One of the 47, was a young man from my very small hometown in Minnesota. He was one of those people that everyone loved.

@briangisler1981

3 жыл бұрын

Matthew Price 20 was my neighbor here in Burnside Pennsylvania. I remember that terrible day. I knew this young man growing up. I was young to. It makes it hard watching this.

@diverbob33

3 жыл бұрын

I used to live in Lanesboro, MN maybe 25 miles or so from Houston. I knew several Petersons from that town as I served with them on the local Fire Department. I'm guessing that he must be related some how? Anyway, RIP to all those young men who tragically lost their lives that day!

@mistysplays

3 жыл бұрын

Sad

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

@@diverbob33 cousins of his according to him, we met before the incident

@williamprince49

3 жыл бұрын

@@briangisler1981 was gaffe gags egg Etty guys Etty guys Etty yet tyy gags ages gets yes by 4t66yy

I read about THE COVERUP of this tragedy over this weekend and it is disgusting. The ship was not ready to go to sea when it did, the crew members were not well trained and were inexperienced.The Captain was conducting dangerous firing experiments. After the explosion there was a total coverup, no photos were made, damaged equipment thrown ovverboard and eveey officer involved in the coverup retired with full rank while an enlisted sailor was smeared by being called an angry jilted homosexual who caused this whole tragedy This was a disgrace.

@acester86

2 жыл бұрын

It really is gross. The Navy to this day denies any wrong doing.

@codyking4848

Жыл бұрын

Lol, obviously, you don't know any mentally ill people.

@troynov1965

Жыл бұрын

My cousin investigated this , he worked for the Navy ( so did my uncle /his father ) then and is now retired. To this day he will not or or is not able to talk about it. Ill ask him about it every few years at a family reunions and all he will say is ....I cant talk about it.

@SomeRandomHuman717

Жыл бұрын

What makes the coverup even more galling for fans of this channel is that the so-called investigation was headed up by the Admiral Milligan, who commanded New Jersey when he was a Captain in the 1983/84 time frame.

@crankychris2

Жыл бұрын

Wikipedia has an excellent extensive article that supports what you posted. This was a shameful event, and indeed a total disgrace.

Thanks SO much for posting. What most people today are unaware of, is that this event was so much more than just a one-time accident. It was a scandal on a national level, a debacle on the greatest kind. It was on the front page of every newspaper, talked about on Night Line, and never seemed to go away. The so-called investigations drug on for 2 years, with top Navy brass seen digging ever deeper into their position. We were never allowed to put it behind us and try and move on. Nobody was ever held accountable, and we never knew definitively what had happened. The class action law suit on behalf of the families even failed. To this day I still bump into old friends who say, "hey, weren't you on that ship where that gay guy tried to blow it up?" The event that happened that day was really just the beginning.

Thank you for displaying and honoring the names of the sailors lost in this tragic accident. I did take the time to look at the ages of all of them, and all but 3 were under 30 years old. I was 17 when I joined and remember the "old guys" were 30's and early 40's. Our military is staffed by some very responsible young folks!

FWIW, I went through Gunner's Mate class 'A' School a month or so behind Matt Price, one of the men killed in the explosion. I didn't really know Matt, but when the explosion happened, I went back and checked and saw that he was indeed living in the same barracks at the same time that I was going through school in the big green glass building with the rest of the Gunner's Mates. Most of the men killed were (of course) Gunner's Mates.

47 sailors died tragically, but actually "only" 47 died. The system worked that sealed of the powder magazines. Just imagine the powder mag would have gotten ignited, that would have ripped the whole ship apart. Everyone in the front would have no chance of survival, and in the back it would depend on if the hatches were closed, or open what would have caused the whole ship to flood in seconds and sink pretty fast

@christianjohnson9190

3 жыл бұрын

A couple of British battleships were sunk during the battle of Jutland, the causes were the same, too much gun powder and opened hatches, when an enemy shell hit near the powder bags, the fires blew down into the bottoms of the ships, going into the powder rooms, exploding, causing chain reactions that killed entire crews

@christianjohnson9190

3 жыл бұрын

Oh and also HMS Hood had her powder magazines exploded due to a very lucky hit and ineffective armor to protect the powder, the powder ignites, and flash fires all across the lower levels killing many crews in an instant

@christianjohnson9190

3 жыл бұрын

Finally, Russian Nuclear ballistic cruise missile Kursk, was sunk by a torpedo that exploded, tearing through multiple compartments, which was stopped one compartment which behind it was the nuclear reactors (Kursk had 2 nuclear reactors), then another explosion tore up a missive hole, letting hundreds of tons of seawater into the Kursk. Fun fact, the 2 explosions were actually recorded by earth quake monitors hundreds of miles away. The cause of the explosions was a bad torpedo that was defective and under maintenanced.

