‘Relationship’ of 2 Sailors Scrutinized : Warship Blast May Have Been Deliberate

The Pentagon said today the Navy’s probe of the April 19 explosion aboard the battleship Iowa has “a criminal investigative aspect to it” and officials said the relationship between two shipmates--and a possible murder or suicide--is a focus of the investigation.

“The investigation is still ongoing. We’re looking into all the possible causes and circumstances regarding the explosion,” Navy spokesman Lt. Kevin Wensing said.

Both NBC News and the Washington Post, quoting unidentified Navy sources, said the Navy Investigative Service is considering the possibility that the explosion in the ship’s No. 2 turret during gunnery practice may have been caused deliberately.

The Navy’s investigation focuses on two men--Gunner’s Mate Clayton Hartwig, 24, who died in the blast, and Gunner’s Mate Kendall Truitt, 21, who survived.

Navy sources told NBC that there was “a special relationship between the two” that had gone sour six months before the blast.

Truitt worked deep inside the battleship, in the powder magazine room, and his job was to send heavy bags of gunpowder to the turret. Hartwig worked next to the ship’s big guns.

The explosion occurred deep inside the gun barrel between the first and second powder bags, and Hartwig was the last man to touch those bags. He bore the brunt of the blast, NBC said.

Relatives of Hartwig told the network that he was depressed when his relationship with Truitt broke down. Family members also said Hartwig had threatened suicide at age 17 when another relationship had ended, NBC reported.