On July 29, 1967, USS Forrestal sailors, surrounded on all sides by water, watched in horror as, in an instant, the flame began to swallow their ship. They rushed in an attempt to do something, but after the first explosion on the Forrestal aircraft carrier, a second came. He left behind fireballs in the sky. A depressing foreboding of an imminent catastrophe hung.
One of the most significant incidents in the history of the US Navy is associated with the Forrestal aircraft carrier, named after the first US Secretary of Defense . The material damage caused by the disaster in 1967 amounted to millions of dollars, not counting the cost of destroyed aircraft. However, today we will talk about those who were on board the ship that ill-fated day.
Accident Day on the aircraft carrier "Forrestal"
July 29th was ordinary. It also began for 5,000 officers and military personnel of the Forrestol aircraft carrier, when a huge ship of 80,000 tons cut through the calm waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. As ordinary as it can be for people at war. And the people at Forrestal were definitely in a state of hostilities. For the first time after their ship was put into operation in October 1955, they launched aircraft from the take-off deck to attack an adversary whose coastline was only a few miles beyond the horizon.
The ship on which these people served was the first US aircraft carrier built in the postwar period, taking into account the requirements of jet aircraft and the experience gained in World War II. Within four days, they completed about 150 missions against targets in North Vietnam. On the four-tier take-off deck of the ship, crew members were busy with routine preparations for the second launch of the fifth day in battle.
The hot, tropical sun was beaming over their heads.
It was about 10:50 a.m. (local time) on July 29, 1967.
The launch, which was planned for the near future, was never done. At 10:50 a spontaneous launch of the Zuni unguided rocket occurred, which, flying across the deck, fell into the hanging fuel tank of a Skyhawk attack aircraft, already loaded and ready to carry out its mission. The fuel spilled from the torn tank instantly ignited, and within a minute and a half the first explosion was heard.
Official data
Let's get acquainted with the chronology of the tragic event on the report, which was published by the Navy:
11:20 - Forrestal reports a serious fire on the take-off deck, and all the ships of the group are sent to him to help.
11:21 a.m. - Forrestal reports that the fire began at about 11:00 a.m. on the aft side of the take-off deck during engine start-up. One of the planes exploded, surrounded by a group of sixteen others. Fire spreads throughout the aft section of the take-off deck. It is reported that several aircraft were destroyed, and many people were killed or injured.
11:32 - aircraft carriers Bon Homme Richard and Oriskany send medical assistance by helicopter.
11:47 - Forrestal reports that the fire on the take-off deck is under control, but the platforms and lower decks are covered in fire. At this time, it was established that the fire began at about 10:53 in the morning. On nearby planes, fuel tanks, rockets and bombs explode. It has been established that about 20 aircraft were destroyed, but the number of casualties has not yet been reported.
12:15. - the fire on the take-off deck is extinguished.
12:26 - ship's medical posts are flooded, most people were in the cargo compartment and at the stern of the take-off deck. Medical and fire-fighting assistance from helicopters is being received.
12:45 - it is impossible to control the fire on the first and second decks and in the third cargo compartment. All aircraft suitable for transportation are equipped with stretchers for the evacuation of the injured to aircraft carriers Bon Homme Richard and Oriskany.
1:10 - losses are expected to be high, as the aircraft were manned and ready to take off. The take-off deck has four large openings from exploding bombs.
1:48 - the fire is still on the first three decks under the aft of the take-off deck. All the main mechanisms, including the steering, are still working.
2:12 - fires on the left side of the first deck were put out. The radio compartment has been evacuated due to dense smoke and water.
2:47 - fires continue, but are under control. Forrestal releases steam towards the Repoe hospital ship.
3:00 AM - Task Force Commander 77 reports that he is sending Forrestal to Subic Bay, Philippines, after meeting with Repose.
5:05 - counting people on Forrestal and other ships. Fires are still burning in the aft carpentry workshop and the main deck.
6:44 - fires flare up again.
8:30 - it is reported that the fire continues in the second and third decks, but the entrance there is difficult. Bedding and clothing feed the fire and cut out a hole in the deck to fight the fire.
8:33 - it is reported that a fire on the second deck was taken under control. Heat and smoke make it difficult to fight fire.
