He owned two books detailing how to build a detonating device. He had talked about dying in an explosion. He was the gun captain in Turret 2 of the U.S.S. Iowa on April 19 when a huge explosion in a 16-in. gun killed 47 sailors. On such admittedly circumstantial evidence, the Navy concluded last week that Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, 24, who died in the blast, was "most likely" responsible for the tragedy.
A board of inquiry ruled out accidental causes, called the explosion a "wrongful, intentional act" and said it had found "foreign material" in the key gun barrel. The...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
