragedy. His name is on our memorial at North Surry High School in Mt.Airy, North Carolina. Eric was a good boy from a good family. His death is a major loss for our community.

Wow! We just visited the Battleship IOWA Museum at Long Beach during our trip to LA 3 weeks ago. This tragic explosion and dirty coverup was not mentioned anywhere by anyone on the ship at all. The story would actually add a lot of curiosity and personal touch to the museum, as it shows any magnificent looking project may also come with severe danger and human errors.

I joined in '89 and never heard more than news talk and rumors. Thank you for this.

Outstanding video that confirms what I had been told by a now retired GMC about facts found from his involvement in the investigation. One year later, April 1990, I was aboard USS WISCONSIN as a USNR for 2 weeks duty. The ship went to sea to conduct the first BB Type gunnery qualification since the IOWA accident. As the only reservist aboard, I was constantly observed and questioned by officers. Finally had to prove who I was with the Chief Engineer - I was an MM1 - everyone was afraid I was some kind of undercover reporter that faked orders to the ship for the gunfire exercise.

Wonderful, wonderful video. Had goosebumps throughout. Thank you for producing this on a not too often commented on and very serious event.

My father was aboard the ship at the time of this disaster. He was a very stoic man and never really talked about it. He was an engineer in charge of the propulsion systems. His crew was one of the first to respond for damage control after the explosion. He only mentioned it once and spoke about how he saw body parts of his late friends thrown all over. He unfortunately passed due to heart complications a couple years back, but I hope he was able to find peace. Miss you and love you dad ❤️.

My grandfather was held from retirement in 82 to stay and train the modern Navy how to use the 16inch guns he was in the New Jersey from 82 to 85. Retired from the Navy in june 85 after 32 years GMCM Reed.. he passed in 17 at the age of 91

I remember reading commentary on the accident itself but knew nothing of the cover up Thanks for this video

Thank you for this concise summary. Tragic event followed by a shoddy shame of an investigation. Stinks like low tide and stains us all. Subscribed tonight. DOUG out

Excellent video. Thank you for putting it together SLM. Brings back memories and I learned many new things. This is the detestable "Swamp" side of government and bureaucracy where they all circle the wagons to protect themselves and destroy many people's lives, livelihoods, and reputations in the progress. It's like the Indianapolis all over again.

Solid research and narration as usual Mount.

Sounds like the navy hasn’t learned much from this; weren’t they just trying to pin a ship fire on some random crewman semi-recently

Navy's officers used intentional on-scene sloppiness to hide their culpability. It's a common strategy among American bureaucrats and professional politicians.

Good lord, I was in the navy from 2000-2004 and I'm a big history buff, yet I still have never heard of this. I can't believe this incident isn't more well known.

According to my discussions with Gerald Liab, now deceased, who was a primary investigator in this incident, that Scandia Labs proved that the powder bags could be ignited by ramming. He stated that the Navy did not want to hear or know that and the Navy attempted to silence his position. It was Jerry's (Gerald's) belief that somehow some of the large powder grains had become dislodged or even turned sideways and that normal ramming procedures could have caused their ignition.

I remember when this happened very well. I was in AIT at Ft Eustis VA, and one of my two uncles that was active duty Navy at the time was stationed at Oceana NAS in Norfolk. Although I was in the Army and already knew from being from a huge military family, our Drill Sergeants and instructors used this as an illustration to tell us that we were in a dangerous profession in peacetime just as much as in combat. I was 17 and National Guard at the time, and a couple of years later went active duty Army where I was reclassified to Combat Medic, and saw more soldiers get injured and killed in training accidents than I did on deployments.

I just had this come up on my feed, I am really glad that you did a thorough investigation in the making of your video and presented the truth to us all. It was a terrible accident, it is happened with big guns several times before. May all of the deceased rest in peace.

i've been inside an (iowa class) ship's turret, i couldnt imagine the Fear of those men when that happened. tryin to find there way out. hittin soo much stuff, and couldnt escape

I had a coworker who was retired navy Back in 1989 where his son was on the Iowa in that where the turret blew up! I felt so bad him as the son was only 20 yo old when he died!

I remember that specific day. I was a GMG2 on USS New Jersey Turret #2 . We were conducting Gunnery operations off of California when we were shut down due to a Turret issue on the Iowa

Thank you Sea Lord. This is great work. You honor these men.

Not even 5 minutes in and I just have to say this. Keep doing these!!! Listening while i play wows!! 🤣🤣

Prior to my dad being assigned to the USS SAINT PAUL (CA-73) there had been a similar turret explosion where 30 men died due to a second projectile being rammed into an already loaded breach.

