NATION IN BRIEF : TEXAS

The Navy has engaged in a “Watergate-type cover-up” of the cause of the Iowa explosion that killed 47 sailors because it does not want to admit its fleet of battleships is outdated and dangerous, Ellis Rubin, a lawyer who represents Kendall L. Truitt, said. Truitt, 21, an Iowa sailor, was the subject of earlier information leaks suggesting he was a homosexual and implying he arranged an explosion to collect on a $100,000 insurance policy on Clayton M. Hartwig, 24, who died in the April 19 explosion. The Navy in its report last month cleared Truitt of any wrongdoing. In Washington, the Navy rejected Rubin’s cover-up claim. Rubin, speaking in Houston, said: “I believe the Navy knows the cause of the explosion.” But he did not explain what he believed the true cause of the explosion was.