  |
|
|
After the end of the Korean War, ORISKANY became familiar to American movie audiences when The Bridges of Toko Ri, starring William Holden and Mickey Rooney, was filmed aboard her. She underwent several modernization overhauls and conducted routine operations throughout the Pacific until she left San Diego on 05 April 1965 for her first Vietnam deployment.
ORISKANY launched her first combat sorties on 08 May 1965, flying more than 12,000 combat sorties before returning to San Diego on 16 Dec 1965. She made a quick turn-around and departed for her second Vietnam deployment in late May 1966. She conducted combat operations from her arrival on Yankee Station until 26 Oct 1966.
At 0728 26 October fire broke out in a forward magazine and raged through 5 decks, claiming the lives of 44 sailors. Many of those killed were veteran combat pilots who, a few hours earlier, had flown on raids over Vietnam. Serious damage to the carrier ended ORISKANY's WestPac deployment and following limited repairs in Subic Bay (RP) she returned to San Diego on 03 Nov 1966. Four months later ORISKANY departed the San Francisco Naval Shipyard and began preparations for a return to Yankee Station, departing for WestPac on 16 June 1967.
ORISKANY was on station when USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59) had a major shipboard fire on 29 July 1967 and was one of the first on the scene with assistance. Medical personnel and fire-fighting gear were helo'd from ORISKANY to FORRESTAL while the latter's fires were still out of control, and the returning helos brought FORRESTAL's dead and injured aboard ORISKANY.
Heavy, incapacitating smoke was rapidly drawn into the ship's ventilation system, while fireballs from exploding ordnance ignited secondary fires among fully fueled aircraft in Hangar Bay 1. The combination of toxic smoke and scattered secondary fires blocked passageways and caused numerous casualties. The Air Wing's officers were particularly vulnerable, since many of them occupied quarters in the immediate vicinity of the fires and were unable to escape to the hangar bays or flight deck.
For some, the only escape route was downward into the lowest decks of the ship - but they found that the unending stream of salt water being sprayed above them drained downwards with them. In one instance, a ship's company officer who was a qualified diver donned scuba gear and swam down a vertical trunk to rescue a seaman trapped in a 7th-deck pump room. By the time the fires were controlled and extinguished, dozens of ORISKANY's Air Wing and crew were dead and hundreds more injured.
The following officers and men of ORISKANY died in or as a result of the fires that swept her forward compartments on 26 October 1966:
| CARRIER DIVISION 9 Staff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CDR Jack H. Harris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USS ORISKANY CVA-34 Ships Company | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CDR Richard E. Donahue | CDR Harry W. Juntilla (DOW 10/31/66) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LCDR William J. Garrity Jr. | LCDR Walter F. Merrick | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LCDR Omar R. Ford | LT Frank M. Gardner
| LTJG Dewey L. Alexander
| LTJG Ramon A. Copple
| LTJG James B. Hudis
| LTJG James A. Kelly Jr.
| LTJG Franklin M. Tunick
| BM3 Donald W. Shanks
| BM3 Alvin M. Shifflett Jr.
| SN Robert L. Dyke
| SN James K. Gray
| SN James A. Lee
| FN William Walling
| AA Greg E. Hart
| Air Wing and Squadrons | CARRIER AIR WING 16 Staff CDR Rodney B. Carter
| LT Lloyd P. Hyde
| AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING SQUADRON 11 (VAW-11)
| LTJG William R. Clements
| HEAVY ATTACK SQUADRON 4 (VAH-4)
| CDR George K. Farris
| LCDR James A. Smith
| LT John F. Francis
| ATTACK SQUADRON 152 (VA-152)
| CDR John J. Nussbaumer
| AZAN David A. Liste
| ATTACK SQUADRON 163 (VA-163)
| LCDR Clement J. Morisette
| LT Clarence D. Miller
| LTJG Thomas E. Spitzer
| ENS Ronald E. Tardio
| ATTACK SQUADRON 164 (VA-164)
| CDR Clyde R. Welch
| LCDR Daniel L. Strong
| LTJG James L. Brewer
| LTJG William A. Johnson
| FIGHTER SQUADRON 111 (VF-111)
| LCDR Norman S. Levy
| LTJG Cody A. Balisteri
| LTJG William G. McWilliams, III
| FIGHTER SQUADRON 162 (VF-162)
| ENS Charles W. Boggs
| HELICOPTER SUPPORT SQUADRON 1 (HC-1)
| LT Josslyn F. Blakely, Jr.
| LT Julian D. Hammond, Jr.
| LTJG Gerald W. Siebe
| LTJG James R. Welsh
| ENS Daniel O. Kern
| | |||||||||
The ORISKANY was named after the Revolutionary War battle of Oriskany, New York. Today, the village of Oriskany has on permanent display the starboard bow (right front) anchor from USS ORISKANY. The anchor is located in Trinkaus Park. Each of the forty-four posts that surround the anchor bears the name of one of the crewmen who died off the shores of Vietnam.
Selected web sites for the
With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Channing Prothro, former CAP Marine
Last updated 11/01/02