@patnolen8072

3 жыл бұрын

The hazard of magazine explosion justifies decommissioning the Iowa class ships. Ships armed with large guns using bagged charges have exploded, including Hood, Arizona, and Mutsu.

@notyou6950

3 жыл бұрын

@@patnolen8072 Realy? There were multiple occasions of turret explosions in ships of different navies. One American boat had two separate incidents in the same turret. With that kind of reasoning battleships should have been scrapped in the late1800's.

What isn't mentioned in your video or in the comments below is the questionable conditions in which the propellant was stored prior to being loaded onto the Iowa. While in port, and before even docking, the munitions and propellant were offloaded and stored on barges that were then anchored in the York river, just offshore from the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. This was done in order to keep all of the ship's magazines empty while in port at Norfolk. The barges were exposed to sun wind and rain, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week with no air conditioning at all. Temperatures inside those barges soared in the summer sun, baking anything and everthing inside. This was done strictly against Navy regulations, as "cooking" the propellant would cause an undesirable change in the properties of the propellant, making it very unstable. Long story short, there were serveral bags of (potentially) very unstable and out of date propellant onboard the Iowa that day and being used in the exercise. That coupled with the Captain conducting unapproved experiments with the propellant while attempting to see if they could push the limits of range for the guns, most likely caused the explosion. There's more of course, such as the problems with the rams for the guns "running wild" for instance, leaving the loaders helpless as the rams continued on past where they were supposed to stop, shoving the "bags" as well as the shell well up into the barrel. In short, while the Navy (and Sandinista Labs) couldn't point to any one specific failure that day, it was unlikely that that explosion was the result of an intentional act.

@jstephenallington8431

3 жыл бұрын

(p.s. as I remember, one of the issues that was found were multiple "limit switches" had been bypassed and/or disabled, including the safety switch for the powder door/hatch beside the rail and directly behind the breech. It was designed specifically to keep any explosions from blowing back down the powder elevator and into the compartments below. With the safety switch disabled, the explosion in the turret was allowed to blow back into the compartments below, killing the sailors there as well. As with almost any disaster, there were no simple answers as to how/when/where or why, it was a messy combination of all of these and more.)

@acester86

2 жыл бұрын

Sandinista labs findings more or less proved that it was overramming that caused the incident. They performed 100s of drop tests to replicate the force of the ram and almost all of them exploded. When the Navy did their own test trying to keep the cover up going, they used 70% of the force of the ram and 4/10 exploded. All of the 16" guns on all of the ships were ordered cease any firing and all of the powder was replaced.

@lynnkramer1211

Жыл бұрын

The Naval brass at the Pentagon could not point the finger at each other so they pointed their fingers at those who could not defend themselves. This has been done to sailors and soldiers since the Canaanites and the Hittites were just being thought up. "When the Battleship USS Iowa turret explosion On 19 April 1989, an explosion occurred within the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) during a fleet exercise in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret's crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself." It was a horrendous shock, and some foul mass media types tried to smear the dead sailors as having committed suicide and / or murdered fellow shipmates. I would like the world to know the truth about that incidence once and for all time. Please consider making a report about this.

@AWa-ik2ez

Жыл бұрын

I worked for COMNAVSURFLANT in Nawfuck around that time. I worked onboard Iowa quite a bit. I can definitely confirm that the powder was not stored properly at Yorktown. …stupid! It was VERY old powder anyway. The Navy was way too cheap to buy new powder. - - Also, when Iowa was recommissioned in the 1980’s, the Navy did not even bother getting all of the safety equipment in the upper turrets operating correctly. They “saved” hundreds of thousands of dollars by ignoring needed work. This vastly increased the danger for the crew down below. A magazine explosion could have sunk the ship, and caused hundreds of deaths. -

@johnkruer7557

Жыл бұрын

I actually had hands on experience in the reconstruction of the rammer assembly while working at Naval Ordnance Station Louisville (NOSL). The rammer operating lever rams the shell and powder bags with the same lever with detent stops for each position. The rammer chain was buckled from the explosion well beyond where it should have stopped for the powder charge. (Powder bags ramming to shell depth). I would say most likely operator error and lack of training.

A couple of weeks ago when I was involved in a discussion of misfires of the 16 inch guns you provided a link to this video, and I for one greatly appreciated it. However I have a serious complaint about this video which should be addressed if you are allowed to go back and edit. At the end of the video you have the memorial wall with the names and ratings of the dead. Superimposed over that list is the recommended video inset and an inset for your subscription button. They block the names of several of the names on at least 2 pages. They need to be moved or removed if they cannot be placed such that they do not block these names. There is good reason for a memorial to exist and it does not really exist if several of the names are rendered invisible. If I were family of those sailors who could not be remembered due to this oversight I would not be very happy with you. So if it is possible I would suggest you reedit this out of respect for those sailors and their loved ones.

