Fire aboard the USS Forrestal

While the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal is on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin, a rocket from an F-4 Phantom II is accidentally triggered and shoots across the carrier’s flight deck. The rocket causes a series of explosions that rock the ship. Fire engulfs one end of the flight deck and spreads below decks. All told, 134 crew members are killed and 62 are injured. Dozens of aircraft are damaged or destroyed. This is one of three major accidental fires that occur on U.S. aircraft carriers during the war.¹