Fred P. Moosally (born 4 October 1944) is a former captain in the United States Navy. During his naval career, Moosally served in many different assignments, including commander of a destroyer and the battleship . Moosally was captain of the Iowa when the center gun of one of the ship's main gun turrets exploded on April 19, 1989, killing 47 crewmen.
During the investigation into the cause of the explosion, Moosally testified that the Navy had assigned personnel of inferior quality to the Iowa. The investigation found that Iowa had been operating with severe deficiencies in safety and training procedures, for which Moosally was disciplined. The Navy stated that the deficiencies were unrelated to the turret explosion.
In December 1989 in testimony before the United States Senate Armed Services Committee, Moosally declined to fully support the Navy's conclusion that the explosion had been intentionally caused by Clayton Hartwig, one of the turret's crewmen. Moosally's testimony was widely reported in the media. Moosally retired from the Navy soon after in May 1990.
In 1999, Moosally began working for Lockheed Martin. In 2002 he was appointed president of the company's MS2 division. In this capacity, Moosally has helped lead Lockheed Martin's involvement in the and Integrated Deepwater System programs.
It was announced on 12 February 2010 that Moosally was hired as president and chief executive officer of Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG), a subsidiary of Fincantieri-Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A.
Early life and education Moosally, born in Youngstown, Ohio, on 4 October 1944,Schwoebel p. 258 one of six children in a family of three sons and three daughters. His father was an insurance salesman and the family attended the local Syriac Maronite Church.Thompson, p. 36.
At Ursuline High School, according to Charles Thompson, Moosally played football as a defensive tackle. He was selected as a second-string member of the all-city squad. Moosally also lifted weights, ran track, and played summer baseball. He graduated high school in 1962Thompson, pp. 35–36. and was recruited by Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh to play football. He instead decided to attend the United States Naval Academy after speaking with the academy's football coach, Bill Elias. Moosally played defensive tackle on the academy's football team. In 1964, he and the team played in the Cotton Bowl Classic. One of Moosally's teammates in the game was Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach. In 1965, Moosally was awarded the Annapolis Touchdown Club's Silver Helmet trophy as the team's Most Valuable Player and was selected to play in the Blue–Gray Football Classic. Only free preview online.Thompson, pp. 35–40.
Moosally graduated in 1966 with a class ranking of 812 out of 868. His classmates nicknamed him "Moose" because of his physical presence and his "slap-on-the-back" personality.Lockheed Martin, "Lockheed Martin appoints Fred P. Moosally", Schwoebel p. 258, Thompson, p. 35–40. At a later, unknown date, Moosally received a master's degree in finance from Central Michigan University.
Naval career Moosally's first tour after commissioning as an ensign was on the destroyer in which he spent some time off the coast of Vietnam. He attended destroyer department head school at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island and was assigned to the destroyer .
In 1971, Moosally returned to the Naval Academy, where he worked in the recruitment and candidate guidance office. He also worked with the varsity football team. After turning 30 years old, Moosally was assigned to the frigate as the ship's executive officer. The ship's captain was (then) Lieutenant Commander William J. Flanagan Jr., who later became a four-star admiral and commander of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet.Thompson, pp. 36–37.
After the Bronstein Moosally was assigned to Washington, D.C., in the Navy's Bureau of Naval Personnel, where he worked for Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf, III. He was subsequently assigned to the destroyer as executive officer. After Mahan, Moosally was promoted to commander, and was assigned to work for the Navy's Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) office as a surface-warfare program coordinator. Two years later, he became administrative assistant and aide to the CNO, Thomas B. Hayward.Thompson, pp. 37–38.
By this time, Moosally was considered to be very well-connected politically with many of the Navy's top admirals, mainly because of tours on the staffs of Metcalf and Hayward. In 1985, Moosally began a tour as commander of the destroyer . Metcalf later said he thought Moosally did "a terrific job" as skipper of Kidd.Schwoebel p. 258; Thompson pp. 35–38.
After Kidd, Moosally worked in the Navy's Office of Legislative Affairs. His supervisor was an Academy football teammate, Rear Admiral Thomas Lynch. In this position, Moosally was successful in helping lobby for congressional approval and funding for two new aircraft carriers, two frigates, and a nuclear-powered cruiser for the Navy. Jim Hickey, a congressional aide at the time, said of Moosally, "He's intelligent, politically savvy and well respected not only by the people in the liaison office but by the Navy folks as well."Thompson, pp. 38–39.
Moosally then requested the command of one of the newly reactivated s. His request was supported by Metcalf, (then) Rear Admiral "Bud" Flanagan, Rear Admiral Richard Milligan (the Navy battle group commander in Charleston, South Carolina), and (then) Rear Admiral Jeremy Michael Boorda. The CNO at that time, Admiral Carlisle Trost, apparently agreed, and the request was granted; Moosally was assigned to command .Thompson, p. 39.
