Turret Two - USS Iowa (BB-61) (Los Angeles, California)

 memorial, explosion site, gun, cannon

On April 19th, 1989 whilst engaged in a shore bombardment exercise off the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico, the #2 gun of the #2 turret on the USS Iowa suffered a massive explosion which killed the entire 47-member crew of the turret. Quick and skillful action of the damage control parties onboard averted the certain destruction of the ship by flooding the forward powder magazines, which certainly avoided a larger secondary detonation and probably saved the ship. To this day, the explosion of Turret #2 remains one of the worst peacetime losses of life ever experienced by the US Navy.

Following the explosion, a US Navy launched a intensive, if not hurried, investigation and laid the blame on 2 shipmates, allegedly involved in a affair-gone-wrong, as the cause for the explosion. Later investigations cleared both men of any wrongdoing and while unable to name a precise clause, named the hard-striking of a gunpowder bag while loading the muzzle of gun #2 (known as overramming) as a likely cause of the explosion.

Gun turret #2 was able to be spun back into a forward position using its own training mechanism and shipyard workers conducted superficial repairs on the turret, however to this day the turret remains inoperable, but repairable. The Iowa was able to take part in scheduled multi-national NATO exercises the same year before she was decommissioned.

www.ussiowa.org/turret2/turret2_memorial.htm
www.navsource.org/archives/01/61g.htm