8:54 - the fire was extinguished with the exception of the left side of the second deck. Heat and smoke persist. The evacuation of the wounded.
Sunday, July 30, 12:20. All fires are extinguished. The aircraft carrier "Forrestal" continued to clean smog and cool the hot steel on the second and third decks.
Disaster through the eyes of the crew
Of course, the official reports of the fire at the Forrestol aircraft carrier cannot convey emotions and feelings, which in their heat, of course, were much higher than the heat of blazing fires. It is impossible to imagine all the horror experienced by the people there who are fighting to save the ship, their own life and the lives of their comrades.
Memoirs of Eyewitnesses
Captain Logan was on the aircraft on the take-off deck when a fire broke out on the Forrestal aircraft carrier. He jumped out of the plane and ran towards the fire hoses, meeting with the emergency team, which raced towards the fire. For a moment they stopped, fixing their eyes on the fire, which was swelling upward with large turbulences, releasing fireballs into the sky. According to him, firefighters were clearly worried, but determined to fulfill their duty. Sailors pushed ammunition, which they could move, along the deck and dumped into the sea. The emergency team attacked the growing flame with foam and, when it was already possible to think, looking at the smoldering bombs, that everything was behind, new explosions sounded.
Airplanes caught fire, new explosions thundered and members of the emergency team died, leaving the other, poorly trained sailors, to continue the fight against fire. They were brave, but their actions were not very effective. Instinct told to use water, to do something - everything that could stop the fire, but all this did not help. For about five minutes, the ship was shocked by a total of nine explosions. Burning jet fuel fell on the decks below, including berths where the night shift was resting. Logan shouted: “Get up! Get up! ”But no one came out. He hoped that they had already left their places - some yes, but many were already dead at that time.
Junior Officer Thomas Laginha heard screams of fire, the sound of running legs and an alarm. In his oral story, he recalls that he heard a bomb explode under John McCain's plane. He was 20 feet from that place and rushed to the starboard side - a ship was aflame behind him and there was no way out. Laginha could only hope that death would be swift. Confused, he lost points and could not see anything. He followed one of the figures, who stumbled ahead. They approached the cooler compartment, which was still protected from fire, and then heard the next explosions and began to descend to the fourth deck.
When he passed by the guys who were on the hoses, they looked strangely at Laginha, as if they had seen a ghost, and shouted: “Trap! Wounded man! ” Laginha himself was not aware of what was happening, did not feel pain, although all was covered in blood. The fragments literally excised his body, and on a hospital vessel, the orderlies pulled pieces of glass and metal from him. The next day, Laginho was released at the crash site, onto a ship with gaping holes, the skeletons of burned planes and the bodies of the dead. He was one of the lucky ones. Fires lasted almost the whole day, and the Forrestal infirmary was overwhelmed with casualties. More than 130 of his comrades were dead ...
The causes of the disaster
There are a number of factors that could cause a crash on the Forrestal aircraft carrier, however, looking into the past, we can say that this tragedy occurred due to their tragic combination of factors. Unstable obsolete ammunition, high speed of operations, power surges, human errors ... The Forrestal tragedy was a series of mistakes that could probably have been individually eliminated, but when they happened together, they left no chance of preventing a catastrophe.
A series of mistakes
The day before the fire, Forrestal, located at that time in the Gulf of Tonkin, was understaffed with ammunition. Recently, the bombing mission of Vietnam has intensified, and the American troops simply did not have enough modern shells, so it was decided to understaff the ship with ammunition that was dated during the war in Korea. The shells were not in the best condition, and managers and ammunition specialists were reluctant to accept the load.
Violation of the rules for working with ammunition - despite the fact that the electrical connection to the launcher was to occur only after the aircraft arrived at the catapult, on the ship this operation was often performed at the ammunition depot. And this was recognized as the reason for the spontaneous launch of a rocket, the receipt of which could be disrupted simply by a strong gust of wind.
This list can be continued, as there were a number of potential reasons.
But how did the life of the ship itself end? It was restored and continued to serve, which officially ended on September 11, 1993. In 2013, the aircraft carrier was sold at auction to the only buyer who wished to buy it - Texas All Star Metals companies for one cent. In 2015, the American aircraft carrier Forrestol was dismantled for scrap.