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On April 19, 1989 while off the coast of Puerto Rico, the USS Iowa participated in fleet exercises with the Commander of the 2nd fleet aboard…In what seems like a botched experiment of inexperienced personnel, out dated powder kegs and gross grand standing by the ships officers, an explosion in turret No. 2 claimed 47 lives…
The Navy was quick to blame it on a homosexual love affair gone bad…An independent study claimed "the explosion had occurred because of an overram of the powder caused by either an accident due to human error or an equipment failure"…The Navy conducted a second investigation and after spending $25 million, stood by their initial claim…
The turret was sealed and never used again…
The Iowa was towed to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in 2001…
Upon my visit last November, I decided to make small talk with the docent at the top of the gangplank…Pointing at turret No. 2, I asked him if this was the gun that exploded…He looked at me quizzically and said, “There was never any explosions aboard the Iowa”…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_turret_explosion

After being tied up for over 10 years in the Suisun Bay reserve fleet against another mothballed vessel, BB-61 USS Iowa is in need of a little paint touch up on her port side…