An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise kills 27 people in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on this day in 1969. A rocket accidentally detonated, destroying 15 planes and injuring more than 300 people.
The Enterprise was the first-ever nuclear-powered aircraft carrier when it was launched in 1960. It has eight nuclear reactors, six more than all subsequent nuclear carriers. The massive ship is over 1,100 feet long and carries 4,600 crew members.
At 8:19 a.m. on January 14, a MK-32 Zuni rocket that was loaded on an F-4 Phantom jet overheated due to the exhaust from another vehicle. The rocket blew up, setting off a chain reaction of explosions. Fires broke out across the deck of the ship, and when jet fuel flowed into the carrier’s interior, other fires were sparked. Many of the Enterprise’s fire-protection features failed to work properly, but the crew worked heroically and tirelessly to extinguish the fire.
In all, 27 sailors lost their lives and another 314 were seriously injured. Although 15 aircraft (out of the 32 stationed on the Enterprise at the time) were destroyed by the explosions and fire, the Enterprise itself was never threatened.
The USS Enterprise was repaired over several months at Pearl Harbor and returned to action later in the year.
The Enterprise (CVN-65) was not at Pearl Harbor when the fire broke out, but was off the coast of Hawaii and was practicing flight operations before heading back to Vietnam for another tour of duty.
The ‘other vehicle’ mentioned whose exhaust caused the Zuni rocket to heat past its ignition point was called an ‘MD-3A Huffer’. It was a portable device used to start the jet engines on the F-4 Phantom II.
The Zuni rocket’s warhead was small (only about 15 pounds), but once it exploded it punctured the jets fuel tanks and the resulting explosion and fire from that ignited the bombs attached and the chain reaction spread across the flight deck.
The Enterprise was close enough to Pearl Harbor to return for repairs and was back in operation in about two months.
John McInsane was stationed on the Forrestal (CV-59) not the Enterprise. That fire was about a year and a half earlier and the admirals little boy was quickly whisked away to safety on another carrier.
Quite correct. Where do these writers get their facts? McStain (Songbird) is busy in Hell I am sure.