 In January 1989 , according to Thompson , Iowa 's 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 . 
