Criminal Inquiry Part of Iowa Probe

The Navy investigation into the cause of a gun turret blast aboard the battleship Iowa that left 47 dead also includes a criminal inquiry, partly based on insurance policies between two sailors, officials said Friday.

Navy officials refused to speculate on whether foul play was involved in the explosion in the Iowa’s No. 2 gun turret. Agents from the Naval Investigative Service and the FBI are taking part in the investigation, said Lt. Janet Mescus, a Navy spokeswoman in Washington.

Authorities are reportedly looking into accounts that two crew members, one of whom died in the April 19 incident, had taken out life insurance policies more than a year ago naming each other as beneficiaries.

The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk quoted the sister of a crew member killed in the explosion who said both policies were for $50,000, with a double-indemnity clause in case of accidental death. The woman, who asked that she and her brother not be identified, told the newspaper that the beneficiary was one of 11 men who survived the turret blast.