European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 and stripes Friday april 21,1909 anxious families await word on loved ones Norfolk a. A families of Crew Mem Bers aboard inc Iowa gathered wednesday at a nor Folk gym to await word about loved ones who were on the ship when 3 gun Lurrel packed with Gunpowder exploded inflames. The major problem is Lack or  said Barry Brimhall,.a  who was with the fat Iliev they arc very very frustrated. For those who had husbands or sons in the area of the explosion they Are wondering was in my husband my. Sun .1 " the longer we hear nothing the better it is said Sand t, Char Lemon. A a relative of Crew Man Jonathan Tate. Navy policy requires that families of dead or injured Milors be notified before any list of victims is k k Iid to the news Media and not All families had been notified by mid Vining wednesday. Officials said. Brimhall was one of Many , social workers and red Cross personnel called in to Deal with the families grief. The first thing we did was establish a place for them to gather Saij master chief Biliy Kinder an Atlantic Heel spokesman. We provide a place for them to be. The chaplains social workers. Red Cross and others  to help them in arty Way  our primary purpose Brimhall said is to help them air their feelings Lack about sheif fears to re assure them but be honest. Some ate going to lose a loved one. It is a ministry of presence the families were helping each other Brimhall sail. There is a Loi of support within the group. I saw. Relationships develop right before my eyes As women pus their  around those who were having Tou blk he said. He described inc mood in the gym As varied. There Are i Host who arc really struggling and those who Are really stoic he said. Ann Quad Tioli of Brownton w.va., said she and her husband had t been ahle to reach Navy officials to find out Aboul her son Mark Quagliotti a dentist on the Iowa.  no idea where our son coi ild be she said. Anything is  the Navy a contingency Jan for such tragedies was worked Oul before the Accident. Kinder said. We take this very seriously. Family response Cri Sis is a very major Issue with us he. Said. Kinder said the families Are Given updates every 30 minutes of As develop Machts warrant. Bight now. For some  families they would rather have bad news than no news at All Brimhall said. Iowa from Page 1 of Lite Middle gun said Hrucz Nason a pc Taplin Navy spokesman there also Isa Turret at the Back of the Iowa. It look so  the 10 . Explosion  tic Bla Trier was no sign of. The Accident visible Dur ing a flyover. The Iowa rendezvoused at a Dafter no ii with the nearby aircraft Carrier Cor in sea. Which1 carries three doctors and has full medical Facil Mes Baumann said. Llesh cuppers from the Coral sea brought  equipment in the Lii a and transferred injured crewmen to the Carrier. " he ship has no sent a Lisl of the wounded. They have other things More pressing to. Worry about said  c i Rier. Art a unit tic Heel spokesman. The Iowa was to proceed thursday to Roosevelt hours a Navy base in i it Rio Hico said cmdr. Robert fran2 Niani of the Atlantic reel. The 46 year old ship one of the four largest in inc Fleet is based at Norfolk Navy officials were notifying rela Tives Personalty of the deaths Nau Diann said. Several anxious family members gathered at a gymnasium in Norfolk awaiting word. The explosion occurred during a gunnery exercise about 330 Miles Northeast of i puerto Rico Burnett said a gun Turret is normally occupied by 11 people hut can hold fio or 70 people Haumann said but we Don l know How Many people were in thereat he time. Mark Newton a former Marine who. Spent a week As a guest on the Iowa in 1987 and now is curator of the permanently docked battleship Massachusetts in tall River mass explained How a a Sailor stands inside one if tin.1 16-Incli Jui turrets alien re lit battleship Lima in this 1984 file Patti. Shell is loaded. After the Shell is placed in the gun a door is opened to the gun room from the powder hoist room he said. Cylindrical , containing about .110 pounds of powder,., Are then rammed in behind the Shell and what is called a Breech plug is sealed to prevent the leakage of powder gases the training exercise to improve Licet readiness began april 1.1 and involved. 19,000 people aboard 29 . Ships three Allied ships and Shore based aircraft. A Aumann said there were 1,600 people aboard the Iowa including vice adm. Jerome i Johnson,commanderof2nd Fleet. I was believed to be the worst. Loss of life involving a  since june 2. I96 a when inc destroyer Frank e. Evans collided with the australian aircraft car Rier Melbourne in the Skullr China Sun killing 74 people. An iraqi missile attack on the frigate Stark in May 1987 killed 37 crewmen and wounded 21. A similar explosion occurred in the Center  Turret aboard the heavy Cruiser Newport news during the Viet  War in october 1972. Killing 20 crewmen and injuring 36, it is a Purcal tragedy and a matter of. Terrible sadness president Bush said in Washington. The Iowa and its sister shins the new Jersey the Missouri and the Wisconsin arc the largest battleships built except for two japanese ships of the world War 1 Era . The Navy in accordance with policy would not confirm or deny whether the ship carried nuclear weapons. The Iowa was built during world War ii mothballed until the korean War. And mothballed again. It was Modernised and  1984. At a Cost of $409 million and returned Home last year after service escorting Kauai i Sanders in the persian Gulf Luce Ball s doctors of Imis a runway won t be moved los an gilts is arc  husband can Morion said after Ball Awa Kencil at 9.45 a.m., about 14 hours after Itse operation ended.-. She was Valcon and looked Well Hes Jid thei cd tin  a heart Attar i at her Beverly to title Home tuesday and arrived at the medical Ernier with mor ton she had a tear to her Aorta the injun Arr in the body. Said her Ourgeois or. Robert. A during the operation blood was pumped through her body by a machine As Kass replaced part of her Aorta and aortic vae. He called in a High risk procedure with a fairly substantial mortality rate " a Bureau the British ministry of defense Slid wednesday it Wood not Mote he Raf upper Heyward gift Jiray and instead would continue to pay Cal villagers to insulate their Homei front noise by of Hie Fighte r bomlkre.11 realignment of the run duh at Raf upper he Ford would cd Perl la problem to other Vilgo a nun i or decide the modified of 1.1 is at Raf upper he Ford were too Heay to safely make Turris Neci Sar to avoid fling Over the nearby villages. Since then residents affected by the noise in Village on the cast and West ends of the base have campaigned to get the  20degrees. The ministry studied several possible solutions to the problem including modify ing the f-111 engine to make it More pow. C Irful which would allow the planes 16 return to their old less disturbing patterns. But at a Public meeting at the base wednesday defense ministry officials said hey would continue compensating people businesses affected by the increase in not brought on by the Al Jung pattern changers spokesman in London said a mistry will continue id pay Honie owner Jbf extra sound insulation and in the to is cases offer to buy the houses closest tos pc flight paths Accord the ministry  to Monitor the problem the memorandum said