The reason I ask this is to have some backup on what I am about to say:

I was in the Navy from 1991 to 2002. I was an AT2 and served mostly in squadrons (S-3s and F-14s), however, I did serve a short stint (just over a year) on the USS Forrestal (CV/AVT-59) as my first command (I decommissioned her in Philly in 1993). That said, EVERY sailor who goes through basic training is forced to watch “Trial by Fire: The Forrestal Catastrophe” as part of Fire Fighting Week.

For those who do not know, in the Gulf of Tonkin in July, ?? 1969 (0800 local), the USS Forrestal was the victim of a catastrophic chain of events that culminated in the loss of 129 Sailors and Marines. A 5-inch Zuni Rocket was accidentally fired off of an F-4 and struck the wing tank of an A-4 on the flight deck, just prior to launching a strike package against North Vietnam. Within 5 minutes, the entire fantail was ablaze (then LT John F. McCain was in his A-4 at the time and barely escaped with his life) and two 500 lb. bombs had gone off, completely wiping out the initial fire response team. Within 5 minutes more, another 7 bombs would cook off and obliterate the fantail, the O-3, O-2, O-1 aft, and Hangar Bay 3 (Main Deck). The fire was not contained until 1600 and not defeated until 0400 the next day.

That last sentence is the reason for this reply.

Post-fire investigational analysis of the PLAT footage revealed serious flaws in the fire-fighting response (subsequent fire-party responders after the first THREE fire teams were KIA by the nine 500 lb. bombs going off 60 feet away). The footage showed that in an attempt to fight the fire, the fire teams were defeating themselves – you see, they were fighting a fuel fire (and Magnesium fire) with both AFFF (Aqueous Film-Forming Foam) and sea water. The result was the Foam that was defeating the fuel fire (the foam floats ON TOP OF THE FUEL) was being washed overboard by the straight sea water. Additionally, the hours and hours of throwing water on a gas-fire actually FLOODED a large section of the ship and placed burning fuel in places that it had not been prior or would not have gone to otherwise.

You see, the ones EXPERIENCED in fighting the fires, the ones who knew HOW to properly take charge and defeat a fire on the flight deck were killed within the first 3-5 minutes of this disaster. The ones remaining valiantly fought (and eventually prevailed against) the fire, but were going about it all wrong. This is the reason why EVERY Sailor going through Basic Training must learn to fight fires — PROPERLY. The hope is that the 1969 Forrestal Fire will not ever be repeated.

I believe the same thing that happened on the Forrestal happened to DWH. The initial blast was so catastrophic, the crew abandoned (rightfully so) the vessel. The initial responders either did not have the knowledge, or did not have equipment to properly fight this fire. Without some sort of CG leadership DIRECTING the fire-fighting response, what we ended up with was a valiant effort being made by several fire-fighting responders that may have inadvertently caused more damage than otherwise would have been inflicted to the vessel, IF proper direction/technology were employed against the fire.

Sorry for the long post.

that I forgot to mention above:

I do not recall in the history books anywhere that President Johnson placed a moratorium on all Flight Deck operations of all Aircraft Carriers until the cause of the flight deck disaster was determined, corrected, and regulated in such a way to guarantee that an incident of similar size and magnitude would ever happen again. Come to think of it, the Handler and his/her Yellow Shirts still stack the fantail full of birds prior to flight operations, the same way they have done since 1969 and before.

– BP and co. need to have the freedom to LEARN from this disaster, feel obligated to PASS the information to the industry at large, and then-and only then-shut down wells determined unsafe and get them up to standard, one at a time and in a manner of priority.

We have a blanket moratorium and no standards. It is the “Cart-Horse” thing. They need to swap them around.

That is just my opinion.