With 4 out of 4 kids in the navy this is a nice reminder that the military is dangerous business. Thanks Ryan!

Thank you Ryan and Battleship New Jersey for remembering all who lost on the U S S Iowa. While I know that this channel can't say it, shame on the Navy and Iowa's officers for the way this incident was reported. To honor the lives given in service to our nation, we must always do better than the way the sailors were *blamed* for what happened on Iowa and instead strive for real truth and justice.

RIP and respect from England

This happened the very same day I left fort Jackson MEP center for camp Nimitz in San Diego.. I won't forget it.. made my basic even tougher because the Navy at the time started a huge safety crackdown. And played the hell out of Lee greenwoods song, proud to be an American..lol..engrained in my head even till today. A ship is a thing of aww and beauty and a testimony to man's cleverness and skills, but also man has created death in everything he has done.. if you ignore the safety aspects known , things happen. Mort, Mort,.... Those words ring out..why was Mort desperately needed or called upon..we can only guess.. regardless.. all have my respect.

The saddest part of that entire incident is when the Navy went into full damage control and immediately blamed that poor sailor of killing himself and all his shipmates because he was gay.

@Johnnycdrums

3 жыл бұрын

They claimed he was gay. I think that accusation was refuted.

@EstParum

3 жыл бұрын

Gaaaay

@termitreter6545

3 жыл бұрын

What a fucking embarassment, isnt it? Biggest fucking Navy on the planet and those pussies have to blame the gays to cover for their transparent mistakes. As amazing as those ships were, taking them back into service was a ruthless publicity stunt with no regard for the sailors life. They're probably lucky "only" a turret blew, and not a boiler.

@randymagnum143

3 жыл бұрын

@@termitreter6545 bullshit. Those engineering systems were safe, poorly trained gmg's and bt's were not.

@termitreter6545

3 жыл бұрын

@@randymagnum143 Nope, not bullshit at all. Sure, the explosion was likely caused by lack of training, although well never quite know. But when do you think did the ships engine system, specifically eveything connected to the boilers, got its last big overhaul? You know, the stuff which cant even be replaced without taking the ship apart, which was never supposed to serve such a long time? I dont know the exact answers either, only heard some impossible to confirm rumors, but that couldnt have been safe.

I was active duty Navy and remember this day well, even though I wasn't on that ship. RIP Shipmates.

Great video remembering the people who served our country. I visited Iowa earlier this year and took a tour inside turret no 1. Obviously no one is allowed in turret no 2. The red lockout tags from the day the tragedy happened are still there in fire control. That part of the ship is frozen in time.

I suggest that about 30 seconds be added after the names of the fallen so the ads and such, which currently cover up some of their names, be thereby moved off that portion of this video.

@edh2246

3 жыл бұрын

The advertising is random.

@999torino

3 жыл бұрын

@@edh2246 The point was that if the video had 30 secends of blank time added, then the names would not be covered up by any advertising at all.

We turn to you for the facts and expert analysis,. Ryan. TY

I asked the historian at the United States Naval Institute if the explosions of the number two turrets on the USS Iowa, and the USS Mississippi in 1924 off the coast of Los Angeles, were similar. He said that the causes were different, mainly in the powder used, even though the cost in lives were similar.

@663rainmaker

3 жыл бұрын

Navy ships 🚢 and awesome People who made it Possible

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

The historian for the US Navy lied to you, probably didn't know and rather than admitting that he made something up. D-846 bags were the cause of both (D-846 bags were meant to be used with 5" shells and trying to use them with 16" shells weighing 2700 pounds caused both explosions

I lived and served on this ship 4 years as a gunners mate 2nd class (G-4) Division 5 inch 38 gun mount 54 I had also worked in turret 2 while in the Deck Division. I was onboard that tragic day of the explosion. I lost 5 very close friends that day, John Rodney Young was my closest friend, I'll remember him forever.

Thank you for this

May God bless These young men

Great vid, thanks for listing the names I read every one

My friend Kenny lost his leg that day. He's grateful to have survived.

I remember when this happened. We were at pier 11 Norfolk when she returned. Later, I found out I went to boot camp with one of those killed. The accident was bad enough, but the cover up and scapegoating that followed was despicable. Those behind that should have been given a Dishonorable Discharge and Prison time. I lost confidence in navy after that. When my EOAS date came later in '89, I left the service for good. In later years, I learned this was not the first time the Navy has acted badly. To name two of many examples... Look what they did to Admiral Kimmel after Pearl Harbor, and what they did to the Captain of the Indianapolis. A few years later, we had the infamous "Tailhook" scandal and cover up. Again, few were punished for the behavior and actions of many. I knew my decision to leave was a good one. The sad part is, I enjoyed being at sea. The people were Toxic. Not all, but too many.

I remember. We will always Remember you my fellow Shipmates.

