It took many hours to account for the ship's crew. July 2017. Damage Control Team No. Because it is relatively insensitive to heat, shock and electricity, Composition H6 is still used as of 2023 in many types of naval ordnance. [2][3] Future United States Senator John McCain and future four-star admiral and U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Ronald J. Zlatoper were among the survivors. LT(JG) Robert Cates, the carrier's explosive ordnance demolition officer, recounted later how he had "noticed that there was a 500-pound bomb and a 750-pound bomb in the middle of the flight deck that were still smoking. [5], The ongoing naval bombing campaign during 1967 originating at Yankee Station represented by far the most intense and sustained air attack operation in the U.S. Navy's history. Click here for more information. The Sextant blog post by Chief Damage Controlman (SW/AW) Teddy Yates discussing the tragedy and the impact of the fire. Capable of launching larger, more powerful F-4 Phantom fighters on its thousand-foot-long flight deck using steam catapults, the Forrestal was deployed to Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin in July 1967 to contribute its . The United States Navy uses the Forrestal fire and the lessons learned from it when teaching damage control and ammunition safety. Crew members aboard USS Forrestal fight fires and explosions on the carrier's after flight deck, July 29, 1967. Forrestal departed its home port in Norfolk, Virginia in early June 1967. As twenty-seven, fully armed combat aircraft were on deck in preparation for a bomb-ing mission over North Vietnam, a wing mounted Zuni rocket was inadvertently launched from an F-4 Phantom. So I went up and defused them and had them jettisoned." Official U.S. Navy Photograph. [27] When Browning got back on deck, he recalled, "The port quarter of the flight deck where I was is no longer there."[1]. The Acrobat Reader can be downloaded for free at www.adobe.com. [10] Thirty-five personnel were in close proximity to the blast. [31] Rear Admiral and Task Group commander Harvey P. Lanham, aboard Forrestal, called the actions of Rupertus commanding officer Commander Edwin Burke[32] an "act of magnificent seamanship". Crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal looking through deck in search of survivors after a deadly fire in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. [45], The fire revealed that Forrestal lacked a heavy-duty, armored forklift needed to jettison aircraft, particularly heavier planes like the RA-5C Vigilante, as well as heavy or damaged ordnance.[1]. But the fire on July 29, 1967, did much more than that. (Three months later, on 26 October 1967, flying from OriskanyCVA-34Lieutenant Commander McCain would be shot down over North Vietnam on his 23rd bombing mission.). Here you can download the USS FORRESTAL (CVA 59) Vietnam Cruise Book 1967 as a high resolution .pdf file. [39] From 8 to 15 April 1968, he sailed the ship down the Elizabeth River and out into the waters off the Virginia Capes for post-repair trials, the ship's first time at sea in 207 days. Unknowingly, inexperienced hose teams using seawater washed away the efforts of others attempting to smother the fire with foam. Flaming Flattops: Deadly Fires Struck U.S. Aircraft Carriers - HistoryNet The National Naval Aviation Museum collection also includes the Forrestal Fire exhibit and the Forrestal Plan of the Day from 30 July 1967, the day after the fire. The Forrestal fire resulted in many lessons learned (and re-learned) and resulted in significant changes in the U.S. Navy in training for shipboard damage control, the biggest being (re)-institution of firefighting training for all crewmembers. At the bottom of every email sent by HullNumber is an UNSUBSCRIBE link. Fire, Fire, Fire on the Flight Deck Aft; This Is Not a Drill Damage Control Team Eight, led by Chief Aviation Boatswains Mate Gerald Farrier, which had received specialized flight-deck fire-fighting training, immediately reacted to fight the fire. Museum acquires part from ship in deadly 1967 fire - Pensacola News Journal Of note, the greatest loss of life on a U.S. Navy ship since World War II was 176 killed when Hobson (DMS-26) broke in half and sank after a collision with Wasp (CV-18) on 26 April 1952. [19]:34[17] Fire quarters and then general quarters were sounded at 10:52 and 10:53. A sailor standing about 100 feet (30m) forward was struck by a fragment of the Zuni or the exploding fuel tank. Please check NARAs web page about COVID-19 updates for the latest information. While text contains a superscript pointing to item 12 in the references section, item 12 in the reference section is to "Von Achen, W.: The Apache Helicopter: An EMI Case History. [1] Several men jumped or were blown into the ocean. bombs. Download image. McCain, then a lieutenant commander, was assigned to the carrier and flew an A-4E Skyhawk jet. H-008-6 USS Forrestal Disaster - Navy Regardless, shrapnel ripped into both aircraft, and both were immediately sprayed by fuel; a pool of fuel ignited between and under the two aircraft. HullNumber.com's mission is to provide a means for shipmates to keep in touch with one another.