I had a friend who was on the Iowa when this happened. He claimed that they were experimenting with "short bagging". Loading fewer bags of powder (forget the number of bags). The rammers were set to extend farther into the breach because of the fewer bags. The crew switched back to the regular number of bags, but the rammers were not adjusted accordingly. Each powder bag was made up of two compartments. Front held smokeless powder, rear held black powder. When the rammer over compressed the bags the black powder cooked off. Breach being open all the flame and pressure went into the turret. I am no expert. Just passing on what I was told about thirty years ago.

Uh huh, come to find out they were issued WW2 powder charges that had been improperly stored outside for decades. I’ll let that sink in for those in the know. BLUF a system of explosives safety failures allowed dangerous unserviceable powder to make its way from outdoor storage to a magazine on a ship. The only excuse, though it’s not an excuse, is that the institutional knowledge and operational experience/expertise of handling/storing powder was lost for decades, and we all know that with high turnover, knowledge can be lost rapidly , especially for a weapons system that was only on BB’s, and even those scarce few BB’s were not in service constantly with many many years/decades of decommission.

great video sir! love to see more of them like this.

This wasnt the only time this happened - my neighbor told me he served aboard the Iowa(s) and it happened during a training excercise and killed 50 - 60 guys in the turret - but it was'nt news in those days. Edit : Im talking about ww2 days - serving in the military is no joke - people die in training all the time you just dont hear about it.

Wow, what a great video. Very well put together and professional. Keep it up!

WoW. The Navy started out to cover this up, as is SOP for them and they will Never make it Right. Those in power have always only cared about themselves, and that never changes. Those who can't fight back will always be the cannon fodder. Thank You for this excellent post.

It honestly sounds what recently happened with the Bonhomme Richard fire.

Please sir can we have some more like this? This was very informative. Thanks so much!! Keep it up loved it!!

Good to see some edicational, interresting History stuff,beside the game 👍 Thx mate

I took a tour of her in April, where she is moored out there at the Port of Los Angeles. A very neat tour. It's worth seeing, if you have knee problems it could be difficult though.

Cool video and cool new format SeaLord! Hope it does well so it can become a series. Enjoy your sunday (or dont, im not your boss)

When this happened I was just a few years out of the navy and I told my coworkers "mark my words, they will pin this on a dead enlisted man ", I hate that I was so right.

Nice! Reagan Era was a Pandora’s Box of Legitimate Conspiracies

I was in Bootcamp RTC Orlando, and we were just finishing up what they referred to as hell week when the Company commanders stopped everything and brought the TV out to show us what had just happened, wasn't a single dry eye in the room. Can remember it like yesterday.

Being sleep deprived is like being really really drunk you don’t know what your saying your will is easily compromised

So sorry you had to endure this BS. Thank you for your Service Sir 🇺🇸

Good to see you showing off your history teacher skills sea lord.

I sadly remember that event while I was on IOWA's sister ship, the USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62). We were out at sea at that time when we were getting to some shooting ourselves, but we're told not to do it as we were quickly informed on what just happened on the USS IOWA. We were all sad and heartbroken from it all. I was saddened at how the investigation was handled and how, along with the media, blew it all out if proportion. MAY ALL THOSE 47 MEN FROM TURRENT 2 REST IN PEACE.

A family member of mine was aboard the ship during this tragic event. It's affected him in the ways you'd probably imagine such a traumatic event would. Despite the mental health struggles, He's probably the most well put together member of my family. Him and his wife are retired living their best life. I've always considered him a great guy to hang with. I want to go to Los Angeles and tour the ship. It's on the other side of the country, but I have a compelling desire to walk the deck as a tribute to him. I would ask him to join me, but I worry it could be bad for his mental health. I also wonder if it could be beneficial to him. Any therapists or mental health professionals reading this please let me know your thoughts.

I can see a CYB moment for the officers. I had a shot gun go off when someone was unloading it in Panama for the Cuban refugees. I remember top handing me the shotgun to look at, but I could not, only preserve the evidence, which included not ejecting the shell. Then I had to get 11.5 bird shot out of my ear head and neck. someone was unloading the shotgun the day that the Battalion commander wanted Sgts and above to carry the shotguns, where prior the company CO wanted people that duck or small game hunters to carry the shotguns. the guy that was unloading it, never handled a shotgun before. Still, it was a freaking part that broke in the shot gun that caused the pin to fire when the guy was unloading the shotgun. I can remember the MPs that investigated it, asked why I did not eject the shell that fired. I had to inform him that due to me being the armorer, and maintainer of the weapon, I was trained at the school not to eject shells or investigate on my own when an accident happens and the only reason, I learned that was the civilian instructor had that happen to one of his rifles years ago as an armorer. Once the shell is ejected the firing cycle is reset and you cannot see what went wrong or at least prove it. The fun part was going to ranges with that guy later on and razing him on down range is that way, even when he was the gunner on a CEV (M60 tank for the engineers with a 165 mm main gun).

Never heard this story before. Thank you for sharing.

My older brother was stationed on the Iowa when this happened. I was a kid, but will never forget it.