RIP Gary. I still remember your laugh and smile. Miss you.

THANK YOU.

I remember that very well. We used to tie up next to her quite often while I was serving on CVN 71.

I was flying that night, with the battle group, and they sent the battleship into port, but the navy exercise went on. The safety folks were on their edge, and so we had to do several passes before getting permission to release. Fuel was getting low.

I'm watching this on Remembrance Sunday here in Britain on 12/11/23 . When we wear a red poppy and remember those who died so we can be free. At 11 am , we stop what we are doing and stand and remember them for one minute. .

Another well done video BB New Jersey. Thank you. Wasn't there another video about turret explosions in general? There have been quite a few historically and not just on BB.

awful accident, rest in peace men. You left us to soon, god bless you.

Congrats on the promotion Ryan. Now we expect you to make videos showing off all of the ships.

I had a shipmate…a gunners mate, reup for the Iowa. His division co-opted with our berthing compartment and we cranked together. He was very happy to be getting off of my ship and stationed on a big gun ship. By the time of the explosion Inhad already switched to the Army and I immediately thought of him. Truly sad and the coverup is the worse, if there can be a worse part, of the entire evolution. 😢

Interesting. I now live in Manheim Twp., Lancaster, PA and I’m 10-15 mins away from Manheim, Pa and a sailor is from there. I’m originally from the Cleveland, OH area. RIP.

Matthew Price was my neighbor here in burnside Pa. I remember that terrible day very well. I knew this person growing up that’s why it makes it so very hard watching this. But I thank you very much for this video.

Sad that these young men lost their lives. They would have been in the twilight years of their lives. Drinking rum and reminiscing about their service. God bless.

Here I am one year later after the video was posted and still such a tragic event Rest In Peace to the 47 sailors of the Iowa you will not be forgotten

@v.dargain1678

Жыл бұрын

RIP .The 47th state seconds that .

Thank you for the reminder. Made me refresh my memories on the subject. There is a pretty good Article on this explosion at Wikipedia- also read the article on the Captain.. Some points to think of This occurred before Desert Shield and desert storm. Yet for such severe issue, we still had trust and utilized the Battleships during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. - This is not what "spelled the end of battleships" IMHO. It was more a very significant platform for a very low initial cost. Re-activation Cost was comparable to a Frigate (FFG-7) then. BUT operational costs were very high- especially crew size. With 30 years hindsight - Perhaps the Tomahawk Missile was a factor.

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

FFG is Frigate, FFG-7 is a particular Frigate

I am currently a Volunteer on the Iowa. It is an honor.

They gave the ultimate sacrifice!!, My God bless them all, and welcome home his sailors into his almighty kingdom.

Can you make a follow up video to this discussing what happened to cause the explosion & the following cover up?

@williestyle35

3 жыл бұрын

The analysis from Sandia national labs is somewhere on the webs. The early Navy reports are false and a terrible injustice to the sailors lost ( as you mentioned - "cover up" ).

@bobmcconnell4640

3 жыл бұрын

O

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

A person came aboard claiming he was sent by the Navy to test a hypothesis that 5 D-846s could be used with 2700 pound shells when the Mississippi explosion got D-846 bags marked with the words "Do not use with 2700 pound shells" in green lettering, which if memory serves me correctly the powder bags were color coded

@hansmueller3029

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelmckinnon1591 the ram for forcing the projectile and powder into the gun's breech overramed the powder by 22 inches. The projectile was 2 feet into the rifled barrel and the ram was 18" over where it should have stopped

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

@@hansmueller3029 that was caused by the explosion though D-846 bags are marked "do not use with 2700 pound shells" since the Mississippi Turret Explosion caused by using D-846 bags with 2700 pound shells

God bless

Hard to overlook the number of kids on that list. Just wide-eyed boys on an adventure. What a loss.

An excellent book on this incident is named "A Glimpse oh Hell."

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure that's about the Mississippi rather than the Iowa

@jamessholtz6016

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelmckinnon1591 I own and have read the book my friend. It is about the Iowa.

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

@@jamessholtz6016 then there's books about both turret explosions caused by the same mistake

@notyou1877

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelmckinnon1591 get the book if you can find it. It is one hell of a good read. From the navy politics to the moment by moment of the explosion to the navy's cover up and all the sorry ass dirty tricks they pulled to bring down a dead man and blame it on him. I got it and will keep it on my shelf for long time.

@ericbengtson2822

3 жыл бұрын

I just finished it, excellent read but it makes me sad and furious at the same time. ;(

I was 19 when this happened. I remember seeing it on the news. I was just stupified. We were sitting down watching the TV as a group, somewhere on university campus. Everything just stopped.

Did anyone ever truly figure out what happened? I was in high school and we watched this every day for what seemed like a couple weeks. Horrible.

