Portal:Battleships

The North Carolina class was a series of two fast battleships, North Carolina and Washington, built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The navy was originally uncertain whether the ships should be fast enough to counter the Japanese Kongō class, which was believed by the United States to be capable of 26 knots (30 mph; 48 km/h), or should sacrifice speed for additional firepower and armor. The Second London Naval Treaty's requirement that all capital ships have a standard displacement of under 35,000 long tons (35,560 metric tons (t)) meant that the desired objectives could not be fully realized within the treaty limits, and the navy considered over fifty designs before one was chosen. Towards the end of this lengthy design period, the General Board of the United States Navy declared that it was in favor of design "XVI-C", which called for a speed of 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h) and a main battery of nine 14-inch (356 mm)/50 caliber Mark B guns. The board believed that such ships could fulfill a multitude of roles, as they would have enough protection to be put into a battle line while also having enough speed to escort aircraft carriers or engage in commerce raiding. However, the acting Secretary of the Navy authorized a modified version of a different design, "XVI", which in its original form had been rejected by the General Board. This called for a 27-knot (31 mph; 50 km/h) ship with twelve 14-inch rifles in quadruple turrets and protection against guns of the same caliber. In a major departure from traditional American design practices, "XVI" accepted lower speed and protection in exchange for maximum firepower. After construction had begun, the United States, concerned over Japan's refusal to commit to the caliber limit of the Second London Naval Treaty, invoked the "escalator clause" of that pact and increased the caliber of the class' main armament; nine 16-inch (406 mm)/45 Mark 6 caliber guns replaced the twelve 14-inch guns of the original design.

Fred P. Moosally (pictured left) (born 4 October 1944) is a former Captain in the United States Navy most well known for commanding USS Iowa (BB-61) during the turret explosion incident on April 19, 1989, which killed 47 crewmen. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1966, he served on USS Kenneth D. Bailey off the coast of Vietnam, then a series of assignments on destroyers, frigates, and staff posting that afforded him numerous political connections. After commanding USS Kidd and serving in the Office of Legislative Affairs, his request to command one of the newly-reactivated Iowa-class battleships was granted, and he took command of Iowa on May 23, 1988.

Moosally's command was controversial. He was known to favor the missile and engineering systems over the gunnery of Iowa's 16-inch guns, and ran aground while avoiding a collision with Farragut, Moinester, and South Carolina. Despite maintenance issues with the guns and low morale in the turret crews, he authorized experimentation with the main batteries, erroneously belieiving them to be authorized by Naval Sea Systems Command. After breaking a distance record on January 20, 1989, Moosally ordered more fire drills on April 19, and turret two exploded on 09:53. An investigation found fault with his leadership, but stated that safety violations and training deficiencies were "unrelated" to the explosion. Though critical of his crew, Moosally refused to support the erroneous official finding that GM2 Clayton Hartwig had deliberately caused it, an act that effectively ended his career.

After retiring in May 1990, Moosally would begin working for Lockheed Martin seven years later, notably managing the contract for Littoral combat ships and vice-chairman of the Deepwater program consortium. He would also be criticised in the book A Glimpse of Hell and its film adaptation.

An aerial view of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in 2002. During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a bomb from a Japanese Nakajima B5N struck Arizona between the first and second gun turrets, causing a catastrophic explosion that sunk the ship, where she remains today, with 1,102 of her crew still entombed inside.

An aerial view of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in 2002. During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a bomb from a Japanese Nakajima B5N struck Arizona between the first and second gun turrets, causing a catastrophic explosion that sunk the ship, where she remains today, with 1,102 of her crew still entombed inside.

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