Clayton Hartwig
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Clayton M. Hartwig was the twenty-four year old United States Navy gunner's mate falsely accused by the Navy of causing the explosion of the Number Two 16-inch gun turret aboard the USS Iowa (BB-61). He, along with 46 other sailors, perished in the April 19, 1989 explosion.
Hartwig had named Kendall Truitt, a fellow shipmate, as the sole beneficiary on a $50,000 life insurance policy, with double indemnity for accidental death. That policy kicked off a Naval criminal investigation that eventually concluded Hartwig was angry at Truitt over a cooling of their relationship, crafted a detonator and set off the blast. This conclusion was strongly disputed by others.
In October 1991, after Congress forced the Navy to reopen the investigation and scientists at Sandia National Laboratories determined that an overram could have caused the blast, the chief of naval operations, Adm. Frank B. Kelso III, publicly apologized to the Hartwig family stating that there was no proof that Hartwig had deliberately detonated the powder bags.[1] As Hartwig was only a last-minute replacement for his duty station the day of the accident, it was deemed that premeditation for causing an explosion was impossible. Independent psychiatrists who analyzed Hartwig's background found no signs of psychosis, paranoia, or clinical depression, concluding that Hartwig was content with his job, anticipating his next assignment in a security role in London, and that the great weight of the evidence ran counter to suicide. [2]
