Monday, October 8, 2012

U.S.S. Iowa, San Pedro, Ca

This Sunday I made a trip to see the U.S.S. Iowa. Apparently there was a Turret Explosion On April 19th, 1989, that occurred in turret 2 of the battleship USS Iowa (BB 61) as the ship conducted gunnery practice near Puerto Rico. The explosion, which began in the gunpowder charge of the center gun, spread through the three gun rooms and much of the lower levels of the turret. Forty-seven Sailors died. The problem of storing and handling large quantities of high explosives in a shipboard environment, whether in peacetime or in combat, posed a major challenge for ship and ordnance designers from the earliest enclosed mounts of the late 19th century. The possibility that a fire or explosion anywhere in the turret could spread to the magazines below and sink the ship resulted in continuing refinements to armor (to keep out enemy shellfire), complicated interlocks on powder and shell handling equipment (to prevent fire from having an uninterrupted path to the magazine), and crew procedures (to ensure that the mechanical systems would have a chance to work).

Upon entering the ship, a naval ship volunteer searched my camera bag. Inside he pulled out my K2 meter, used for detecting EMF (Electro-Magnetic Field Meter). He said "very cool! we are known to be haunted by the sailors who lost their lives aboard this ship." I asked him, what have you guys seen or felt? He stated "A guest who was visiting the Iowa almost fell from one of the top decks of the ship, when I invisible hand grabbed him and pulled him back to safety!" I was awestruck by the story, and made me wonder about what still lingers aboard this beautiful vessel.

If you are interested in learning more about the U.S.S. Iowa, please visit their website here:
http://www.pacificbattleship.com/page/history

R.I.P. to all the brave and honorable soldiers that lost their lives aboard this amazing ship...

































































5 comments:

  1. I took a photo of some spirits on the USS Iowa on 9-5-14. The photo was taken in a room off the secondary bridge that was dimly lit. It has an image of a pair of legs and a doll like figure on the deck by a table. The photo was taken with an iPhone 4S with auto flash

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    1. So, where is the pic, fool?
      You mention it, but don't post it?
      Ok ...
      I have a pic of my 12 inch dick.

      Delete
    2. Oh man, lmao, yup you are a sailor!!

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  2. On a serious note, I was in the Navy during the early 90s. I was stationed on the USS Constellation, which was dry-docked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Parked right next to us was the USS Iowa. One weekend, I had duty up on the flight deck and during that time up there I had a bird's eye view of the battleship and there is no one on that ship EVER and it was cordoned off. Now, my duty that day was to stay on that particular side of the flight deck and stand firewatch for a yardbird who was working overtime, so my eyes didn't wander too far from that ship for too long a-time at all. Anyways, there was a hatch on that ship that was closed like all the hatches were and it was a main hatch. Well, one moment it's closed and then all of a sudden it's wide open against the bulkhead.
    I didn't actually see it physically open, but I know for a fact that it was closed because I was staring at it on and off for hours. FYI, I was sober that day and I don't drink or use drugs. Unfortunately, the yardbird didn't witness the before and after.
    I am a long life agnostic about everything, but I know what I saw. And I know that there was no one on that ship that day, especially during the weekend, I know that for a fact.

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  3. A friend just recently visited. Her young daughter all of a sudden said she couldn't see, went pale, fully dilated pupils, and blacked out There was an EMT who said dehydration. It makes me wonder though.

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