The Nation - News from Sept. 17, 1989

The battleship Iowa was being used as a floating laboratory for high-explosive experiments, and crewmen were using improper gun powder when the No. 2 turret exploded and killed 47 men, a news service reported. Media General, a communications company based in Richmond, Va., which publishes the Richmond Times-Dispatch and other papers, reported that transcripts from the Navy investigation into the April 19 battleship explosion showed also that the commander, Capt. Fred B. Moosally, had not authorized the firing with experimental loads when the explosion occurred. According to the transcripts, tests sought to improve the accuracy and range of the ship’s antiquated 16-inch guns, the Media General report said. Iowa gunners, the report said, tried a reduced powder load to improve accuracy of the guns.