USS Enterprise fire

The 1969 USS Enterprise fire is a major fire and series of explosions that broke out aboard USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) on January 14, 1969 off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The fire broke out after a Zuni rocket attached to an aircraft detonated, and spread following further rocket and bomb explosions blew holes in the flight deck, allowing burning jet fuel to enter the ship's interior. 28 sailors were killed, 314 injured, 15 aircraft were destroyed, and the total cost of aircraft replacement and shipboard repair was over $126 million.^[1]

Background

Enterprise departed Alameda for her fourth deployment to Vietnam, and eighth deployment overall, on January 6, 1969.^[2] At the time of the fire, the ship was off the coast of Hawaii, conducting a final battle drill and operational readiness inspection before steaming for Vietnam.^[3][4] Personnel were aboard Enterprise to observe the ORI.^[4]

Fire

At approximately 8:18 am, Enterprise was turning to port to conduct flight operations when a Zuni rocket, equipped with a 15 pound warhead of Composition B explosive, mounted on a F-4J Phantom parked on the stern, exploded after being heated by the exhaust from an MD-3A "Huffer", a tractor-mounted air starting unit used to start aircraft.^[1][5] The explosion perforated the aircraft's fuel cells, and ignited the leaking JP-5 jet fuel. About a minute later, three additional Zuni rockets exploded; these blasts blew holes into the flight deck, allowing the burning JP-5 to pour into the 03 ("oh-three") level directly under the flight deck.^[1] Captain Kent Lee, commanding officer of the Enterprise, directed the port turn to continue after the first explosion, steering the ship into the wind to blow smoke away from the ship.^[6] Approximately three minutes after the initial explosion, a bomb mounted on the Phantom exploded, having been engulfed in flames from the earlier explosions and burning fuel. This explosion blew a larger hole, approximately 8 feet by 7 feet, in the flight deck. The heat from the blast ignited additional fires on the 03 level, and debris from the explosion caused holes in the deck; this allowed burning fuel to spread further, entering the 02 ("oh-two") and 01 ("oh-one") levels and eventually the first deck. This explosion also damaged the twin agent units that provided firefighting foam to the area, rendering them inoperable, and severed fire hoses in the area. In short order, a second Mark 82 bomb detonated, followed by a larger 500-pound bomb. Several minutes after the larger bomb detonated, a bomb rack holding three MK-82 bombs exploded. This blast tore a large hole, approximately 18 feet by 22 feet, into the flight deck, and ruptured a 6,000 gallon fuel tank mounted on a tanker aircraft; a massive fireball resulted from the fuel igniting, spreading the fire further. All told, eighteen explosions occurred, blowing eight holes into the flight deck and beyond.^[1]

Despite the damage and the loss of the twin agent unit, the crew was able to extinguish the fires within four hours.^[6]

The nuclear-powered frigate USS Bainbridge came to the stricken carrier's aid during the fire.^[7]

Aftermath

The following day, Bainbridge escorted Enterprise to Pearl Harbor, where the ship underwent repairs.^[7] Despite the damage, the ship was repaired in 51 days, after which Enterprise continued on her regularly scheduled deployment.^[5][6] Enterprise returned to Alameda on July 2, 1969.^[2]

This was the last of three major fires to befall U.S. aircraft carriers in the 1960's. A fire aboard USS Oriskany on October 26, 1966, killed 44 sailors and injured 156 more, and a fire aboard USS Forrestal on July 29, 1967 killed 134 sailors and injured 161.

Investigation

A JAG Manual investigation commenced immediately after the fire, in accordance with Navy policy. The investigation determined that the initial explosion was caused by overheating of the Zuni rocket by the huffer exhaust.^[4] Investigators also determined that although concerns about the exhaust and placement of the huffer were raised by an airman who observed the exhaust, the personnel to whom the concerns were raised were involved in other tasks, and may not have completely understood what was being said due to the ambient noise on the flight deck; however, the investigators also noted that moving the unit may not have made a difference in whether the initial explosion occurred or not, due to the estimated temperature of the rocket by that time.^[4] The investigation also revealed that flight deck personnel did not have an understanding of ordnance cook-off times, and as a result may not have had an appreciation of the hazards posed by live ordnance on the flight deck. Among the items deemed to have had some sort of impact of firefighting operations were lack of redundancies in communication systems and firefighting system controls and components; lack of communication between the Air Boss, who was responsible for flight and hangar deck firefighting, and the Damage Control Assistant, who was responsible for all other firefighting operations; and overtasking of the fire main system due to activation of multiple systems at once.^[4]

Investigators generally praised the firefighting operation aboard Enterprise. Specific praise was given to the medical department, who were directly credited with saving countless lives, and to the establishment of a damage control training team that helped with damage control training. Praise was also directed at the captain of USS Rogers, who navigated his ship to within feet of Enterprise to aid firefighting efforts.^[4]

The investigators made a number of recommendations. Chief among them were a redesign of the air start unit, to permit the exhaust to be blown upward instead of to the side, and educating flight deck personnel on ordnance cookoff temperatures and times; implementation of a longer huffer air supply hose, which delivers the air needed to start aircraft and which had already been accomplished aboard USS Constellation due to concerns about ordnance cookoff from huffer exhaust, was also recommended fleetwide.^[4] Many other recommendations were made, including installation of redundant communication and control systems, improved communication between key senior personnel, and a redesign of the head covering worn by flight deck firefighters. Investigators also recommended cross-training shipboard dentists as anesthesiologists; a dentist so trained was assigned to Enterprise, giving the medical department the ability to perform additional emergency surgery during the fire.^[4]

References