Posted on Oct 26, 2017
Fire breaks out on U.S. aircraft carrier - Oct 26, 1966 - HISTORY.com
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A fire breaks out on board the 42,000-ton U.S. aircraft carrier Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin. The accident occurred when a locker filled with night illumination magnesium flares burst into flame. The fire spread quickly through most of the ship, resulting in 35 officers and eight enlisted men killed and a further 16 injured. The loss of life would have been much higher except for the valor of crewmen who pushed 300 500-pound, 1,000-pound, and 2,000-pound bombs that lay within reach of the flames on the hangar deck overboard. The fire destroyed four fighter-bombers and two helicopters, but it was brought under control after three hours. The fallen were returned to the United States for burial.
Also on this day: President Lyndon Johnson flies to South Vietnam after attending a meeting in Manila for a surprise two-and-a-half-hour visit with U.S. troops at Cam Ranh.
Also on this day: President Lyndon Johnson flies to South Vietnam after attending a meeting in Manila for a surprise two-and-a-half-hour visit with U.S. troops at Cam Ranh.
Fire breaks out on U.S. aircraft carrier - Oct 26, 1966 - HISTORY.com
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Vietnam War
American History
Military History
Posted 7 y ago
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Thanks for reminding us SP5 Mark Kuzinski that on October 26, 1966 a fire broke out on board the 42,000-ton U.S. aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34) in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Thankfully the ammunition crewmen risked their lives to push the 300 500-pound, 1,000-pound, and 2,000-pound bombs that lay within reach of the flames on the hangar deck overboard.
Kudos to those brave crewmen whose actions restricted the casualties to 35 officers and eight enlisted men who were killed and a further 16 injured.
Background:
"On 26 October 1966, there was an aircraft flare fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS ORISKANY operating in the Gulf of Tonkin in Southeast Asia. Two sailors were re-stowing unexpended MK-24 Mod 3 Flares when one was accidentally dropped. The igniter had not been reset to SAFE. As it dropped, the safety lanyard was inadvertently pulled. This actuated the flare. For reasons known only to him, one of the sailors picked up the armed flare, threw it into the magazine locker, and closed the door. Some 2.75-inch rocket warheads loaded with Composition B were stowed in that locker.
Shortly after the flare ignited in the locker, the intense heat caused a 2.75 rocket warhead in the locker to detonate sending fire and smoke into the hangar bay. This was followed by a second warhead explosion that spread fire throughout the entire hangar deck and in the forward portion of the ship. Finally, heat caused a liquid oxygen tank to explode. Before the fires were completely under control, 44 sailors had died (43 from asphyxiation and one from burns) and 156 had been injured. Beside the material damage to the ship, two helicopters and an A-4E aircraft were destroyed and three A-4E aircraft were damaged. The estimated cost of the material damage was eleven million dollars. The damage and the causalities would have been considerably lower had it not been for the warheads detonating in the fire.
This was not the first ordnance accident involving the detonation of sensitive ordnance aboard the ORISKANY. On 6 March 1953 a Corsair aircraft returning from a strike mission on a North Korean supply center had landed on the flight deck carrying a bomb that had failed to release during the mission. As the plane landed, the bomb broke loose, bounced twice and detonated.
In this case, the bomb fragments pierced the fuel tanks on some F9F Panther Jet fighters in the hanger deck. The hanger bay was flooded with jet fuel but the fire fighting and repair parties controlled the flooding. Fortunately, there was no other ordnance involved and thus there were no secondary explosions to complicate the damage control efforts. The ORISKANY was fully operational on the next day. Two sailors were killed and fifteen were wounded as a result of that accident."
http://www.insensitivemunitions.org/history/the-uss-oriskany-cva-34-fire-and-munition-explosions/
REMEMBER THE FALLEN
Images: 1966-10-26 Damaged U. Navy Douglas Skyhawk fighters of Attack Carrier Air Wing 16 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany off Vietnam on 26 Octobers; 1966 U.S. Navy sailors clean the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34); USS Oriskany (CVA-34) fire 1966
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT John " Mac " McConnell SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SP5 Robert Ruck SCPO Morris Ramsey SGT Michael Thorin SPC Margaret Higgins SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
Thankfully the ammunition crewmen risked their lives to push the 300 500-pound, 1,000-pound, and 2,000-pound bombs that lay within reach of the flames on the hangar deck overboard.
