Cheney Says He’s Not Satisfied Navy Found Cause of Iowa Blast

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said Tuesday that he is not satisfied the Navy has found the cause of the Iowa battleship explosion that left 47 sailors dead.

In a report issued last week, the Navy said that the blast “most probably” was caused by Petty Officer Clayton L. Hartwig, whom the service described as suicidal. But Navy officials acknowledged that the case against Hartwig is circumstantial and that it would not necessarily have supported a conviction in a civilian court.

“Under difficult circumstances, the investigating officer did a good and thorough job in trying to account for the factors that caused the tragic explosion,” Cheney said in a statement. “As to how the explosion happened, the question is obviously not resolved.”

Four-Month Inquiry

Based on laboratory tests, interviews with Hartwig’s shipmates and an FBI psychological profile, the Navy’s four-month, $4-million investigation concluded that Hartwig probably had placed a detonator between bags of gunpowder in the turret of a 16-inch gun aboard the World War II-era battleship.

Cheney did not directly agree or disagree with that finding. “The investigating officer offered his best conclusions as required under the Navy’s investigative procedures,” he said.

Cheney issued the statement after Hartwig’s family accused the Navy of making a “scapegoat” of the sailor because it was unable to determine the real cause of the blast.

Cheney’s spokesman, Pete Williams, said that the secretary’s statement should not be interpreted as disputing the Navy’s finding that Hartwig probably caused the explosion.

“I don’t think he’s offering a conclusion about the opinion one way or the other,” Pentagon spokesman Williams said when asked if Cheney was challenging the Hartwig theory.

Guns Declared Safe

The defense secretary said that he agreed with the Navy’s chief investigating officer, Rear Adm. Richard D. Milligan, that the 16-inch guns aboard the Iowa and America’s three other battleships are safe.

Williams, pressed on whether Cheney felt the exact cause might never be found, said: “Well, I think that’s one way of interpreting the statement.”

Adm. P. F. Carter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, said in a letter accompanying the Navy report that he was persuaded Hartwig had caused the explosion, even though the conclusion was “repugnant almost to the point of disbelief.”