@BattleshipNewJersey

3 жыл бұрын

There were many investigations, but anyone that would truly know died.

@Cragified

2 жыл бұрын

The most likely cause as determined by the GAO (Independent of the Navy and its desire to find a scapegoat) was that since the gun was at loading angle and the breech was open and the damage to the rammer and tray that the powder bags had been rammed in at too high a speed and the compression of doing so resulted in a premature ignition which then all the expanding gas shot into the turret and killed the turret crew through overpressure. This is why the shroud blows off around the gun and gases vent around it. GAO and Sandia National Laboratories though were unable to determine WHY they were rammed in too fast (aka Over-ram). The USN disagreed but did change its stance from saying Hartwig used a electronic detonator (for which they had no proof of) to that the cause of the ignition could not be found and re-closed the investigation.

God bless 🇬🇧💔

Thanks for sharing

I knew a guy who was on the Iowa during that explosion. Told me about having to clean up after it was over and finding teeth. Very horrible.

@bargauze9599

3 жыл бұрын

Why did he tell you teeth? Is that all that remains after an explosion?

@garyh4458

3 жыл бұрын

@@bargauze9599 I don't know. I would imagine that they had removed any other remains before they were sent in to clean it up. But, I have no way to ask him for clarification now.

@chrisjohnson4666

3 жыл бұрын

@@bargauze9599 10 years after 911 they found bone fragments and i think a tooth on a building roof clise to WTCs... high pressure events do crazy things to bodies...

@bargauze9599

3 жыл бұрын

@@chrisjohnson4666 damn. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.

@CRAZYHORSE19682003

3 жыл бұрын

@@bargauze9599 No the force of the explosion literally tore them apart. I was in turret one and wen we came out on deck I found teeth on our rotating ring, root and all. The amount of force required to blow them out either through the hatch under turret two deck level that had been blown off or out of the range finders is unimaginable. I knew the moment I saw that everyone inside turret two was dead.

I remember that day

Great job

I remember watching the news the day it happened....very sad

@bargauze9599

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I didn’t laugh

My uncle was on the uss iowa when that happen we didn't hear from him in weeks but he was ok

RIP Shipmates Sk2 Ernest ToddIII UssIowa bb61 survivor Gun turret #1

@CRAZYHORSE19682003

3 жыл бұрын

I was a gunners mate in turret one that day. I was on the powder flats moving powder.

0955 Never Forget my brothers!

Some of them barely made it to their 20s... some as young as 19... may all of them rest in peace.

@bargauze9599

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah that wasn’t funny I didn’t laugh at that fact

Sad shit man🥺

A good family friend of mine was the rammer on barrel 1 of turret 2. And I've been inside turret 2, it's very somber and just sad

Matt Price was my neighbor.

We on the USS Wisconsin watched and wept. It still hurts

We still don’t know to this day what exactly happened... there’s many speculations but somebody, someone does know.. so sad we will never know the truth. Matthew Price was my neighbor 😢 RIP my friend. Matt , You will never be forgotten.

@jamessholtz6016

3 жыл бұрын

You should get and read "A Glimpse of Hell." What actually happened is known.

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

A guy claiming he was sent by the Navy to test his hypothesis that 5 D-846 powder bags could be used with 2700 pound shells, despite the warning on the D-846 powder bags saying "do not use with 2700 pound shells ever" as a result of the Mississippi (BB-42) turret explosion although it should have gone without saying considering D-846 powder bags were supposed to be used by the 5 inch guns and not the 16 inch guns which fired 2700 pound shells about the size of a barrel of whiskey.

@hansmueller3029

3 жыл бұрын

Sandina labs has concluded the powder was over rammed

@hansmueller3029

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelmckinnon1591 that makes 0 sense. How do you even introduce a 5" gun powder bag into a 16" gun breech ?

@ginoc44

2 жыл бұрын

@@hansmueller3029 the father of a USN officer I worked with was an old battleship gunner. His immediate assumption was exactly this and it still seems like the most likely explanation.

A couple of years ago I flew with a Captain who was on the bridge of the Iowa at that terrible moment. I'm not a military-savvy guy, so I can't speak accurately about this - my apologies - but his job was to be some kind of executive assistant to one of the big wigs who were on board to observe the exercises.

I remember that day...

My high school friend was in turret 3 on that day.

If I understand correctly each gun loading compartment is sealed with a heavy flash proof door, how did the explosion manage to kill more than just the sailors in the center gun loading room? Did the explosion travel down the shell elevator and ignite more ordnance down there?

And the Navy did everything they could do to blame one sailor, even suggesting he caused the disaster on purpose by fabricating bogus evidence. Fortunately, Congress thought the Navy theory was a crock of self-protecting lies, and hired Sandia Labs to re-investigate. Sandia maintains the US nuclear warhead stockpile, so to say they are scientific explosive experts is putting it mildly. They analysed everything, like using tensor analysis on the way that things like the metal chairs in the turret were twisted, and determined that the cause was probably an 5.5 inch overram of the powder bags, causing an open breech trim layer/black powder/cordite explosion.

