USS Forrestal Fire

[ironroad]

Pretty good at showing the investigative procedures, did not like the fact that they spliced old 1950s and 60s footage with modern footage and had a few tech errors, but still good none the less.

 

part1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6l1rwQJjYg...feature=related

 

part2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MVXRng2VCc...feature=related

 

part3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuTq6d51JfY...feature=related

 

part4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvZH7wtzY_Q...feature=related

 

part5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK7RGpSlJ7Y...feature=related

Edited June 25, 2008 by ironroad

[+Dave]

After that they used to call the Forrestal, the Forest Fire.....a very sick joke.

[+Typhoid]

After that they used to call the Forrestal, the Forest Fire.....a very sick joke.

 

we also called it the USS Zippo..........

 

One of the best service schools that I ever went to was Flight Deck Firefighting School at the San Diego Naval Station. A tremendous school where they started by showing us all the flight deck video and lessons learned (and re-learned) from the WWII carrier actions and the Forest Fire, Enterprise and Oriskany fires.

 

Then they made sure we were paying attention by pumping a HUGE amount of kerosene onto the training deck and lighting off this massive inferno, at which point the students went in and put it out using water only (no fire fighting foam)

 

The survivors were all then well trained to head on out to the fleet.

 

Perhaps one of the best schools that I ever went through not only because it taught us how to put out Class B fires without converting them into Screaming Alphas, but because it also cemented all those arcane lessons about leadership in the face of "what the $#@!^% am I doing here?" into one, unmistakable and unforgetable graduation lesson.

 

So when we were hauling fire hoses around the deck for real in, say, after a collision at sea (USS Independence and USNS Denebola) we all knew what we were doing without standing around and wondering about it.

 

It is also one of the big difference between the USN and the USAF (and other services) where in the USN, everyone is a firefighter. Ashore on the pale-blue-suit bases and buildings, when there is a fire everyone runs out of the building and waits for the professional firefighters to show up and take care of the burned popcorn in the microwave. At sea, everyone runs TO the fire and puts the damn thing out, then waits around for the Flying Squad and the Damage Control Team to show up and write up the paperwork. After all, when there is a fire at sea, there is nowhere else to run to........

 

[ezlead]

If you look at the flight schedule in the first film,right above Dollarhyde's name you will see McCain.

That's right,Lt. John McCain. The man who is now running for President.

If you watch the entire footage of the fire(not all shown here),you will see McCain get out of his Skyhawk,run down the refueling probe of his aircraft and jump to the deck, Just seconds before the 1000 lb bombs on his aircraft explode(the second massive explosion).

McCain transferred to the Oriskany A-4 squadron while the Forrestal went to Subic Bay for repairs.

He was flying with this squadron when he was later shot down over the North and captured.

Edited June 28, 2008 by ezlead

[Nesher]

i saw in the National Geographic channel the series "Seconds from disaster"

the episode about the Forrestal, i was shocked from the sequence of events... i thought after that fire the carrier was a goner

but after a small to trip to wikipedia, i learned that the Forrestal continued on till the early 90's :)

USS Forrestal in wikiperdia

 

<S> to the brave men who faught the fire, and to those who never made it back home!