Inferno: The USS Forrestal Fire, July 29, 1967

The Day the Flight Deck Burned: The USS Forrestal Fire, July 29, 1967

On the morning of July 29, 1967, the USS Forrestal (CV-59), the pride of the U.S. Navy’s carrier fleet, was operating off the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. For four days, the ship had launched relentless sorties against enemy targets—150 missions by Attack Carrier Air Wing 17. The crew was tired but focused, locked into the rhythm of war. Below deck, sailors prepped for the next round. Above, jets were armed and fueled, lined wingtip to wingtip across the flight deck. Then, at 10:50 a.m., without warning, the war came home.

A Zuni rocket, mounted under the wing of an F-4 Phantom, fired on its own. The projectile tore across the crowded flight deck and slammed into the fuel tank of a parked A-4 Skyhawk. In an instant, 400 gallons of jet fuel ruptured and sprayed like a mist across the steel surface. The vapor ignited before anyone could react. Fire spread like lightning. Within seconds, the Forrestal's flight deck—a hundred feet above the ocean—became a hellscape.

The A-4 belonged to LCDR John S. McCain III. He escaped his aircraft, but the growing blaze engulfed everything in its path. Bombs began to detonate, each one hurling fire and shrapnel across the deck. The first explosion killed several sailors instantly, including Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate Gerald Farrier, who had rushed forward without hesitation, wielding only a fire extinguisher in a desperate attempt to save his shipmates. His heroism would be echoed by dozens of others in the minutes to come—many of them never making it out alive.

The fire raged for hours. A chain reaction of at least nine massive explosions sent aircraft flying, ruptured deck plating, and blew men overboard. Aviation bombs cooked off with unimaginable violence, hurling fragments through steel bulkheads. The inferno reached over 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit—hot enough to melt the flight deck in places. Sailors scrambled to pull the wounded from burning aircraft, some carrying crewmates whose uniforms and skin were already aflame. Others fought the fire with empty hands, their gear destroyed in the first blast. There was no time to think—only to act, or die.

Below deck, the nightmare was just as grim. Black smoke poured into compartments, filling berthing areas and passageways. Men awoke choking, disoriented, trying to reach escape ladders through the darkness and heat. Many were overtaken by the smoke before they could get out. The sound of bombs above was deafening. One survivor later described it as "hell slamming the ceiling shut." Bodies were later found where they had collapsed, hands still reaching for hatches that never opened.

Among the 134 killed were pilots, mechanics, ordnance handlers, and deck crew—many of them teenagers. Names like LCDR Gerry L. Stark, LCDR Fred D. White, ABHC Gerald Farrier, and PR3 Hubert Morgan Jr. now stand as solemn reminders of a day when steel melted, and heroes stood firm. At least 161 more were injured, some horribly burned, others scarred for life. The Forrestal lost 21 aircraft and sustained over $72 million in damage.

What makes the fire all the more tragic is that it was not caused by enemy action. No missile, no torpedo, no saboteur. It was a malfunctioning rocket and the lethal combination of haste, munitions, and routine. The Navy’s own procedures, in hindsight, were fatally flawed. The 1,000-pound bombs on deck that day were old, unstable leftovers from World War II, transferred from other ships just days earlier. When they detonated, they tore the heart out of the Forrestal’s flight deck—and out of her crew.

But out of the flames came change. The Forrestal fire became the genesis of modern Navy firefighting and damage control. Entire schools were formed in its aftermath. New protocols were implemented for ordnance handling, aircraft spacing, and flight deck safety. It took tragedy to teach those lessons, and they were written in blood.

To this day, the USS Forrestal fire remains one of the deadliest non-combat incidents in the history of the U.S. Navy. It is remembered not just for the scale of its destruction, but for the staggering courage shown by the men aboard. They fought for each other, for the ship, and for time itself—against heat, chaos, and impossible odds.

On that day, the flight deck became a battlefield. And the men of the Forrestal became legends.

