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NATION : FBI Finds No Certain Evidence Battleship Blast Was Deliberate

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<i> From Times Wire Services</i>

FBI scientists were unable to find conclusive evidence that the explosion that killed 47 sailors aboard the battleship Iowa was deliberate, a bureau spokesman said today. But the Navy stood by its conclusion that the explosion was ignited by a bomb.

“We didn’t find anything that would lead us to conclude that a device was used to prematurely detonate the charge,” said FBI spokesman Mike Kortan.

“That’s not to say something wasn’t there,” he added. “Our findings were inconclusive.”

Cmdr. Mark Baker, a Navy spokesman, said the service “is convinced that foreign material” was found in a band of the gun’s projectile.

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Earlier this month the Navy said the explosion was “most probably” caused by a chemically ignited explosive device that detonated powder bags in the breech of one of the Iowa’s 16-inch guns. The Navy said Gunner’s Mate Clayton Hartwig was most likely responsible for the April explosion. The Navy said Hartwig was a loner who was upset about the breakup of a relationship with another sailor.

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