The official version of the death of the Russian nuclear submarine "Kursk" was the explosion of the torpedo 65-76 "Kit", which the submariners were supposed to use in the exercises. The official report on the tragedy, which was ready in 2002, said that at 11:28 a.m. 26 seconds, a torpedo 65-76 "Kit" exploded in torpedo tube No. 4 of the Kursk APRK. The cause of the explosion was said to be a leak of the torpedo's propellant components (hydrogen peroxide). Two minutes later, the fire that broke out after the first explosion caused the detonation of the rest of the torpedoes in the first compartment of the boat. The second explosion caused the destruction of several front compartments of the submarine, the boat sank, all 118 officers and sailors aboard the Kursk were killed.
This version looks quite convincing, such torpedoes were considered unsafe even before the Kursk disaster, and there were statistics of accidents with their participation. After the death of the APRK K-141 "Kursk", this torpedo was removed from service as unreliable.
It should be noted that the detonation of ammunition in the fleet often became the cause of severe fires and destruction, which led to human casualties. Violent fires in the 1960s nearly destroyed several US Navy aircraft carriers, including the pride of the US Navy, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, claiming hundreds of crew members in total. Americans do not like to remember this, but you cannot erase words from a song.
To ensure that the warheads of the lethal weapons, which are armed with all modern ships and submarines, in no case receive mechanical damage and do not heat up, they try to constantly monitor. However, just one defect or fatal coincidence of circumstances, an accident, can cause a catastrophe that turns into human casualties. So, on October 26, 1966, aboard the American aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which was launched back in 1945, one of the crew members accidentally lit a flare, got confused and, panicking, threw it away. Instead of simply throwing the flare overboard, the sailor threw the flare into a box that held other flares and flares. The entire contents of the locker instantly burst into flames. The fire that began in the bow of the aircraft carrier's hangar deck caused the deaths of 44 people, including many experienced pilots who were veterans of the Vietnam War.
Aircraft carrier USS Oriskany
The ship was seriously damaged and went to carry out repairs, first to the Philippines and then to the United States. The renovation work was not fully completed until March 23, 1967. In July 1967, the aircraft carrier was again used by the Americans to provide air cover for their troops operating in Vietnam. True, now USS Oriskany also had to provide assistance to another American aircraft carrier - USS Forrestal, on board which also suffered a terrible fire, even more destructive and with even greater losses among the crew members. At the same time, American warships failed and received serious damage not at all due to any opposition from the enemy.
Now the fire on the aircraft carrier Forrestal is called one of the most significant incidents that have occurred with US aircraft carriers during their entire service in the fleet. The strongest fire broke out on board the aircraft carrier on July 29, 1967. As a result of this incident, 134 people died, another 161 people received injuries of varying severity. Material damage to the ship amounted to 72 million dollars (more than half a billion dollars in the equivalent for 2008), and this is even without the cost of those destroyed by fire, as well as the aircraft dropped by the crew overboard. After the fire, 21 aircraft were deleted from the naval register.
According to the official conclusion of the commission, the cause of the fire on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal was the spontaneous launch of a 127-mm unguided aircraft missile Mk 32 "Zuni" due to an accidental voltage surge in the electrical circuit of one of the F-4 fighter-bombers on the deck. Phantom. The plane, like many other aircraft on the deck, was prepared for air strikes on Vietnamese territory. This launch of a rocket launched a chain reaction that almost led to the death of the entire aircraft carrier. In the course of this incident, the future American politician John McCain could have died, who escaped with only shrapnel wounds.
The aircraft carrier that McCain served as a pilot was named after US Secretary of Defense James Forrestal. For the fifth day already, he was on a combat watch off the coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. In the morning, the pilots and technicians were preparing the aircraft for the second sortie. In total, 7 Phantom fighters, 12 Skyhawk attack aircraft and 2 Vigilent reconnaissance aircraft were to take part in it. They were all on the flight deck.
Fire on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal
At 10:53 local time on July 29, 1967, an unguided aircraft missile Zuni spontaneously launched from the launcher of one of the Phantoms. It did not explode, hitting the target. Perhaps the incident would not have turned into a tragedy if the missile had not landed in the outboard fuel tank of the Skyhawk attack aircraft. The tank tore off the wing of the aircraft, and the fuel that spilled onto the deck instantly flared up. From overheating, the fuel tanks of other aircraft began to explode, the deck of the aircraft carrier was engulfed in flames, clouds of thick black smoke appeared above it. A few minutes later, air bombs began to explode on board the ship.
The first one, 1.5 minutes after the start of the fire, exploded an old-style aerial bomb - AN-M65, which fell from the suspension of one of the aircraft. The explosion completely destroyed the plane and also left a hole in the deck. The fire brigade working on the flight deck, in which only three people survived, was struck by the fragments scattered at the time of the explosion, all of them were seriously injured. Shrapnel also pierced the tanks of two more nearby combat vehicles.
