As the crew realized that some of the bombs were exploding in the fire very quickly, they decided to get rid of them in any way possible. The photo at left shows crew members rolling a bomb over to the deck edge so they could throw it over.
These are excerpts from an account given by Ens. Robert R. Schmidt, a 24-year-old engineering officer:
"... My work really wasn't the exciting kind of thing; just keeping the fire from spreading into any other areas. My people were doing all kinds of dirty work, moving into areas where the water was so hot it was almost boiling. OBA (Oxygen Breathing Apparatus) windows started fogging up and the people could hardly see anything. Yet, these kids went into the deeper areas of the ship, endangering their own lives. . . ."
At 1:48 p.m., Forrestal reported that the fires in the 01, 02 and 03 levels still burned, but that all the ship's machinery and steering equipment were operational.
Flight deck personnel aboard USS Oriskany (CVA-34) disembark a wounded Forrestal sailor from a SH-3A Sea King helicopter. Oriskany, herself the victim of a fire the previous year, provided medical support during the Forrestal fire.
At 2:12 p.m., the after radio compartment was evacuated because of dense smoke and water. "All fires out on 01 level, port side," the ship reported.
At 2:47 p.m. the compartment fires continued but progress was being made. Forrestal was steaming toward a rendezvous with the hospital ship USS Repose (AH 16).
At 3 p.m., the commander of Task Force 77 announced he was sending Forrestal to Subic Bay, Philippines, after the carrier rendezvoused with Repose.
At 5:05, a muster of Forrestal crewmen — both in the carrier and aboard other ships — was begun. Fires were still burning in the ship's carpenter shop and on the main deck.
At 6:44 p.m., the fires were still burning.
At 8:30 p.m., the fires in the 02 and 03 levels were contained, but the area was still too hot to enter. Holes were cut in the flight deck to provide access to compartments below.
Ens. Schmidt and his damage control team continued to fight their way into burning compartments; his work later that afternoon was as an investigator for the damage control assistant. There were times he had to enter spaces that were virtually inaccessible. "I asked for volunteers," he recalled, "and I immediately had two or three who followed me back into the guts of the fire. Several times, people would come up to me and say, 'What can I do? How can I help?' ... At first, I couldn't find work for all the people who wanted to help. I can't give enough praise to the sailors I supervised. They fought the fire and did all the dirty jobs ... These kids worked all night, 24-28 hours, containing the fire. . . . I've nothing but praise for the American sailor."
- On the hangar deck, a chief petty officer — his soaked clothing plastered to his body — ran from burning hangar bay three and called for five volunteers. He got 30.
- At the height of the fire, Capt. John K. Beling, Forrestal's commanding officer, went to hangar bay two. He watched quietly for a while, told his men they were doing well. He returned to the bridge; there was nothing more he could do.
- Filipino stewards, some who appeared to weigh no more than 100 pounds, rolled 250-pound bombs to the edges and pushed them overboard.
- With strength born of adversity, 130-pound Lt. Otis Kight single-handedly carried a 250-pound bomb to the edge of the hangar deck and threw it over the side. His shipmates are certain he will never be able to repeat that feat.
- Chief Aviation Ornanceman Thomas Lawler escaped from his shop on the 03 level when the first explosion occurred and the overhead "began to glow like it was on fire." For hours afterwards, he disarmed aircraft in the after hangar bays, groping his way through smoke so thick that he could see no more than a foot ahead. "I don't believe we were in very great danger in hangar bay three," he said later. "All the fires were contained in the very aft end of the hangar bay. The only thing that worried me slightly at all was on the first trip in the hangar bay when you could see practically nothing at all [but] we kept hearing a gushing, a loud, gurgling sound and we couldn't quite determine what that was and the unknown always worries you a little bit. . ."
At 8:33 p.m., Forrestal reported that fires on the 02 level were under control but that fire fighting was greatly hampered because of smoke and heat.
At 8: 54, only the 02 level on the port side was still burning. Medical evacuation to Repose was in progress.
At 12:20 a.m., July 30, all the fires were out. Forrestal crewmembers continued to clear smoke and cool hot steel on the 02 and 03 levels.
The tragedy of the hours that had passed since the fire started began to penetrate into the minds and bodies of the men aboard the carrier. The adrenalin that had pumped through them began to seep away. They were tired but they could not sleep; they walked restlessly about the ship, lending a hand wherever they could.