@williamfowler616

2 жыл бұрын

the gunnery officer was at fault, he was experimenting to get longer range from the guns

I was in the 8th grade when this happened it was all over the news

My first XO was the XO of the Iowa at that time.

@Plissken68

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry to hear that. he he. We found him to be quite the prick!

@Kw1161

3 жыл бұрын

@@Plissken68 Now your preaching to the choir!😆

My father was on this ship when it happened..

Such a tragedy, and it bears repeating it could have been much worse if the powder magazine had been breached by the explosion. Why were there so many seaman recruits and seaman apprentices in the turret???

@YouvBeenThumped

3 жыл бұрын

Normally those Turrets house around 70-100 men each. 47 is roughly half of them.

@julieenslow5915

3 жыл бұрын

@@YouvBeenThumped Remember the turret is several decks tall. Someone can correct for the actual number please.

I was on a team developing a new computer fire control system for the battleships, this ended the work on this project. The battleships were an awesome weapon system the navy retiered to soon!

@tonymanero5544

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry to disagree. The battleships soaked up lots of manpower, and expensive maintenance of 40+ year systems. The Tomahawks on board were more lethal than the guns with 23 mile range and really unguided. They were ships looking for a specific purpose. In this century, the early Ticonderoga’s were retired as the later ships have vertical launch systems that pack about 111 missiles. Harpoons and Tomahawks are more effective. The guns are for shore bombardment which would be rare.

@THOMAS81Z

2 жыл бұрын

i agree the iowas should have been developed way more since they are great platforms

@THOMAS81Z

2 жыл бұрын

iowas were way more effective then alumnim hulled platforms in REAL combat

I was on board the Iowa when it happened and it sounded like all three guns on turret 2 fired simultaneously rather than just gun 2 of turret 2 and I ran up on deck, the door was sealed shut because when a fire happens in one of the turrets, the doors are sealed airtight. My guess is somebody forgot to swab out the gun to make sure no smoldering ash remained before ramming home another load and used the 846 instead of the 1750, leading to the second turret explosion caused by using 846 with the 2700s in Navy history.

yes it was still put a commercial over the top of certain sailors names because that's the world we live in now where a commercial is more important than a remembrance FFS thank you for your service and your honor ! ! !

@edh2246

3 жыл бұрын

The commercials are random.

@roryvonbrutt7302

3 жыл бұрын

@@edh2246 Obviously you don’t get it quit trolling.... boomer‼️®™️

@julieenslow5915

3 жыл бұрын

@@roryvonbrutt7302 There is absolutely no reason for you to start name calling. he was not trolling. And I am a boomer and raised by the greatest generation - make something of it.

@JoshuaTootell

Жыл бұрын

The channel has no control over what commercials are shown, and when. Google does that based on YOUR viewing habits.

I remember the 47 men lost every day since. I remember the smoke. I remember Turret 2

What ever happened to Turret #2? Was it rebuilt, cleaned out or left a burnt out hulk? The ship is now in San Pedro and from the outside it's been rebuilt, but what happening on inside of that Turret?

@BattleshipNewJersey

3 жыл бұрын

It was quickly cleaned. As a museum they have sealed it and is only entered for inspections to make sure everything is still dry and what not

@JungleYT

3 жыл бұрын

@@BattleshipNewJersey OK Thanks... Would be interesting down the line to have some documentation of the inside?

@BattleshipNewJersey

3 жыл бұрын

Thats not our ship, thats Iowa. And they really limit who they let in there.

@greentland

3 жыл бұрын

@@BattleshipNewJersey I agree with that. Out of respect for the men, I think it shouldn't be made into a sideshow.

I have a question about the explosion. I’m wondering why any shells down on the mezzanine or shell deck did not cook off. Perhaps there weren’t any? It’s a miracle this tragedy wasn’t worse.

What was the actual reason for the explosion? Mechanical failure or something to do with the loading process?

Pretty crappy how the Navy tried to blame Sailor Hartwig when it was clearly a procedural problem. Improper loading of the weapon plus grossly undertrained Sailors. Shameful.

@matthewmeador9565

3 жыл бұрын

Couldn’t agree more with that. I don’t understand why there always has to be a person to blame in scenarios like this. It was 100% a mistake and not the fault of any man involved. The navy itself deserved the blame, and no sailor should have been blamed for something they had no control over.

@s.sestric9929

3 жыл бұрын

Just like they're trying to find a scapegoat for the USS Bonhomme Richard fire.

