1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
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Starting Jan. 14, 1969, a major fire and series of explosions broke out aboard the USS Enterprise off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The fire started when a Zuni rocket detonated under a plane’s wing. It spread as more munitions exploded, blowing holes in the flight deck that allowed burning jet fuel to enter the ship. The ship was completed in 1961 and was the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Her enormous construction cost caused the cancellation of the five other carriers planned for the class, so many of her features were unique. At the time of teh explosions, the ship was the ship was conducting a final battle drill and Operational Readiness Inspection before steaming for Vietnam. Twenty-eight sailors were killed, 314 were injured, 15 aircraft were destroyed, and the total cost of aircraft replacement and shipboard repair was over $126 million. The nuclear-powered cruiser Bainbridge and destroyer Rogers came to the stricken carrier’s aid. It took the combined crews of the three ships about four hours to extinguish the fires.
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