Navy Stops Use of Guns Like One on Iowa

The U.S. Navy has imposed a moratorium on firing all guns like the one involved in Wednesday’s disaster aboard the battleship Iowa that killed 47 sailors, a senior officer said today.

Vice Adm. Jerome Johnson, commander of the 2nd Fleet, did not spell out the period of the moratorium but said it covered all Navy ships carrying the 16-inch guns. He spoke after the Iowa arrived off Puerto Rico to transfer the bodies to shore.

In addition to the Iowa, the Navy has three other battleships of its size. Each carries nine of the 16-inch guns--the biggest in the Navy’s arsenal and capable of hurling a shell the weight of a Volkswagen more than 20 miles.

Will Remain in Service

President Bush said in Washington that he will not pull any of the four battleships out of service, and Navy officials in the capital said the length of the moratorium on firing the 16-inch guns would depend on an inquiry into the accident.

Johnson told reporters that the explosion in the Iowa’s No. 2 gun turret occurred as the battleship’s crewmen were loading shells into the giant cannon while on maneuvers off Puerto Rico.

“For some unexplained reason, there was a tremendous fire and explosion. It was instantaneous,” said Johnson, who was aboard the warship at the time of the accident, one of the Navy’s worst disasters since World War II.

He said 11 crewmen working in the magazine compartment at the bottom of the multilevel turret saw the flash and felt the explosion and were able to escape without injury.

But the 47 other crewmen confined to the upper levels of the turret were trapped and killed, he said.

“It appears that all the damage was contained within the gun turret,” Johnson said.