The fire destroyed millions of dollars worth of planes and other equipment. The flight deck and much of the rest of the ship was in ruins after the fire.
As time passed, volunteers were still requested and swarms of men — men who had fought the fire since 11 a.m. and who were dead tired and sick from smoke and the sights they'd seen — forgot their fatigue and their sickness and raced through passageways to man the hoses again.
Lt. j.g. Frank Guinan sat on the deck next to his room, too tired to get up and go inside. "It seems so unreal," he said, and he added: "Nobody had better say to me that American youth [is] lazy. I saw men working today who were not only injured but thoroughly exhausted and they had to be carried away. They were trying so hard to help but they were actually becoming a burden."
It was time, now, to begin to assess the damage. There were four gaping holes in the flight deck where bombs exploded, pushing armored steel down and under — much like an old-fashioned hole in a beer can.
Stock was taken of the aircraft. It leveled off to a report of 26 either destroyed or jettisoned and 31 more damaged to some extent.
Aerial view of the flight deck on fire
And it was time to arrive at a final toll of dead and injured. For hours, the muster of Forrestal men continued; it was made terrifically difficult because so many of the crew were scattered in other ships.
And it was time to recall how those ships had come to the aid of the stricken Forrestal. From Oriskany and Bon Homme Richard had come medical teams and fire-fighting equipment. The skippers of the destroyers USS Rupertus (DD 851) and USS George K. MacKenzie (DD 836) , in what Rear Adm. Harvey P. Lanham, ComCarDiv Two, called an act of "magnificent seamanship," had maneuvered their ships to within 20 feet of the carrier so fire hoses could be effectively used.
But mostly it was a time to think of shipmates, those who had fought the flames and died because of their heroism. They were men like Data Systems Technician 2nd Class Stephen L. Hock, who was one of the first to reach the 03 level and who fought the fire and aided survivors until he was driven back by fire and smoke, then donned an OBA and returned again to the blazing area to fight the flames and help the injured. He kept up the pace for hours, then was overcome in a flooded and gas-filled compartment. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
A ruined 5 inch gun is hoisted out of the ship during repairs. The guns were sent to the scrappers and eventually were replaced by missiles.
They were men like Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Joseph C. Shartzer who returned to the inferno on the 03 level from which he had narrowly escaped and sacrificed his life as he aided in rescuing trapped men and fighting the fire.
They were men like Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Hydaulics) 3rd Class Robert A. Rhuda, who could have escaped from the smoke-filled compartments where he was on duty as a police petty officer, but who remained behind to awaken and direct or physically assist shipmates out of the area — returning time and time again until the explosion of a bomb destroyed the compartment in which he was last seen.
They were men like that.
Eighteen of the crew were eventually buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
They are buried beneath the memorial that appears above
As Forrestal steamed for Subic Bay, a memorial service was held in Hangar Bay One for the crewmen who had given their lives for their ship and their country. More than 2,000 Forrestal men listened to and prayed with Chaplains Geoffrey Gaughan and David Cooper as they paid tribute to their lost shipmates. The three volleys fired by 13 U.S. Marines were followed by the benediction, which closed the service after 15 minutes of prayer and hymns.
The heroes and the brave men aboard Forrestal were uniformly praised by those under whom they served. Vice Adm. C. T. Booth, ComNavAirLant, paid tribute to their courage, as did Adm. Roy L. Johnson, CinCPacFlt, Adm. E. P. Holmes, CinCLantFlt, and Paul Nitze, Deputy Secretary of Defense, who also spoke for Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.
And there was this personal message to Capt. Beling: "I want you and the men of your command to know that the thoughts of the American people are with you at this tragic time. We all feel a great sense of personal loss. The devotion to duty and courage of your men have not gone unnoticed. The sacrifices they have made shall not be in vain." It was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson.
Capt. Beling also commented on his crew: "I am most proud of the way the crew reacted. The thing that is foremost in my mind is the concrete demonstration that I have seen of the worth of American youth. I saw many examples of heroism. I saw, and subsequently heard of, not one single example of cowardice."
Forrestal men were men like that.
Additional Sources:
www.sailorstotheend.com
www.naval-air.org
www.hazegray.org
www.forrestal.org
users.erols.com
tampabayonline.net
www.lostliners.com
www.arlingtoncemetery.net
