The USS Forrestal (CV-59) served in the US Navy for nearly 40 years, contributing significantly to a variety of combat operations. However, its most notorious moment occurred in 1967, when a catastrophic accident on the flight deck caused significant damage to the ship and resulted in a tragic loss of life.
Following the disaster, the Navy quickly implemented training reforms to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The USS Forrestal ‘s early service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean
The USS Forrestal was the lead ship in her class of aircraft carriers. On October 1, 1955, she was commissioned as the first carrier specifically designed to operate jet aircraft, earning the title of the Navy’s first “supercarrier.”
Forrestal began her service in the Atlantic during the Suez Crisis and was later deployed to the Mediterranean with the US Sixth Fleet. Before providing air support during the Vietnam War, she spent three days stationed off the coast of Beirut during the 1958 Lebanon crisis.
In November 1963, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules performed 21 full-stop landings and takeoffs on Forrestal’s flight deck, breaking the record for the largest and heaviest aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier. The following year, US President Lyndon B. Johnson dispatched the ship to Brazil to support the successful military coup against President João Goulart.
The explosion on that fateful day
In June 1967, the USS Forrestal was stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam’s northern coast in the South China Sea.
During this time, aircraft from Attack Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17) flew numerous successful missions from the carrier, establishing it as the Navy’s most intense air raid operation to that point.
On July 29, 1967, an electrical malfunction aboard a McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II on the Forrestal led to the accidental firing of a Mk 32 “Zuni” Five-Inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket (FFAR).
It streaked across the deck and collided with a parked, combat-ready Douglas A-4E Skyhawk, dislodging its 400-gallon external fuel tank. Senator John McCain was in the Skyhawk but managed to escape the cockpit.
The collision ignited fuel from the A-4E, causing a fire that spread quickly. The initial explosion killed the first two firefighting teams attempting to contain the fire.
Nine more explosions occurred within five minutes of the rocket’s launch. The raging inferno eventually detonated a 1,000-pound AN-M65 bomb.
The losses onboard the USS Forrestal were devastating
The fire raged out of control, trapping pilots inside their cockpits. Authorities spent the entire day fighting the fire, which was made even more difficult by an initial bomb explosion that destroyed the flight deck and caused fuel to flood into the USS Forrestal’s lower levels.
Following explosions worsened the situation, killing 50 crew members when one detonated directly above their sleeping quarters.
The destroyers USS Rupertus (DD-851) and George K. MacKenzie (DD-836) played critical roles in extinguishing the flames, revealing the full extent of the devastation. Many of the injured were transported to the hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16).
The disaster killed 134 sailors and left hundreds injured. Over 20 aircraft were destroyed, including F-4Bs, A-4Es, and North American RA-5C Vigilantes, and the carrier suffered damages totaling more than $70 million.
Fires at sea force sailors to make difficult decisions: fight the flames, succumb to them, or jump into treacherous waters. Safety is difficult to find.
While some on the Forrestal survived, others met a far more tragic fate. The explosions were the deadliest incident on a US Navy vessel since the Second World War.
The US Navy changed its training
Following the incident, the Navy conducted a thorough review of its firefighting training procedures, revealing a lax culture, insufficient firefighting skills among sailors, and slow responses to unexpected accidents.
The Aircraft Carrier Safety Review Panel, chaired by Rear Adm. Forsyth Massey, investigated the tragedy and concluded that “poor and outdated doctrinal and technical documentation of ordnance and aircraft equipment and procedures, evident at all levels of command, was a contributing cause of the accidental rocket firing.”
In response to the USS Forrestal disaster, the Navy overhauled its training programs, implementing new protocols and improvements.
While the incident was tragic, it taught the Navy valuable lessons, resulting in the establishment of essential firefighting training for sailors, which is still in place today. The goal was to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
The USS Forrestal remained in service for several years after
Surprisingly, the explosions on July 29, 1967 caused insufficient damage to prevent the USS Forrestal from being repaired.
After being cleared to return to duty, the aircraft carrier was deployed to the Mediterranean several times, participated in the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident, took part in Operation Earnest Will in the Middle East, and was placed on standby during the Gulf War.
After providing air support during Operation Provide Comfort in 1991, Forrestal became a training carrier and was redesignated AVT-59. In 1993, she was decommissioned. Twenty-three years later, in 2015, she was eventually scrapped after unsuccessful attempts to convert her into a museum.
Currently, a model of the vessel is exhibited in the “America’s War in Vietnam” section at the National Museum of the US Navy.