@CRAZYHORSE19682003

3 жыл бұрын

Improper loading is pure speculation. Turret Two's rammer had issues. Sometimes when you would engage it forward at 1/3 speed it would rocket forward at full speed. Over the sound powered phones we could hear GMG2 Lawrence who was the gun captain that day talking to plot. He told them they were having a problem and they were trying to correct it. He was not panicking at all and sounded a bit irritated. Petty officer Hanyecz who was in the booth looking onto the gunroom was heard over the phones to say oh my god I see a flash, he screamed out for Petty Officer Mortenson who was in our turret and probably the leading expert in 16 inch guns in the world, he screamed MORT..MORT and it exploded. Reconstructing the rammer after the explosion it was discovered that it was quite a bit forward than it should have been. Nobody knows if it was a technical issue or the rammerman over rammed the bags but something was going on and they were trying to fix it for at least 90 seconds to two minutes before it exploded. I also disagree about the grossly undertrained sailors bit, I received training EVERY day and even though the only thing I ever did during live shoots was handle powder I cold have stepped in as the cradle operator, rammerman, or even gun captain and I had been on there less than 6 months. The under trained sailors bit was the Navy making excuses for their mistakes like storing powder on unairconditioned barges in the middle of the summer exposing it to temperatures of 120 degrees. Right behind turret two was their office, I remember the night of the explosion officers were in there pulling all the training records out of the office. I am sure they were disappeared along with massive amounts of debris, tossed overboard almost immediately. The coverup started less than 18 hours after the explosion.

@michaelmckinnon1591

3 жыл бұрын

@@CRAZYHORSE19682003 no it wasn't the shells were only extracted from guns 1 and 3 on turret 2, the shell in gun 2 of turret 2 couldn't be extracted and remains there to this day.

@CRAZYHORSE19682003

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelmckinnon1591 Excuse me, I was there. We tried using something called a backing tool, which is a 110 pound brass weight that is dropped down the barrel from a pully assembly attached to the end of the barrel. Eventually we had 6 of them tied together and dropped them on the shell for days. When that didn't work they drilled out the base od the shell reliving pressure on the rotating band and we were able to back it out. That shell is not in the barrel.

This was an out of battery detonation, a gas excursion. Not an overload, or an experimental double based powder, or duplex charge, or other nonsense. The powder was rammed too fast, the bag was ignited, and they couldn't, or didn't, close the breech before it detonated the IMR stick powder.

I can't believe it has been thirty years. This accident spelled the end of battleships

@brianchapman3701

4 жыл бұрын

I think the end of the cold war and the cost to operate the Iowa Class ships were the chief cause of their retirement. I admit, my humble opinion.

@jayss10

3 жыл бұрын

Not so much. Their age and their cost to operate ultimately sealed their fate. This just accelerated the process.

@johnstudd4245

3 жыл бұрын

All the reasons mentioned in these posts, cost of operation, lack of trained personnel, age of ship -parts-ammunition, accidents-risk, not really needed.

@jimfrazier8104

3 жыл бұрын

It was a combination of glitchy hydraulics on the rammer, and the old powder that was remixed and bagged in polyurethane, which is slightly sticky. The projectile was normally rammed at a much higher speed than the powder bags, but whether due to human error or hydraulic manifolds badly in need of rebuilding, the powder was rammed at high speed as well. The friction between the brass pivoting feed tray and the polyurethane bags was enough to get the bags smoldering, which the gun crew reported as "glowing", but they were unable to get the breech closed before it cooked off, which would've saved everyone's life.

@jimfrazier8104

3 жыл бұрын

@@brianchapman3701 exactly. 600# steam plants were fuel hogs, and required a lot of manpower to operate. My brother was a BT on the New Jersey, or as he called it, "The Battleshaft".

In 89 i was 15 yet as November was a bit away yet what stood out for me was the deflection almost before the turret was finished smoldering was the it was a suicide because one of the guys was gay or something. I'm still shook by how rude and callous that came off as. Sad event and the list shows many were kids yet by my metric of the term. May whatever gods they held dear watch over em.

Btw I thought the 16"/50cal guns used 6 bags. Could this change depending on projectile type?

@BattleshipNewJersey

3 жыл бұрын

Standard is 6 bags, but there is some variation, especially at this point where there were tests going on

@rj4590

3 жыл бұрын

I know there used to be a reduced charge using bags approximately 12” in diameter.There was an incident on the New Jersey where the rear reduced charge bag cocked by the breach and the primer failed to initiate the propellant as it did not fire into the black powder base pad.The misfire caused the gun to be locked down for a while for possible hang fire.When breach was opened you could see hole in side of bag from primer.As a result the reduced charge was to no longer be used.

@CRAZYHORSE19682003

3 жыл бұрын

@@rj4590 That is EXACTLY what happened on the Iowa in turret one that day. If you notice our left gun is still elevated. We tried to fire it 6 times, nothing. Hours later after the fires in turret two had been extinguished we opened the breech and the bag had a nice clean hole burned into it to the left of the base pad. We pulled it and walked it to the side of the ship and tossed it overboard.

