“Fire on the Flightdeck!”: 14 Jan 1969

14/0819L Jan 1969: USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) is conducting workups in preparations for combat operations off North Vietnam with CVW-9 embarked.  First event for the day has just been launched and respot for second event is underway.  USS Bainbridge and Rogers are in company.  Aft of the isalnd, the exhaust from an  "huffer" (jet starting unit) has been blowing on a  Zuni rocket pod, mounted on an F-4.  A critical temperature is reached and a Zuni rocket warhead  "cooks" off, launching sharpnel across the flight deck into another fully fueled aircraft causing it to explode.  In the tightly packed confines of fueled and armed aircraft on the stern of the carrier, the conflagration spreads and once again, a mighty ship is in mortal danger:

 

(Photo from USS Rogers – image is blurred by the force of the explosions)

ABH2 Mendoza was a yellow shirt working the upcoming launch:

We were going through Operational Readiness Inspections.  The first launch of the morning had just went off in what was said, record time,so naturally we wanted to do better.  I,and another YellowShirt (Garcia) were standing on the Centerline,in front of Phantoms 105 and 106 (VF-96) as we turned into the wind.

Suddenly what felt like a strong and hot gust of wind knocked me down. I remember thinking ‘Where did that come from?’  I did not hear the explosion, just a muffled poof. I sat  there and looked at this huge wall of fire and now there was a tremendous roar in my ears. Out of this wall of fire I watched crewmen running out in slow motion and screaming. I looked over at Garcia and saw he was on his back, on fire from the waist up. That registered quickly and I attempted to stand up to help him but for some reason could not move my right leg. For a brief moment I thought I must have broken my hip. Then the second explosion went off. Something hot and soft hit me, knocking me on my back again, I sat up and again the slow motion movements of others was back.  All this was in the first 40 seconds but to me seemed way longer.  Out of the wall of fire,the Radar Intercept Officer of F-4 105,  walked out, in slow motion and completely engulfed in flames…

Aircraft loaded with Mk82 500lb bombs and full tanks of fuel were beginning to explode.  Below the flightdeck it was clear something was very, very wrong.  AZ2 Cochrane was working Logs & Records in the Arresting gear room underneath the flightdeck:

I remember I heard the JP-5 (purple gas lines overhead) sounding like the fuel was making a boiling sound which was very strange to me. It seems that I also remember fuel spills everywhere too. I knew we were in big trouble!  I do remember being trapped below decks starting at my berthing area just below the flight deck and ending up at my GQ Station near sick bay sometime later. 

The intense smoke, darkness with only emergency red lighting, the ship swaying back an forth after each 500 lb bomb when off, injured being taken into sick bay area in pain, the noises & sounds of a ship fighting for it’s life trying to stay afloat, fear of the unknown, some feelings of panic, and most of all a strange calmness with everything going in slow motion is what I remember too.   As I felt trapped, confined in a dark area without air, smelling jet fuel, and breathing smoke, crawling to safety, in a panic state fearful of my own safety and of my shipmates, hearing "General Quarters, General Quarters, Man Your Battle Stations, This Is Not A Drill".

Feeling the 500 lb. bombs going off on the flight deck, shaking the ship, and leaving me terrified, as I did not know if we were under attack. The smelling of smoke, jet fuel, and hearing people in pain going to sick bay.

A fire at sea is unlike any other – there is no running away.  And like those on the Forrestal and Oriskany before, the crew of the Enterprise grabbed hoses and firefighting gear and ran toward the fire, burning aircraft and exploding ordnance, intent on saving their ship.  Across the way the USS Bainbridge and USS Rogers made haste at flank speed to join and provide assistance in putting out the fires and picking up those who had been blown overboard.  Like Forrestal, the initial teams were cut down by exploding ordnance and hampered by failing gear and burst firefighting mains.  But like Forrestal and countless other ships suffering and surviving grevious battle damage the Big "E"s crew pulled their ship through with ingenuity, determination and guts.

At day’s end the toll was 27 dead, 314 injured and 15 aircraft destroyed.  The fire was so intense that some aircraft were literally welded to the deck.  Damage from the exploding bombs punched holes in the flight deck that allowed the fire to burn all the way down to the waterline – One 500lb bomb fell all the way through the ship, and passed throught he hull just three feet above the waterlilne at the ship’s stern.  Enterprise returned to Pearl harbor the following day and put into the shipyard there for extensive repairs, coming back out in March to make her combat deployment.