Posted on Jan 15, 2018
7
7
0
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 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.
Explosion rocks USS Enterprise - Jan 14, 1969 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.com
Sailors
Pearl Harbor
Natural Disaster
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 5
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
This was my Baby, My first Love!! She was and still is the Fastest carrier ever to be built. Nothing afloat today can match her speed. The Patrol Gunboat Hydrofoils could out do her but nothing of any size. The Enterprise could out run and out turn her escorts. There was never before a Carrier with 4 rudders, and none since. With her sleek "Cruiser" style hull she was built for speed and could do it. Her top speed is still classified. Even the new Ford Class are not as fast, and at 1,123 feet long from tip to tip the Ford's do not measure up. There is a reason she is called THE LEGEND! We who sailed on her will keep her memory alive as long as we breathe and pass her spirit on to her Namesake Enterprise IX CVN-80. For more than two centuries, Enterprise Sailors have set the standard for excellence aboard the eight ships to proudly bear her name and will continue to do so upon the future commissioning of PCU Enterprise (CVN 80), the third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google