Attorney for Sailor Assails Iowa Inquiry as a ‘Smear’

Denouncing the Navy’s investigation of an explosion that killed 47 sailors aboard the battleship Iowa as a “smear” campaign against Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Kendall L. Truitt, Miami attorney Ellis Rubin charged Tuesday that investigators are paying scant attention to more plausible explanations for the blast.

The Navy confirmed last week that it is investigating whether the personal relationship between Truitt and another member of the crew could have been a factor in the explosion. Truitt was listed as the beneficiary of a $100,000 life insurance policy purchased by the other crewman, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Clayton M. Hartwig, who died in the blast.

In defending Truitt, Rubin pointed to what he said was the presence of inexperienced crewmen in the gun turret that exploded and the possibility that gunpowder loaded into the turret’s big gun may have become unstable because of faulty storage.

“Many people assigned specific tasks (in the affected turret) were not qualified,” said Rubin, who is representing Truitt against possible criminal charges arising from the Navy investigation. “Many were last-minute substitutes,” Rubin added, creating a turret crew that had never worked together as a team.

Rubin also contested the Navy’s claim that the storage of gunpowder in overheated ships could not have contributed to the accident. Citing two engineers with expertise in explosives, Rubin said that after such improper storage, “the gunpowder was so volatile and unstable that anything could have happened. And it probably did.”

As Truitt and his wife of five months held hands and occasionally kissed behind him, Rubin demanded that the Navy publicly apologize to his client. He said that Truitt is exploring an unprecedented suit against the Navy for disclosing preliminary details of the inquiry, which suggested that the 21-year-old gunner’s mate was homosexual.