A Glimpse of Hell; The Explosion on the USS Iowa and Its Cover-Up

Probes the explosion of the center gun on the USS Iowa, a disaster that instantly killed several sailors on board, and the fouled investigation that followed, resulting in a large-scale cover-up

The U.S. Navy received a barrage of bad publicity after the infamous 1989 explosion that killed 47 sailors and the even more disgraceful coverup that followed. If even half of what Thompson alleges is true, the coverup was the end of a long line of blunders and lies involving the Iowa, which Thompson calls "a 59,000-ton accident looking for a place to happen." Though Thompson makes it clear that lax safety and poor training most likely caused the explosion, the navy chose to pin the blame on second-class gunner's mate Clayton Hartwig. For starters, he was rumored to be gayAthough the navy never proved that. Also, his family tried to go after the $50,000 life insurance policy that he'd left to a shipmate. But mostly, it seems, it was easier for the navy to blame an enlisted man than to admit that the accident could have been avoided altogether were it not for a deadly combination of arrogance, ignorance and carelessness both aboard the ship and among navy higher-ups in Washington and Norfolk, Va. A former naval officer who produced several stories about the explosion and coverup for 60 Minutes, Thompson has no ax to grind against the navy as an institution. In fact, he clearly loves the navy at its best. He writes with careful attention to detail (and a familiarity with sometimes dizzying military acronyms) and a slow, burning rage at how investigators willfully distorted the truth, misled the public and set out to destroy the reputation of a sailorAseemingly all so that the navy could cover its own brass.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A thoroughly researched, exhaustively detailed look at the gun-turret explosion aboard the recommissioned battleship USS Iowa by a former naval officer, reporter, and producer of 60 Minutes (for which he produced two segments on this incident). Thompson skillfully reconstructs the conditions and events leading up to the explosion in gun-turret number two, which killed 47 men; he also vividly portrays the various people who played key roles in the explosion and the subsequent investigation. While the technical particulars of the incident and the ships history would take an advanced science degree to master, Thompson manages to convey the salient facts in a clear and accessible light. But its in his account of the navys reaction to the explosion that he particularly excelshe shows an entire bureaucracy in action and depicts such personages as the captain of the Iowa, Fred Moosally, making greater attempts to limit damage to his career than to discover the cause of the accident and prevent possible future loss of life. Thompson takes the navy to task for trying to depict one dead sailor, Clayton Hartwig, as a homosexual, and then pinning a charge of sabotage against him for intentionally causing the explosion to settle a lovers quarrel. Hartwigs parents are central figures in the book, showing the callousness of the navy in its efforts to shift the blame to their son. While Thompson doesnt provide final conclusions for what caused the accidentthe navy couldnt determine a causehe conjectures that improper handling of WWII-era powder was a likely factor. A compelling look at an explosion at sea and the navys botched handling of its investigation by a top-flight journalist. (photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.