Got to love a Commanding Officer who refuses to take responsibility for what happened on his ship. What was the hurry in cleaning turret 2 up? Did they have a zone inspection the next day or what? So much brass all trying to cover their asses and the best way they see to do that is to concoct a story blaming a dead guy. That's really disgusting.

didnt know that those powder bags were so sensitive

I used to work at Foot Locker back in 1985 with a guy named Ramon Bradshaw, who was still in high school. He enlisted in the Navy as soon as he graduated. He was killed in this blast. He was a good friend - sad to this day to think about it. He was so young - still a kid to me - hardly had a chance to enjoy life.

Was on the USS Saipan (LHA 2 "Landing Helicopter Assault" Ship) at the time. We were at sea off the coast of North Carolina. We were notified of Iowa's explosion and were ordered immediately to sail towards her in case she started to sink. We weren't needed as Iowa remained operational and was able to make it to Norfolk under it's own power. We pulled into port and berthed immediately across from the Iowa. Turret was a mess and we could smell the bodies.

I am not sure an overram was the only cause of the explosion. An overram explosion would have been almost instantaneous but we know from what GMG2 Lawrence was saying is they were having a technical issue inside the gun room. I don't think it will ever be known exactly what happened that day.

I’m a retired federal law enforcement agent. While working at my assigned field office quite a few years ago now, we got new agent who had recently resigned from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and transferred over to our agency. He and I were partnered up for a few years and obviously got to be close friends. During that time he shared with me that while he was an NCIS agent he had been assigned to the USS Iowa gun turret explosion investigation. He admitted one of the primary reasons he left NCIS was that particular investigation and the bad taste it left in his mouth. It’s been so long ago I can’t recall all the specifics he told me, which wasn’t a great deal anyway, about the blatant shenanigans the Navy pulled to keep themselves from looking bad but it was enough to permanently disgust him into quitting his position at NCIS. I do remember him telling me if the actual truth about how certain senior naval officers deliberately conducted themselves during the post-mishap investigation, and if it were ever to come to light, their would have been numerous senior career officers’ heads rolling and the history of that whole ugly affair would’ve played out very much differently.

My late father was one of the Navy's ranking experts on the 16 inch Naval Rifles. Ha had been main battery officer at Dahlgren 1951-1955 and may well have qualified some of the powder being used. When the news broke I called him and asked if he had heard the news. He was fully retired from both the Navy and Civil service by this time as he was 69 years old. His first question was "how bad" and I told him the initial count which I believe was 42, his instant reaction was "someone had some interlocks bypassed". He had been dispatched to Pearl when the New Jersey had a barrel split during shelling off Vietnam, flown out to meet her and oversaw one of "his" main battery barrels from Dahlgren replacing the split barrel. He wasn't the least bit surprised when the coverup occured, the ring knockers, of which he was one, were bound to close ranks to protect their own.

Except the over ram was obviously an attempt to get the already smoldering bags in the barrel to try and closethe breach. The powder bags werethe cause not the over ram. Remember that in 1988 we went into the yards for 3 months while our ammo was improperly stored on the barages.

I was working on the quarterdeck at NAS Oceana at this time. Our Casualty Assistance Call team went to the widow of one of the deceased crewmembers. They were going to assist with insurance. She had not been informed of her husbands death yet.

I was at HSL 30 at NAS NORVA and a PO2 was transferred to 1st LT from USS IOWA. He was promoted all the way to Ensign in record time.

I believe i read all about the coverup in the early 1990s, when i was in the Navy. My fellow sailors and i always knew that the NCIS was there to provide proof for whatever story our chain of command had already settled on. We never trusted or found occasion to talk with any of them.

Wow Navy brass setting up Bluejackets to cover up for their screw ups. Typical.

I was on the Wisconsin when this happened. We were at anchor together in the bay, we had NIS ON BOARD MY SHIP for awhile inspecting our powder bags

I was in the navy when that happened and have worked for the navy until recently and can tell you that they still disregard NAVSEA instructions on a daily basis in Norfolk. I have seen retired chiefs that are hired as zone managers at MARMC ( mid atlantic maintenance center) force mechanics to do work on ships disregarding NAVSEA repair instructions . It is just a matter of time before something like this happens again .

Tragic as this might be, it is still a testament to the design of the ships. Only that one turret and barbet were destroyed, and not the entire ship. That is a hell of a lot of explosives and the compartmentalized nature of the ships were put on show, for the world to see that the USA know how to design and build ships. I do believe the Navy covered up a lot of this and that pisses me off so I do hope that all those people that died and their families find peace in this life and the next.

Captain Miceli's name is pronounced Ma-Cell-E

When this had been going in the news I remember well I suspected there was scapegoating witchhunt going on. After all this time I admit I'd forgotten but now seeing this nice to see every single member of no 2 turret sailors finally honoured.