European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 01, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday May 1,1989 battleship blast fund gets letters As Well As Cash Norfolk a. A a fund to help the families of 47 sailors who died aboard the Battle ship Iowa has received not Only Money but Many letters honouring the ship s crewmen. The fund has also received cards pictures an poems. I would like to thank you for doing your jobs devoted Young men to protect our country wrote a Navy machinist s mate who enclosed aj300 Check. Thank you for always being there. Why docs it take another loss to remind us said a note from a Vietnam Veteran. The letters have been arriving by the hundreds at the Norfolk office of Shearson Lehman hut Lon which started the fund for the families of crewmen who died april 19 when an explosion Tore through the ship s no. 2 Turret during training exercise. "1 am deeply distressed by the unfortunate and almost inexplicable disaster in 2 Turret wrote a Navy Veteran who was on the commis Sioning Crew of the world War ii battleship. I Grieve and mourn with the families of the47 men who lost their lives aboard the Iowa. 1 Grieve for each one and share your sorrow hav ing lost my son three years ago a woman wrote. Of her letters have come from schoolchildren relatives of veterans Active duty military personnel and civilians. The fund has collected More than $42,500,which will be distributed equally among the families to use however they wish. Some families have requested that their Money be put aside for scholarship funds in the crewman s name said Jeff so Eicr Branch manager of the brokerage. When i first started i figured to come up with $50.000," he said. I think we would far surpass that Over he next couple of  the  Iowa veterans association gave$500 and has printed 6,000 color posters of the battleship filing its guns. Those will be sold for$10 each to raise Money for educating the dead crewmen s children. 3 shipboard nuke missiles to be mothballed by Navy Washington a the Navy has decided to retire three Short Range nuclear weapons that account for 5 percent of the total stockpile of .  officials said sunday. By 1991, the Navy will retire the Assoc an anti submarine torpedo the sub Roc a submarine launched missile and the terrier a sea to air missile amounting to a total of 1,100 warheads according to Navy officers and documents released under the free Dom of information act. The weapons originally were intended to provide nuclear deterrent against attacks on surface ships by soviet warships and submarines. But Navy strategists now believe they can protect . Ships by other Means and see a greater threat from backfire and badge bombers based on the soviet Mainland. The decision to unilaterally discard the weapons was contained in documents obtained by an Independent analyst William Arkin. The information was first disclosed in the sunday editions of the new York times and was confirmed sunday by Navy officers who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was Noi Clear Why the Bush administration chose to take such a major step without a Public announcement and Why it apparently has not sought to include the weapons in negotiations with the so Viet Union. The decision was prompted by the realization that the United states has More aircraft carriers and Large surface vessels than the soviet Union and that such ships arc vulnerable to nuclear attack Navy officers said. There is a recognition that if there is a nuclear War at sea we have got More to lose than the  the times quoted vice adm. Henry c. Mustin who retired last year after having served As Deputy chief of naval operations. The concept of a nuclear War at sea is a concept whose time has passed. It is in the interest of the coun try to persuade that the time has passed Mustin said in the published report. Arkin said another reason for the decision appears to be a shift in emphasis by the Navy from Short Range weapons to nuclear tipped Tomahawk cruise  Tomahawk can be fired from planes or ships and can Fly below enemy radar to strike targets such As bomber airfields on the soviet Mainland at ranges of up to 1,300 Miles. The soviet Union has been insisting that the United states agree to limit or ban submarine launched Toma Hawk cruise missiles but under the Reagan administration the Navy walked. The Issue is being considered by the Bush administration which is conducting a strategic review scheduled to be completed by May 10. The decision to retire the Short Range nuclear weapons will not affect strategic ballistic missiles aboard Navy nuclear submarines. The ballistic missiles form a key part of the . Nuclear triad of land air and sea based weapons in tended to deter a Large scale attack Navy officers said. The weapons to be retired constitute part of the american nuclear Arsenal that has received Little Public attention in the Media or on Capitol Hill As compared with extensive discussions on cruise and ballistic sys tems. The Assoc a nuclear depth bomb carried aboard destroyers cruisers and frigates involved in anti submarine warfare has a Range of up to 6.2miles. The sub Roc missile carried by attack submarines is designed to Fly at supersonic speeds and drop a nuclear depth charge on enemy submarines. The terrier anti aircraft missile which entered service in 1962, is fired from surface warships and has a Range of up to 21.7 Miles according to Jane san independently published reference Book on Mili tary hardware. Arkin said in a Telephone interview that the strategy behind the decision was outlined in the theater nuclear warfare utilities study conducted in january 1988, and supplied to him with significant portions blacked out. As a result of the decision scores of Navy destroyers frigates and attack submarines that had Bee nuclear armed will no longer carry nuclear weapons Arkin said. It was not Clear whether or How much Money the defense department will save by retiring the Short Range weapons. Nasa starts replacing 2 fuel parts in Atlantis Cape canaveral. Fia. Iarj Nasa on sunday began replacing two faulty pans the fuel system of the space shuttle Atlantis in Hopes of Mak ing another launch attempt As Early As Friday. The launch of the shuttle and its$550 million Venus probe was scrubbed 31 seconds before liftoff Fri Day because of a Power surge on a pump that  liquid Hydrogen fuel for one of the shuttle s three main engines. Engineers later discovered a pinhole leak in a fuel line that carries Hydrogen from the external fuel tank to the shuttle. Officials of the National aeronautics and space administration said sunday that they would not set a new launch Dale until monday. But they said liftoff could not occur before Friday afternoon. Because of the positions of Earth and Venus there is Only a 32-Day period for sending the Magellan spacecraft toward the Cloud shrouded planet. If the shuttle can t get off the ground by May 28, the Mission will have to be put of for two years at a Cost of More than $100 million until Earth and Venus arc again in proper alignment. Nasa spokeswoman Lisa Malone said workers were removing foam insulation from around Bolh the pump and the Hydrogen line. They hoped to have a new pump installed by monday and a Newline in place by wednesday she said. After testing the new parts. Nas would be ready to restart the two Day countdown. Right now we Don t know when we will pick up the  Malone  we feel comfortable with what we Are  had the countdown continued on Fri Day a computer to detect such problems As fuel line leaks would have stopped the engines from firing saving the five Astro nauts from any risk the space Agency said. Shuttle commander David Walker and Pilot Ronald grabs practice shuttle landings in a training aircraft sunday and then flew to their Home base in Houston. Mission specialists Mary Cleave Mark Lee and Norman Thagard returned to Houston on sat urday. Before returning for another launch attempt the astronauts will Sharpen their skills by rehearsing in a Simula Tor. Six hours after launch the Astro nauts Are to release the Magellan probe from Atlantis cargo Bay. Propelling it on a 450-Day journey to Venus. The7,600-Pound Craft is to orbit the planet and map up to 90 percent of its Cloud veiled surface w Ith High Resolution radar. The images relayed to Earth could Tell scientists much about Venus and Why it evolved so differently from Earth. The Patch fur the Atlantis Mission symbolizes the Magellan probe s Venus flight with a ship coning Tnora lint the voyage of the 16th-Century Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magel Lan. Seven stars Honor the Crew of the challenger shuttle which exploded in 1986