This post is In memory of those whom perished aboard the USS Forrestal 44 years ago today on July 29th back in 1967 while the Forrestal was conducting combat operations which included hundreds airstrikes and bombing runs on North Vietnam from "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin as part of Task force 77.
About 10:50 hours (local time) on 29 July, while preparations for the second strike of the day were being made, an unguided Mk-32 "Zuni" rocket, one of four contained in a LAU-10 underwing rocket pod mounted on a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, was accidentally fired due to an electrical power surge during the switch from external power to internal power.
The rocket flew across the flight deck, striking a wing-mounted external fuel tank on a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk awaiting launch, aircraft No. 405, piloted by LCDR Fred D. White,] The warhead's safety mechanism prevented it from detonating, but the impact tore the tank off the wing and ignited the resulting spray of escaping JP-5 fuel, causing an instantaneous conflagration. Other external fuel tanks overheated and ruptured, releasing more jet fuel to feed the flames which spread along the flight deck, leaving pilots in their aircraft with the options of being incinerated in their cockpits or running through the flames to escape. LCDR White leaped from his burning aircraft but was killed instantly, along with many firefighters, when the first bomb cooked off and exploded.
With his aircraft surrounded by flames, LCDR John McCain, pilot of A-4 Skyhawk side No. 416, escaped by climbing out of the cockpit, walking down the nose and jumping off the refueling probe.
The impact of the Zuni dislodged two of the 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs (World War II-vintage AN-M65s ), which lay in the burning fuel. The fire team's chief, Gerald Farrier (without benefit of protective clothing) immediately smothered the bombs with a PKP fire extinguisher in an effort to knock down the fuel fire long enough to allow the pilots to escape. According to their training, the fire team normally had almost three minutes to reduce the temperature of the bombs to a safe level, but Farrier did not realize the "Comp. B" bombs were already critically close to cooking-off until one split open due to the older bombs low cook off time compared to the modern bombs. Farrier , knowing a lethal explosion was imminent, shouted for the fire team to withdraw but the bomb exploded seconds later - only one and a half minutes after the start of the fire.
The detonation destroyed McCain's A-4 Skyhawk (along with its remaining fuel and armament), blew a crater in the armored flight deck, and sprayed the deck and crew with shrapnel and burning jet fuel. It killed the on-deck firefighting contingent along with Farrier , with the exception of three men who survived with critical injuries. The two bomb-laden A-4s in line ahead of McCain's were riddled with shrapnel and engulfed in the flaming jet fuel still spreading over the deck, causing more bombs to detonate and more fuel to spill.
It was also the most documented , for the disaster was captured in gritty detail as the carriers on board camera's captured the horrors unfolding as the fire raged out of control on the flight deck as the sailors of the Forrestal fought valiantly for hours to extinguish the fire and save the ship from total destruction as bombs , planes and ammunition exploded on the flight deck wiping out 2 fire teams and inflicting heavy damage to the ship and flaming jet fuel engulfing everything in it's path.
The Forrestal was finally decommissioned on September 11 1993 at Pier 6E in Philadelphia, and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. After being stricken, ex-Forrestal was heavily stripped to support the rest of the carrier fleet. In 1999, the USS Forrestal Museum Inc. began a campaign to obtain the ship from the Navy via donation, for use as a museum, to be located in Baltimore, but this plan was not successful. The Navy removed the ship from donation hold in 2004 and redesignated it for disposal. According to the NVR, her final status is "donated for use as fishing reef." As of 2007, the ship was being environmentally prepared for sinking as an artificial reef as was USS Oriskany. Due to elements of the Forrestal design having led directly to current aircraft carrier design, the ship will be donated to a state and sunk to become a deep water reef, for fishery propagation and so that it will be accessible to divers.
The date for the sinking has not yet been announced.
On 15 June 2010, Forrestal departed Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island, where she had been mothballed since 1998, under tow for the inactive ship storage facility in Philadelphia.
When I arrived , it was the early morning , 6am to be exact on a Sunday as I walked past the vast armada of decommissioned relics from the 60's & 70s as I ventured off to the edge of the base I saw in the distance the Forrestal & the JFK I walked up to the 2 massive carriers both tied up at the piers amid the peaceful surroundings of the Delaware river.
The 2 ships , one which was the first super carrier of her time the 2nd a marvel of a new modern age of carriers , symbols of American might and freedom that lay in waiting as the sun rose over them.
It was a beautiful morning as the morning sun rose over the 2 ships ,
I took as many photographs as I could to capture the peaceful atmosphere ,
I then departed the base and bid the 2 carriers farewell.
I took as many photographs as I could to capture the peaceful atmosphere ,
I then departed the base and bid the 2 carriers farewell.
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