Iowa-Class 16"/50 Turret Crew

Hand-loaded 2,700-lb armor-piercing shells and silk powder bags into the chamber of a 16-inch/50 Mark 7 naval rifle, then fired them up to 24 nautical miles to support amphibious landings — Korea, Vietnam, Beirut (1983), Desert Storm.

The Story

On 19 April 1989, an explosion in *Iowa's* No. 2 turret killed 47 sailors. The Navy's initial investigation blamed a sailor — falsely. Congress rejected the finding; Sandia National Labs later showed the most likely cause was hydraulic over-ramming of the powder bags.