REEL, Robert - Korea Vet interview - Putnam

Bainbridge News - Newton Priest of Anderson was here to attend the Priest reunion Sunday.

Newton Priest of Anderson spent Saturday night with LC Priest and wife.

Greencastle man, who was aboard the lowa during Korean War, offers insight into tragedy

By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor When the No. 2 turret on the U.S.S. lowa exploded Wednesday, killing 47 sailors, Greencastle resident Robert Reel knew how the crew felt. He knew because from 1952 to 1954 he was part of the lowa’s crew. During the Korean War he worked as an engineer on the huge battleship, with an office right behind the ill-fated turret. In fact, he spent time working on it, some 35 years ago. While that was long before the 46 year-old lowa was mothballed, rebuilt and recommissioned in 1984, Reel says the firing sequence is the same today as it was when he worked on board. And it is that firing sequence that might be the reason for Wednesday’s accident, Reel suspects (See related story on Page A 3). A battleship like the U.S.S. lowa is equipped with three sets of three cannon. Two point forward and one is aft. The cannon closest to the bow are the No. 1 guns, while the No. 2 guns are immediately in back, raised on a second deck. The aft cannon are the number three guns. REEL said each gun turret has three 16-inch cannon that can be fired individually or simultaneously. Three-and-a-half decades ago, he said, the guns were not only fired simultaneously, but all three turrets frequently went off at the same time. That means a total of nine 16 inch cannons were firing their 2,700 shells simultaneously. Reel said he did not know how the lowa fires her guns today, nor how they were being fired Wednesday. But he does know the routine they followed to fire the canons. FIRST, A SHELL is hydraulically lifted from a storage floor in the turret, and placed into the barrel. Then a silk bag filled with explosive powder in placed behind it. The powder bags are 15 to 18 inches long and weigh 110 pounds, Reel said. The barrel’s breech is closed and locked, the target is sighted, and the powder bag in electronically detonated. The force of that explosion is enough to send the one-ton shell 20 miles through the air. Once the shot is fired, water vapor is rushed through the barrel to extinguish the smouldering embers of the silk powder bag, Reel said. “I have a feeling that is Reel-lowa early 50’s, “everything just shook. It was like when lightening goes off close to you,” Reel said. Anyone close to the turret was hit with a massive rush of air pressure. “It just shakes you. It’s not a loud crack ... it’s more like a WHOOSH!” Reel said. He noted that the lowa weighs 58,000 tons, and up to 70,000 tons when fully loaded, and because those massive guns don’t have a recoil, the ship would move as far as 45 feet when one was fired. The fact that such a massive explosion did not sink the lowa is testimony to her strength. “Those ships are awesome,” Reel said of the U.S. battleship fleet. “I think they were brought back as a show of muscle. They are almost indestructible.” Reel noted that the damage from Wednesday’s explosion was contained to the number two turret. In fact, the ship is making its way to Puerto Rico today, so damage estimates and body counts can get underway, along with an official investigation into what happened. Reel said he is getting ready for the lowa’s annual crew reunion, which will be in Phoenix this June. While the reunion is always a chance to renew wartime acquaintances, and perhaps even take a short cruise on their old ship. “It might be a little sad this year,” he said. This year they will have to memorialize 47 sailors who took their places, and died in their footsteps.