Catastrophic Boiler Accident
In October 1990, Iwo Jima was in the Persian Gulf, as part of the buildup for Operation Desert Storm. Having been in operation there for two months, she had developed a leak in a steam valve which supplied steam to a stand-by electrical generator. She docked in Manama, Bahrain, where the valve was repaired by a local contractor under US government inspection.
Repairs were completed towards the end of October. On 30 October, as she raised steam to get underway and rejoin the fleet, the valve began to leak once more. The bonnet blew off the valve, flooding the boiler room with steam from two boilers. Ten of the crewmen in the room were killed, with the last surviving until 2330 that evening.
The cause of the accident was determined to be the use of fasteners of the wrong material (namely black oxide coated brass) on the valve, combined with a lack of proper inspection.
Read more about this topic: USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)
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