The Iowa-class battleship that served four wars — on April 19, 1989, an explosion inside Turret No. 2 killed 47 sailors in one of the peacetime Navy's deadliest accidents; the cause was never definitively established.
250 S Harbor Blvd, San Pedro, CA 90731
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
General admission to the battleship; various tour add-ons available. Check the official Pacific Battleship Center site for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Iowa-class battleship with steep ladders, knee-knocker hatches, and narrow passageways. Some decks have limited accessibility. Turret No. 2 area has restricted access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1943 · Transported President Roosevelt to Tehran Conference (1943) · Turret No. 2 Explosion Killed 47 Sailors (April 19, 1989) · 1989 Navy Investigation Controversy — Cause Listed Undetermined · Pacific Battleship Center, Port of Los Angeles (2012)
USS Iowa (BB-61) was commissioned on February 22, 1943, as the lead ship of the most capable class of fast battleships the United States ever built. She displaced 45,000 tons fully loaded and carried nine 16-inch guns capable of firing 2,700-pound shells more than 20 miles. During World War II she transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference in 1943 and provided naval gunfire support in the Pacific theater.
Iowa served in the Korean War, was reactivated multiple times during the Cold War, and underwent a major modernization in the 1980s under President Reagan's 600-ship Navy program. By April 1989 she was operating as one of the Navy's four active battleships.
On April 19, 1989, while conducting fleet exercises in the Caribbean, an explosion tore through the center gun room of Turret No. 2 as the guns were being loaded. 47 sailors died in the explosion and its immediate aftermath — one of the worst peacetime accidents in U.S. naval history. The Navy's initial investigation attributed the explosion to deliberate sabotage by Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, a conclusion that was subsequently challenged by the Iowa's crew, Hartwig's family, and an independent review by Sandia National Laboratories. The cause of the explosion was ultimately listed as undetermined.
Iowa was decommissioned in 1990. After years in reserve, she was donated to the Pacific Battleship Center, a nonprofit organization, and permanently berthed at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro in 2012. The museum opened to visitors that year. The ship's own website references the concept of 'ghost fleet' stories in its public materials.
Sources
Paranormal accounts from USS Iowa concentrate in the spaces associated with the April 19, 1989 turret explosion, though reports have come from crew areas across the ship. Museum volunteers and visitors have described seeing shadowy figures in the silhouette of sailors that appear to follow tour groups through below-decks passageways before disappearing when confronted or when lights are turned on.
Disembodied voices have been reported in berthing compartments and the engine spaces. A recurring account describes the sound of a party or gathering — voices, movement — audible from within sealed or empty spaces, with no evident source when the areas are checked. Some accounts describe the voices as jovial, which has shaped the interpretation: the presence is read less as distressed and more as the residual life of men who died together suddenly.
All of the reported phenomena are attributed to the 47 sailors killed in the Turret No. 2 explosion. The explosion's unresolved cause — the Navy's initial sabotage finding was contested and eventually withdrawn, leaving the event officially unexplained — gives the lore an additional layer of weight that purely accidental deaths do not carry.
The Pacific Battleship Center's own published materials reference 'ghost fleet' stories and 'other memories' from the ship's wartime service. The museum treats this layer of its history as a part of the visitor experience rather than something to be avoided.
Notable Entities
Exploration of the battleship's four main gun turrets, crew spaces, flag bridge, and below-decks machinery areas. Turret No. 2, site of the April 19, 1989 explosion that killed 47 sailors, is accessible on standard tours.
The Pacific Battleship Center offers overnight programs with below-decks access. Check the official site for current overnight program availability and booking.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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