USS Iowa Turret Explosion

Date: April 19, 1989 • Location: San Pedro, United States

A gun turret exploded on board the United States Navy battleship Iowa, killing 47 sailors.

A gun turret is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and the ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in some degree of azimuth and elevation.