Explosion rocks USS Enterprise
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 1100 feet long and carries 4600 crew members.At 819 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 carriers interior other fires were sparked.Many of the Enterprises 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.