USS Iowa
Takes command On May 23, 1988, Moosally took command of Iowa at Norfolk, Virginia. Reportedly, Moosally favored Iowas missile and engineering systems and deemphasized 16-inch gunnery. A week after taking command, Moosally and his executive officer, Mike Fahey, canceled a planned one million dollar repair package for Iowas main gun batteries, including repairs to the main gun turrets' lighting, electrical, powder hoists, and hydraulic systems; seventy-five detailed deficiencies in all. Instead, the funds were spent on overhauling the ship's powerplant.Schwoebel p. 259; Thompson pp. 46–47. One of the deficiencies needing repairs was the sprinkler system in Turret 2, including the ones in the powder magazines, intended to help put out any propellant fires, were inoperable.
After completion of the overhaul Moosally took Iowa on a shakedown cruise around Chesapeake Bay on August 25, 1988. Encountering difficulty in conning the ship through shallow water, Iowa, with Moosally at the helm, narrowly missed colliding with the , , and before, Thompson claims, running aground in soft mud outside the bay's main ship channel near the Thimble Shoals. After one hour, Iowa was able to extricate herself without damage and return to port. Although other US Navy vessels observed Iowa grounded in the mud, the incident apparently was not acted upon by Moosally's superiors.Thompson, pp. 58–60. According to Thompson, the near-misses with the other navy ships were recorded in Iowas log as attempts to "render honors" to them. Mike Fahey, the ship's executive officer, warned the other officers on Iowa to never mention the grounding to anyone, including superior Navy officers. Throughout August and September, Iowa continued with sea trials, then began refresher training in the waters around Florida and Puerto Rico in October.Thompson, pp. 65–67.
Between September 1988 and January 1989, Iowas crew did not conduct much training with the 16-inch guns, in part because of ongoing, serious maintenance issues with the main gun turrets. According to Ensign Dan Meyer, officer in charge of the ship's Turret One, morale and operational readiness among the gun turret crews suffered greatly. In spite of the problems with the main gun turrets, the ship passed its Operation Propulsion Program Evaluation in October 1988.Thompson, pp. 67–69.Vistica p. 289
Gun experiments In January 1989 Iowas Master Chief Fire Controlman, Stephen Skelley, and Gunnery Officer, Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Michael Costigan, persuaded Moosally to allow them to experiment with increasing the range of the main guns using "supercharged" powder bags and specially designed shells. Moosally was led to believe, falsely, that top officials from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) had authorized the experiments. In fact, John McEachren, a mid-level bureaucrat with NAVSEA, had given the go-ahead to conduct the experiments, even though he had no authority to do so. McEachren concealed his approval of the gunnery experiments from his superiors.Thompson, pp. 63, 69–71, 346–47.
Several of the officers and non-commissioned officers in charge of the main gun turret crews believed that Skelley's and Costigan's proposed experiments were dangerous, especially because of the age of and numerous maintenance problems with the main guns and gun turrets. Meyer complained to Lieutenant Commander Roger John Kissinger, Iowas chief weapons officer, about the proposed experiments, but Kissinger refused to convey the concerns to Moosally or halt the experiments.Schwoebel p. 44; Thompson p. 73.
On January 20, 1989, off Vieques Island Iowas Turret One fired six of the experimental shells using the supercharged powder bags. Skelley claimed that one of the 16-inch shells traveled , setting a record for the longest conventional 16-inch shell ever fired. Moosally was pleased with the accomplishment, and ensured that news of the record was publicized in the media. Although the shells had been fired without serious incident, Meyer and Petty Officer First Class Dale Eugene Mortensen, gun chief for Turret One, told Skelley that they would no longer participate in his experiments. Skelley asked Turret Two's gun chief, Senior Chief Reggie Ziegler, if he could use Turret Two for his experiments; Ziegler refused. Skelley then asked Lieutenant Phil Buch, Turret Two's officer in charge, and Buch acquiesced.Thompson, pp. 70–81. The Turret One gun crew leaders, which fired the experimental loads, considered defying the order because of the unauthorized nature and perceived danger of the experiment, but in the end fired their guns. In the 1950s, the US Navy had fired a nuclear-equipped 16-inch shell 13 nautical miles further than Skelley's shell.
On April 10, 1989, the battleship was visited by the commander of the US 2nd Fleet, then Vice Admiral Jerome L. Johnson, and on April 13 sailed from Norfolk to participate in a fleet exercise in the Caribbean near Puerto Rico. The exercise, titled "FLEETEX 3-89", began on or around April 17 under Johnson's command. Iowa served as Johnson's flagship during the exercise.Schwoebel p. 1; Thompson p. 15. Thirty US Navy ships were participating in the exercise, including the aircraft carrier , seven cruisers, three guided-missile destroyers, two conventional destroyers, seven frigates, three amphibious assault craft, a communications ship, two oilers, a minesweeper, two ammunition ships, plus three South American frigates including one from Venezuela and another from Brazil.
Turret explosion
At 8:31 a.m. on April 19, 1989 Iowa prepared to engage in a main gun firing drill as Moosally and Johnson watched from the ship's bridge. Turret Two was to fire practice (no explosives) projectiles with five powder bags. The use of five bags had been directed by Skelley and was against regulations but Moosally was not aware of the unauthorized nature of the drill.Schwoebel pp. 1–2; Thompson pp. 15, 93–96.