Cheers Erupt as 1st Iowa Voyage Since Blast Ends

The battleship Iowa sailed into its home port Thursday, greeted by cheers from friends and relatives of the sailors after the battleship’s first major deployment since an April explosion killed 47 crew members.

“The big stick is back,” said Capt. Fred P. Moosally, the Iowa’s commanding officer, referring to the World War II-era dreadnought.

The ship and its crew of 1,500, completing an accident-free six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, slid into its berth at the Norfolk Naval Station.

As the crowd of more than 1,000 waved and flashed signs, sailors happy to be home for the holidays yelled from the deck. The greeting was in sharp contrast to the Iowa’s last return to port, when sailors stood solemnly along the rails wearing black arm bands to commemorate their fallen comrades.

The Iowa returned just before the start of congressional hearings on the disaster are to begin. Moosally is scheduled to testify Monday before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee that is probing the accident.

“My objective at that hearing is to convince the Congress, the American people, and most important, the families of our deceased and fallen shipmates, that the Iowa described in the press never existed,” Moosally told reporters.

Moosally said the Iowa has unfairly been “painted as an ill-trained, uncapable ship” by the media. But, he said, “My crew is not perfect, we make mistakes.”