@rj4590

3 жыл бұрын

@@CRAZYHORSE19682003 Wow!Thanks for that info.

@matthewcreech8259

Жыл бұрын

@@CRAZYHORSE19682003 so what would this mean?

What was the cause?

very sad There was a tv movie made in 2001 Its called A Glimpse of Hell It is very good, and exposes the navy cover up

I was expecting at least some discussion as to what might have happened on the Iowa. The Curator of the New Jersey would be one of those people who would be in a prime position to talk about this.

@jtgoodling

3 жыл бұрын

He might lose his job if he deviated from what was officially stated by the navy. That being that a gay sailor committed suicide. It would be kind of awkward to go with the evidence that there was powder mis-handling on the navies part.

@sdallas68

3 жыл бұрын

Only the men that perished on board know what happened. Many highly knowledgeable experts have tried to determine or explain what happened but it is all conjecture. In a turret explosion very little evidence remains. It should be mentioned that turret explosions, while rare, do happen every so often.

Those people who had to go in and check the bodies must have been in shock, I suppose there was a lot of blood and gore. To lose so many of your brother sailors must have been catastrophic.. May they rest in peace.

BIIIIG JJJJJJ

Did anyone here know Clay Hartwig? I'd be curious to know what you thought of him.

Always heard stories navy blamed it on one guy and he’s bunk is still around

We will remember them

It's kinda odd that the previous Captain of the Iowa (Larry Seaquist) and the Captain of the Iowa at the time of the tragedy (Moosally) both served on the destroyer Bronstein DD-1037 in the 1970s, and the Admiral Bud Flanagan that counseled Capt Moosally not to turn on the Navy in congressional hearings was HIS commanding officer on the Bronstein. I served on the Bronstein under all three of them, and I can testify Executive Officer Moosally was a bit of a macho jerk. I'm well aware that the XO on ships is the person who "executes" the orders of the captain and is often seen as the "bad guy," but I observed Moosally being unnecessarily "jerky" a few times.

Does anyone know the damage done inside iowas turret? Seeing how there's no pictures of it, I've always wanted to know what the inside looks like

@BattleshipNewJersey

3 жыл бұрын

After the incident the space was thoroughly restored almost immediately.

@vixenraider1307

3 жыл бұрын

@@BattleshipNewJersey wait so iowas turret 2 can still operate? If so is that how they were able to elevate the guns on turret 2 when they made her museum right?

@greentland

3 жыл бұрын

@@vixenraider1307 I had read that the damaged equipment was thrown off while they were still underway as though it were simply battle damage. I heard the turret was welded shut after a time but I didn't realize it was put back into service.

@vixenraider1307

3 жыл бұрын

@@greentland sure that's the only thing wasn't pictured on iowa not even the damages, but sealing it off if they repaired it that would defeat the point of fixing right?

@CRAZYHORSE19682003

3 жыл бұрын

@@vixenraider1307 No it is not functional. All the damaged equipment, decking and walls that were damaged were removed. The turret was sand blasted and repainted and some of the replacement parts were installed some were stored in the turret. Power was restored to the turret shortly after the accident and you could rotate the turret and elevate the guns but that was about it.

So an ember was still hot in the breech? A squib load? Or what??

@BattleshipNewJersey

3 жыл бұрын

There is pretty limited information available on what exactly happened. We present some possibilities in the video but the exact cause can't be confirmed. Something sparked the powder before the breech was closed and caused the explosion.

@Johnnycdrums

3 жыл бұрын

@@pR1mal. ; If the gun was cold enough, the barrel would shrink. I forget the formula, but easy to look up.

The explosion was probably from nitroglycerine dust from handling the powder bags.

What happened???

Very few of the Sailors are in their 30's most are teens - early to mid 20s What I dont understand is that the explosion should have only killed those in the turret? I dont understand why the explosion killed the number that it did. Very lucky it didn't reach the magazine ??!!

@BattleshipNewJersey

2 жыл бұрын

Standard procedure is having 80 people in the turret. There were fewer people than usual in the turret at the time.

Don't forget the damage control crew who had to go in and retrieve the fallen, I hope someone was smart enough to get them professional help to them get over a horrific situation.

@Gunners_Mate_Guns

2 жыл бұрын

I have often thought of how terrible it must have been to be the first to enter the turret. That was the stuff of nightmares. When the Iowa returned, many guys on our ship went as volunteers to help with the cleanup. They said it was very grim, but nearly all the signs of death had already been cleared.

how?

Did anyone else notice that the video footage of the turret explosion isn't continuous? There is a gap of missing video that occurs right before the explosion. If you watch the center cannon that exploded, you can see that the whole picture moves to the left less than a second before the explosion. It didn't teleport so...