A Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion on the USS Iowa and Its Cover-Up is a nonfiction book of investigative journalism, written by Charles C. Thompson II and published in 1999.

On the morning of April 19, 1989, the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa, under the command of Captain Fred Moosally, was 260 nautical miles (480 km) northeast of Puerto Rico, steaming at 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h), and preparing to engage in a live-fire exercise with its 16-inch guns.

[4] Five days after the explosion, a gunner's mate who worked in Iowa's Turret One called Charles Thompson and told him that Milligan was conducting a dishonest investigation.

[5] Thompson, a producer for 60 Minutes, was a former US Navy officer and naval gunfire spotter who had served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War.

Thompson discussed the phone call with his colleague and journalist Mike Wallace, also a former naval officer, who asked him to begin following news stories about the explosion and the Navy's investigation into its cause more closely.

Milligan's investigation report, endorsed by the top Navy leadership, concluded that the explosion was "most probably" a result of an intentional act committed by a Turret Two crewman named Clayton Hartwig.

[7] Robert Zelnick, an ABC News reporter, wrote an editorial for The New York Times on September 11, 1989, titled, "The Navy Scapegoats a Dead Seaman."

In the editorial, Zelnick was sharply critical of the Navy's conclusions, stating that Hartwig had been subjected to a "process of guilt by fiat" and that the evidence against the sailor was very weak.

[8] Mike Wallace read Zelnick's article and asked Thompson to produce a report for broadcast on the explosion and the Navy's investigation.

[9] With help from a team of ex-military officers, including Ed Snyder, a former commander of the battleship USS New Jersey, Thompson produced a story which aired on 60 Minutes in November 1989.

The book details how the ship's Master Chief Fire Controlman, Stephen Skelley, conducted illegal gunnery experiments with the 16-inch guns.

[16] The book describes the explosion on April 19, 1989, and the heroic efforts by the ship's crew to contain the fires and avoid a cataclysmic detonation of the turret's powder magazines.

Rear Admiral Richard Milligan, assigned to lead the investigation, soon focused his inquiry into trying to prove that one of the deceased turret's crewmembers, Clayton Hartwig, had intentionally caused the explosion.

[18] Captain Joseph Miceli, assigned by the Navy to lead the technical investigation into the explosion, had supervised the preparation of powder and shells used in Iowa's 16-inch guns.

Sandia National Laboratories, acting on a request from the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, determined that the explosion could have been an accident caused by overramming the powder bags into the gun's breech during the loading process.

[18] Nineteen months later the Navy concluded that it could not determine who or what had caused the explosion, provided a partial apology to Hartwig's family, and closed its investigation.

[19] Steve Weinberg, in the Denver Post, wrote that, "Measured by its information gathering, this is a great book of investigative journalism.

[24] In 2001 the FX TV network broadcast a movie A Glimpse of Hell based on Thompson's book, starring James Caan and Robert Sean Leonard.

[28] In March 2001 Moosally, Miceli, and two other former Iowa officers filed suit against Thompson, W. W. Norton, and Dan Meyer, who the plaintiffs stated provided much of the information used in the book, for libel, false light privacy, and conspiracy.

"[31] W. W. Norton did not publicly retract or repudiate any of the material in Thompson's book, however, instead sending a letter to the plaintiffs stating, in part, "To the extent you believe the book implies that any of you were engaged in a cover-up, were incompetent, committed criminal acts, violated Naval regulations or exhibited faulty seamanship or professional ineptitude, Norton regrets the emotional distress experienced by you or your family.