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''A Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion on the USS ''Iowa'' and Its Cover-Up'' is a nonfiction book of investigative journalism, written by Charles C. Thompson II and published in 1999. The book describes the USS ''Iowa'' turret explosion that took place on April 19, 1989, and the subsequent investigations that tried to determine the cause. The explosion aboard the United States Navy battleship killed 47 of the turret's crewmen. Soon after the explosion, Thompson was informed by an ''Iowa'' crewman that the Navy was conducting a dishonest investigation into the cause of the tragedy. Thompson, a producer for the television newsmagazine ''60 Minutes'', later produced several television reports which disputed the Navy's conclusions as to what had caused the explosion. Based on his work for the ''60 Minutes'' reports plus further investigation on his own, Thompson wrote ''A Glimpse of Hell''. The book was published by W. W. Norton & Company. Thompson's book was extremely critical of most of the Navy personnel involved in the investigation, concluding that the Navy had orchestrated a cover-up to conceal the true cause of the explosion. Upon its publication, the book received favorable comments from book reviewers. Thompson later claimed that the Navy tried to suppress sales by banning the book from Navy exchange stores on Navy bases throughout the world. In 2001, five Navy servicemen named in Thompson's book sued Thompson, the book's publisher, and one of Thompson's sources for libel, false light privacy, and conspiracy. The suit was settled out-of-court in 2007 for undisclosed terms. ==Background== (詳細はUnited States Navy battleship , under the command of Captain Fred Moosally, was northeast of Puerto Rico, steaming at , and preparing to engage in a live-fire exercise with its 16-inch guns.〔Schwoebel, pp. 1–2, Thompson, pp. 15, 93–96.〕 At 09:53, as the ship's 16-inch Turret Two loaded and prepared to fire its three guns, a fireball between 2500 and 3000 °F (1400 and 1650 °C) and traveling at with a pressure of blew out from the turret's center gun's open breech. The fireball spread through all three of the turret's gun rooms and through much of the lower levels of the turret. All 47 crewmen inside the turret were killed.〔Garzke, Dorsey, Diehl, p. 172, Bonner, p. 59, Schwoebel, pp. 7–8, 136, 232, 238, Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 97, 101–107, 152.〕 Soon after the fires in the turret were extinguished, Vice Admiral Joseph S. Donnell, commander of Surface Forces Atlantic, appointed Rear Admiral Richard Milligan to conduct an informal one-officer investigation into the explosion.〔Garzke, Diehl, p. 172, Schwoebel, pp. 10–15, Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 135–139, 142, 161–165. The one-officer investigation was often referred to within the Navy as a "JAGMAN" and its rules and procedures were laid out in the Navy's Manual of the Judge Advocate General, Chapter 5, Part C (Schwoebel, p. 291).〕 Milligan boarded ''Iowa'' with his staff on April 20 and began his investigation by interviewing ''Iowa'' crewmembers. Milligan's investigation continued after ''Iowa'' returned to its home port of Norfolk on April 23.〔Diehl, p. 172, Schwoebel, pp. 10–11, 65, 236, Thompson, ''Glimpse'', p. 137.〕 Five days after the explosion, a gunner's mate who worked in ''Iowa''s Turret One called Charles Thompson and told him that Milligan was conducting a dishonest investigation. "The news media is the only thing that can keep the Navy honest" said the caller.〔Thompson, "Cover-up".〕 Thompson, a producer for ''60 Minutes'', was a former US Navy officer and naval gunfire spotter who had served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War. After leaving the military and becoming a journalist, Thompson had produced numerous news stories about military subjects. Thompson discussed the phone call with his colleague and journalist Mike Wallace, also a former naval officer, who asked him to begin following news stories about the explosion and the Navy's investigation into its cause more closely.〔Weinberg, Thompson, "Cover-up", Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 9–10, 307.〕 On September 7, 1989, Milligan and Admiral Leon A. Edney, the Navy's Vice Chief of Naval Operations, announced the results of Milligan's investigation. Milligan's investigation report, endorsed by the top Navy leadership, concluded that the explosion was "most probably" a result of an intentional act committed by a Turret Two crewman named Clayton Hartwig. According to the Navy, Hartwig, who had died in the explosion, was a suicidal loner who had initiated the explosion with either an electronic or chemical timer.〔Rosenthal, ''New York Times'', "Excerpts From Iowa Blast Findings", Garzke, Diehl, p. 174, Schwoebel, pp. xvii, 27, 39–42, 70, 244, Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 284–285, 288, 299–302, Bonner, p. 59.〕 Robert Zelnick, an ABC News reporter, wrote an editorial for the ''New York Times'' on September 11, 1989, titled, "The Navy Scapegoats a Dead Seaman." In the editorial, Zelnick was sharply critical of the Navy's conclusions, stating that Hartwig had been subjected to a "process of guilt by fiat" and that the evidence against the sailor was very weak.〔Thompson, ''Glimpse'', p. 307.〕 Mike Wallace read Zelnick's article and asked Thompson to produce a report for broadcast on the explosion and the Navy's investigation.〔Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 307–308.〕 With help from a team of ex-military officers, including Ed Snyder, a former commander of the battleship , Thompson produced a story which aired on ''60 Minutes'' in November 1989. The story, conducted by Mike Wallace, heavily criticized the findings of Milligan's investigation. The story contained an interview in which Milligan defended his conclusions, saying, "Mike, there is no other cause of this accident. We have looked at everything. We've ruled out everything. This was a deliberate act, most likely done by Petty Officer Hartwig."〔Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 308–312, 319–323, 327–332, 335–342.〕 The Navy's conclusions were heavily criticised by the victim's families, the media, and congress. After a test found that an overram of the powder bags into the gun could have caused the explosion, the Navy reopened the investigation. On October 17, 1991, Frank Kelso, the new Navy Chief of Naval Operations, announced that the Navy could not determine who or what had caused the tragedy. Kelso apologized to Hartwig's family and closed the Navy's investigation.〔Diehl, p. 175, Schwoebel, pp. xix–xx, 223–224, 284–287, Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 352, 372, 380–382.〕 An independent review of the Navy's investigation by Sandia National Laboratories concluded that the explosion had probably been caused by an overram of the powder bags into the center gun's breech, possibly because of a malfunction in the rammer mechanism or because the gun crew was inadequately trained.〔Garzke, Vogel, Charles, Diehl, p. 175, Bonner, p. 59, Schwoebel, pp. xxi, 164, 216–222.〕 Soon after, ''60 Minutes'' broadcast an updated story on the Navy's investigation. The report, written and produced by Thompson and Wallace, included an interview with Kelso.〔Weinberg, Thompson, ''Glimpse'', pp. 378–384.〕 After the Navy closed its investigation, Thompson continued his own research into the explosion and its aftermath. Thompson was assisted by Snyder and other former Navy personnel, including ''Iowa'' crewmen and Navy headquarters staff members. Family members of the victims as well as staff members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees also helped Thompson. In addition, he obtained information via Freedom of Information Act requests to the Navy. Furthermore, Thompson accessed depositions taken from Navy leaders and investigators during a lawsuit against the Navy by Hartwig's family.〔Weinberg, Thompson, "Cover-up".〕 Thompson's book was published on April 19, 1999, the tenth anniversary of the explosion. The book's publisher was W. W. Norton & Company, based in New York City.〔Stein, Thompson, "Cover-up".〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「A Glimpse of Hell (book)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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