USS Enterprise Explosion and Fire
Pearl Harbor, Oahu, HI
January 14, 1969
There was an explosion on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on January 14, 1969. At 8:19 a.m., 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, another 314 were seriously injured, and 15 aircraft of the 32 on the ship at the time were destroyed by the explosions and fire. |
