Essay On Forrestal Fire

The Fire of the USS Forrestal

Imagine you are on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Your ship has been conducting combat operations for days. Everything is routine, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Suddenly, there’s a flash and a bang and a massive fire engulfs the stern. Within minutes, a series of massive explosions tears apart the stern. Over 100 men die, more than half of the air wing’s planes are destroyed or damaged, and your ship is left a burning wreck. Well, this is exactly what happened to the supercarrier USS Forrestal on July 29, 1967. The worst carrier fire in history hit the ship, and pummeled the carrier. The Forrestal fire was, and is, the worst US naval disaster of the 20th century, tied with the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945. The irony of it is, this massive, costly disaster was all the result of a few, tiny …show more content…
The role of destroying the rail line fell to the A-4 Skyhawks & A-6 Intruders. Unlike normal, most of Skyhawks carried old WWII AN-M65 bombs. The role of the F-4s were to protect the A-4s and A-6s from MiGs. 5 Phantoms also had the additional task of destroying anti-aircraft guns.
To accomplish this task, these Phantoms, in addition to their air-to-air missiles, carried 24 Zuni rockets, housed in 6 pods, with 4 rockets each, hanging under their wings. These unguided rockets, still in service, pack a devastating punch.
At 10:46, the Forrestal made a hard turn into the wind, giving its aircraft extra lift for takeoff. All of the pilots were already getting into their cockpits.
At 10:51, the first two aircraft, a KA-3B and an EA-1F, launched from the catapults. Two more aircraft taxiied up and were in the air in seconds.
Suddenly, a flash and a blur streaked across the flight deck, accompanied by a loud bang. Jet fuel, spilling out of breached fuel tanks, spread across the deck, and quickly

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