USS FORRESTAL FIRE – JULY 29, 1967
These are the names of the 134 sailors and airmen who gave their lives that day:

PR2 Marvin J. Adkins
SN Everett A. Allen
ATR3 Gary J. Ardeneaux
ADJ1 Toney A. Barnett
LT Dennis M. Barton
AMH2 Robert L. Bennett
AQF2 Mark R. Bishop
SN James L. Blaskis
AA William V. Brindle
AE3 Bobby J. Brown
AMS1 Jerry D. Byars
AE3 Francis Campeau
AQF3 Jack M. Carlan
AN Daniel G. Cavazos
SN Ray A. Chatelain
AN Richard D. Clendenen
SN William D. Collins
AN Robert B. Cotton
AMH2 James L. Crenshaw
AME2 Mario C. Crugnola Jr.
AN Robert J. Davies
AO2 Thomas J. Dawson Jr.
AE3 Jerold V. Despard
ADJ3 Edward R. Dorsey
ADJ3 Joseph G. Dugas
ADJ3 Paul A. Dupere
SN John S. Duplaga
SN Kenneth Dyke
AE1 Walter T. Eads
AO2 James A. Earick
ATN2 John T. Edwards
ABHC Gerald W. Farrier
FN Kenneth L. Fasth
AME1 John J. Fiedler
AN Russell L. Fike
ADJ1 Harold Fontenot
AN Johnnie L. Frazier
AN Gerald G. Fredrickson
AMS1 Herbert A. Frye
AN Ramon Garza
LT Robert E. Geller
ADJ3 Richard H. Gibson
AN Lawrence J. Gilbert
AMS3 William T. Gilroy
AMS3 Larry E. Grace
AE3 Russell A. Grazier
ATR3 Charles C. Gregory
SN William C. Hartgen
AN Robert L. Hasz
AN Richard A. Hatcher
AN William K. Hinckley Jr.
DS2 Stephen L. Hock
AMH3 Larry D. Holley
AE2 Calvin D. Howison
AA Philip L. Hudson
AO3 Julius B. Hughes
WO Donald N. Hugo
AN Ralph W. Jacobs
ATR3 Donald W. Jedlicka
AN William B. Justin
AN Thomas M. Kane
AN Charles D. Kieser
AN Joseph Kosik
AME3 Edward L. La Barr
SN Wade A. Lannom Jr.
AN William Lee
EM2 Robert C. Leonberg
AN John T. Lilla
AQF3 Arnold E. H. Lohse
AN Charles E. Long
AZ2 William E. Lowe
AMH3 Kenneth W. Lozier
AQF3 James S. MacVickar Jr.
AN Ralph E. Manning
AMH2 Earle E. Mc Auliffe
AN Brian D. Mc Conahay
ADJ1 George C. Mc Donald
AO2 Frank C. Mc Nelis Jr.
AMH3 William V. Mc Quade
AN Alan R. Metz
AN George D. Miller
AN Edward A. Mindyas
PR3 Hubert H. Morgan Jr.
AE3 Leroy Moser
AN James E. Neumeyer
AE3 Gary E. Newby
AA James E. Newkirk
FN Ronald R. Ogrinc
AN Thomas D. Ott II
AN Wayne H. Ott
AMHC Richard L. Owens
AMH3 Richard T. Pinta
AO2 Raymond N. Plesh
AN John C. Pody III
AMH2 Ernest E. Polston
AN Douglas A. Post
AE3 Robert M. Priviech
ATN3 John M. Pruner
ABH3 Robert A. Rhuda
AN Charles R. Rich
AMS3 Jerry P. Rodgers
AME2 Dale R. Ross
AN James M. Runnels
AN Harvey D. Scofield
AO2 Joseph C. Shartzer
AMH3 William J. Shields
ABH3 Richard M. Sietz
AN David W. Smith
SN Richard T. Smith
AMS2 John F. Snow
AQ1 John C. Spiess
SN Nelson Everett Spitler
AO3 Johnny W. Spivey
LCDR Gerry L. Stark
AN Walter E. Steele
ADJ2 Wendell W. Stewart
AA Robert Allen Stickler
AN Kenneth D. Strain
ABH2 Robert Hatcher Swain
AN Delton E. Terry
YN3 Norman A. Thomas
AMH1 William F. Thompson
AE3 Richard J. Vallone
AN Robert J. Velasquez
AN Juan A. Velez
AN George E. Wall
AN Harold D. Watkins
AA Gregory L. Webb
AME3 Gerald A. Wehde
AQF3 Judson A. Wells Jr.
ADJ3 Richard L. Wescott
AA Edward J. Wessels
LCDR Fred D. White
AN Kerry D. Wisdom
AN Robert L. Zwerlein