Clark, William, Jr., BM3

On October 1, 1972, an explosion aboard the USS NEWPORT NEWS killed 20 of our shipmates. This young man was one of the twenty dead. The full memorial is on the USS NEWPORT NEWS site. USS NEWPORT NEWS (CA-148) was a heavy cruiser, with a main armament of nine 8-inch naval rifles mounted in three triple turrets and a secondary armament of twelve 5" rifles in six twin turrets. Commissioned on 29 January 1949, she served three tours in Vietnam and participated in cruiser raids on Haiphong, Than Hoa, and Vinh in North Vietnam, as well as numerous other naval gunfire missions both north and south of the DMZ. At 0100 01 Oct 1972, while conducting a gunfire mission, an 8-inch projectile in the bore of the center gun of Turret Two exploded prematurely, setting off several powder casings in the powder hoists. The explosion resulted in the death of 20 men and injury to 36 others. Quick and efficient action by the repair parties concerned confined the damage to the inside of the turret and its barbette. The cause of the explosion was subsequently determined to be a faulty auxiliary detonating fuse. The USS NEWPORT NEWS departed the gun line for the Cubi Point Naval Station, Philippines, where temporary repairs were made to Turret Two. She returned to the South China Sea and recommenced naval gunfire missions on 21 Oct 1972, completing two additional gunline periods before returning to Norfolk (VA) on 24 December 1972. USS NEWPORT NEWS was decommissioned on 27 July 1975. The barrel was never repaired.