Kudos to those brave crewmen whose actions restricted the casualties to 35 officers and eight enlisted men who were killed and a further 16 injured.
Background:
"On 26 October 1966, there was an aircraft flare fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS ORISKANY operating in the Gulf of Tonkin in Southeast Asia. Two sailors were re-stowing unexpended MK-24 Mod 3 Flares when one was accidentally dropped. The igniter had not been reset to SAFE. As it dropped, the safety lanyard was inadvertently pulled. This actuated the flare. For reasons known only to him, one of the sailors picked up the armed flare, threw it into the magazine locker, and closed the door. Some 2.75-inch rocket warheads loaded with Composition B were stowed in that locker.
Shortly after the flare ignited in the locker, the intense heat caused a 2.75 rocket warhead in the locker to detonate sending fire and smoke into the hangar bay. This was followed by a second warhead explosion that spread fire throughout the entire hangar deck and in the forward portion of the ship. Finally, heat caused a liquid oxygen tank to explode. Before the fires were completely under control, 44 sailors had died (43 from asphyxiation and one from burns) and 156 had been injured. Beside the material damage to the ship, two helicopters and an A-4E aircraft were destroyed and three A-4E aircraft were damaged. The estimated cost of the material damage was eleven million dollars. The damage and the causalities would have been considerably lower had it not been for the warheads detonating in the fire.
This was not the first ordnance accident involving the detonation of sensitive ordnance aboard the ORISKANY. On 6 March 1953 a Corsair aircraft returning from a strike mission on a North Korean supply center had landed on the flight deck carrying a bomb that had failed to release during the mission. As the plane landed, the bomb broke loose, bounced twice and detonated.
In this case, the bomb fragments pierced the fuel tanks on some F9F Panther Jet fighters in the hanger deck. The hanger bay was flooded with jet fuel but the fire fighting and repair parties controlled the flooding. Fortunately, there was no other ordnance involved and thus there were no secondary explosions to complicate the damage control efforts. The ORISKANY was fully operational on the next day. Two sailors were killed and fifteen were wounded as a result of that accident."
http://www.insensitivemunitions.org/history/the-uss-oriskany-cva-34-fire-and-munition-explosions/
REMEMBER THE FALLEN
Images: 1966-10-26 Damaged U. Navy Douglas Skyhawk fighters of Attack Carrier Air Wing 16 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany off Vietnam on 26 Octobers; 1966 U.S. Navy sailors clean the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34); USS Oriskany (CVA-34) fire 1966
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx SSgt (Join to see) TSgt Joe C. SGT John " Mac " McConnell SPC (Join to see) SrA Christopher Wright Maj Marty Hogan PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SP5 Robert Ruck SCPO Morris Ramsey SGT Michael Thorin SPC Margaret Higgins SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
The USS ORISKANY (CVA-34) fire and munition explosions | The History of Insensitive Munitions
On 26 October 1966, there was an aircraft flare fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS ORISKANY operating in the Gulf of Tonkin in Southeast Asia. Two sailors were re-stowing unexpended MK-24 Mod 3 Flares when one was accidentally dropped. The igniter had not been reset to SAFE. As it dropped, the safety lanyard was inadvertently pulled. This actuated the flare. For reasons known only to him, one of the sailors picked up the armed flare, threw...
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Remember hearing about this at the time, but didn't know any details. This sort of fills it all in.
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski,LTC Stephen F. I was on my second WesPac when this happened. Remember it vividly.
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