Vietnam War. Fire aboard the USS Forrestal.

With the war in Southeast Asia providing experience for all types of naval air combat operations, several carries which would have normally have served with the Atlantic fleet, were occasionally rotated into service with the naval forces operating with the Pacific Fleet off of the coast of South Vietnam.

The USS Forrestal left Norfolk Virginia in early June of 1967 on a cruise that would take her around the Horn of Africa, across the Indian Ocean to the Philippines, and finally to her duty station in the South China Sea. The Forrestal arrived at Yankee Station in the South China Sea on July 25 1967 and immediately began air operations against targets in North Vietnam.

In four days the Forrestal launched more than 150 sorties against enemy targets. Due to a shortage of of the newer MK 82 500 lbs. and the MK 83 1000 lbs.pound bombs, on July 28 the Forrestal took on ordnance which had been held in storage since the end of the Second World War. These 22 years old bombs would have catastrophic consequences in the events that would soon follow.

At 1050 hours on July 29 1967 while preparing to launch it's second strike of the day, the Forrestal's fight deck was crowded with armed and fully fueled aircraft waiting their turn to catapult off of the rolling deck.

A pilot in one of the F-4 Phantoms awaiting it's turn to launch routinely toggled a switch that would take his aircraft off of external power and go on to it's own internal power. It's believed that an electrical short in the plane's internal power system cause one of the four Mk-32 "Zuni" rockets to fire prematurely. The rocket flew across the fight deck striking a wing mounted fuel tank on a A-4 Skyhawk. The rocket's safety prevented it from detonating,but it tore a hole in the A-4 fuel tank resulting in a spill of highly flammable J-4 jet fuel to spay from the ruptured tank. With more than 20 running jet aircraft sitting in the immediate vicinity of the spill,it didn't take long for the J-4 flowing over the fight deck to find a source of ignition causing an instantaneous conflagration across the Forrestal crowed fight deck. Pilots trapped in their planes tried desperately to escape as members of the fight deck crew attempted to fight the fire. The older bombs that the ship had taken on the day prior to the fire, began to "cook off" and exploded within 30 seconds of being exposed to the high heat. The newer type bombs were designed to withstand higher temperatures and plus the effect of age also played a part.

Many of the sailors who rushed to help fight the fire when it first broke out were killed by these bombs exploding. Spilled jet fuel from the aircraft also seeped through the fight deck into the sailors quarters below burning to death many sailors sleeping in their bunks.

Pilots trapped in their planes were faced with two options. They could either be incinerated in the cockpits of their aircraft of they could run through the flames to escape. With his A-4 Skyhawk surrounded by the roaring flames, Lt. Commander John McCain,escaped by walking out onto the nose of his plane and climbing onto the refueling probe and jumping as far as he could to try and miss the flames. It worked. He went on to serve in the US Senate and run for President of the United States in 2008.

Planes and bombs continued to explode. A total of nine separate explosions would destroy the Forrestal armored fight deck and kill many more sailors before the crews are able to control the fires. The fires on the fight deck was under control by 1215 hours but the fires below deck continued to rage on, until finally brought under control at 0400 hours on July 30.

The fire left 134 of the Forrestal's crew dead,and another 161 seriously wounded. At least 21 aircraft were destroyed of damaged so badly that they had to be scraped. But it also taught the Navy a lesson. The crew on the Forrestal were not well drilled in fire prevention. This was going to change. It was a major wake up call. From that point on, American Sailors would be trained and drilled to the extreme in fire fighting. There's a saying in the modern day Navy."You scratch a sailor and you'll find a fireman". On board fires and their prevention became a priority after the Forrestal explosion.

The Navy's Fire Fighting School is named for Chief Boatswain's Mate Gerald W.Farrier, one of the first sailors to die aboard the Forrestal that day as he tried to fight the fire with just a fire extinguisher.

There are many available stories about the Forrestal explosion online. That's where I got all of this information. I hope you enjoy.