In total, 9 aerial bombs exploded on the deck of the aircraft carrier Forrestal, including 8 old-model AN-M65 bombs with Composition B explosives (an explosive that is a fluid mixture of RDX and TNT) and only one new bomb, which detonated at close break AN-M65. Subsequently, this explosive was replaced with a more fireproof one. Bombs pierced several holes in the flight deck, through which burning aviation fuel began to penetrate into the interior of the ship - into the flight hangar and into the living quarters of the crew.
Fire on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal
The fire on the flight deck was localized at 12:15, in the interior of the ship - by 13:42. It was possible to completely extinguish the fire only by 4 o'clock the next morning. After the fire, the aircraft carrier looked as if it had survived a fierce battle, although the fire brigades began to extinguish the fire immediately. At the same time, the pilots themselves pushed the surviving aircraft overboard, and also sent the ammunition that was on the ship's flight deck into the sea. As a result, 21 aircraft were lost, 42 more were seriously damaged. The fire demonstrated the need for heavy armored lift trucks on the flight deck, as the crew's efforts to dump the burning aircraft overboard were not effective enough. The aircraft carrier was out of service for a long time and was under repair until April 8, 1968. After the fire, the ship received the disparaging nickname Fire Stall - the Fire Stall, which played on the real name of the aircraft carrier.
Both of the incidents described above occurred with American aircraft carriers that were directly involved in the Vietnam War. However, the third major accident occurred on a ship that did not participate in battles at that time and did not even come close to the theater of operations. We are talking about the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier - USS Enterprise, which in January 1969 cruised 70 nautical miles southwest of Pearl Harbor. The aircraft carrier was on the exercise, along with the missile cruiser USS Bainbridge and the destroyer USS Rodgers. All three ships were on the exercise, but the fighting began for them earlier than they had planned.
The crash occurred on the morning of January 14, 1969 at about 8:15 am local time. After the first batch of aircraft went into the sky, the second wave was preparing for flights. On the deck there were 15 aircraft, including F-4 Phantom fighters, A-6 and A-7 carrier-based attack aircraft, a Ka-3 tanker aircraft and a Grumman E-2 Hawkeye AWACS aircraft. All planes were lost (the cost of each of them was estimated at 5-7 million dollars).
As in the case of Forrestal, the Zuni NAR was the cause of the disaster. This time a spontaneous explosion of the warhead of the NAR Mk 32 "Zuni". Later, the commission concluded that the explosion occurred due to overheating of the missile warhead. The overheating was caused by a rather long exposure of the rocket to a jet stream from the engine of another F-4J Phantom II fighter-bomber, which was on the flight deck and was also preparing for departure. The powerful explosion of the rocket, the explosive of which was 60 percent RDX and 40 percent TNT, destroyed the Phantom's fuel tank, after which JP-5 jet fuel poured onto the deck. Soon, three more fighters were on fire, and the first victims of the fire were the pilot of a fighter-bomber and two technicians who were preparing the car for departure.
Fire on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise
After that, there were three more spontaneous launches of the Zuni NAR, and then a Mark 82 bomb exploded on board the aircraft carrier, which made a hole in its deck with a radius of 2.5 meters, and the fire penetrated three decks down. As eyewitnesses later recalled, shrapnel flew across the entire deck of the aircraft carrier, all reserves of fire extinguishing foam, as well as fire hoses, were destroyed by the explosion. People were dying in the fire on deck. The situation only got worse every minute. The fire detonated a rack with three Mark 82 bombs at once. This explosion caused a six-meter hole to appear in the deck. The fire, meanwhile, spread to the Ka-3 tanker, thousands of liters of aviation fuel were burning. At the same time, the flame and smoke almost paralyzed the control of the ship.
In total, 18 explosions were noted on board the aircraft carrier, each of which could be attributed to direct hits from aerial bombs or missiles. In many respects, the aircraft carrier was saved by the fact that its captain Kent Lee turned the ship so that the wind began to blow smoke from the deck and from the superstructure, providing a good view from the navigating bridge. The sailors again dropped the aircraft and the ammunition stored on the deck into the sea. This occupation was extremely risky, but the team simply had no other choice. The destroyer USS Rodgers also provided assistance to the damaged ship in time, and at the risk of its own efforts, it stood next to the aircraft carrier, using all available means to extinguish it.
The sailors managed to localize the fire on the deck of the aircraft carrier 40 minutes after the first explosion. It was possible to completely extinguish the fire only by 12 o'clock local time. In total, the fire and explosions of ammunition on board claimed the lives of 28 people, there were much more wounded - 343 people. The ship was seriously damaged and departed for repairs at the docks, the cost of repairs was estimated at $ 126 million (in 1969 prices). Read more…
Emergency teams fight for the survivability of the USS Enterprise
After a series of such disasters, which claimed more than two hundred lives, the Americans made certain conclusions aimed at preventing such situations and increasing fire safety on ships. For example, manufacturers of missiles and bombs have begun to make them more resistant to high temperatures. Aircraft carriers began to install special deck irrigation systems. More attention began to be paid to training the crews of ships in safety rules and behavior in extreme situations.
