6 Killed, 5 Hurt in Navy Ship Fire : Blaze Erupts Aboard a Supply Vessel in South China Sea

Six sailors were killed and five were injured today when fire broke out aboard a U.S. Navy supply ship in the South China Sea, Navy and Pentagon officials said.

Dan Howard, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said the fire erupted on the White Plains around 2 p.m. local time.

Howard said the Navy had received preliminary indications that the fire was caused by a fuel leak, but he stressed that had not been confirmed.

The White Plains, which normally carries a crew of about 403 enlisted men and 25 officers, is a food-store ship and is part of the battle group assigned to the aircraft carrier Constellation. That group is sailing home after duty in the northern Arabian Sea supporting the naval task force in the Persian Gulf.

100 Miles From Coast

According to a Navy source, the White Plains and other ships of the battle group left Hong Kong on Monday after a port call. The ship was only about 100 miles off the coast when the fire broke out, the source said.

Howard said the fire broke out in the main engine spaces during routine operations in the South China Sea. He said the five injured, who suffered burns and smoke inhalation, were evacuated by helicopter to the combat supply ship Sacramento.

In the Philippines, U.S. Air Force Capt. Donna Eggleston said the injured were then flown to a hospital at Clark Air Base 50 miles northwest of Manila. “My latest information is that all five are in stable condition,” she said in a telephone interview.

“The fire is out and the ship is under tow by the . . . (fleet tugboat) Sioux,” the Navy said. The Constellation, the cruiser Fox and the frigate Ouellet all assisted in the firefighting effort, it said.

“An investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the fire. Identifications of those killed is being withheld pending notification of next of kin,” the statement added.

A Navy official who asked not to be identified said preliminary information suggested that the fire involved “a fuel leak in the boiler manifold intake on the No. 3 boiler.”

The source said it was unclear at this point whether the failure involved human error or equipment failure but added that the resulting fuel fire was so hot that sailors were limited to just 5-minute stints in fighting the blaze.

The source said it took the crew about an hour to knock down the fire.

Navy sources said the Sioux had been ordered to tow the White Plains to the Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines for repairs. The officials declined to estimate how long the trip would take.

The White Plains is based on the Pacific island of Guam. According to the Navy, the vessel is 581 feet long, 79 feet wide and displaces 16,000 tons when fully loaded.

The ship is said to be capable of steaming at 20 knots and is powered by three boilers that drive steam turbines. The power plant, which turns a single propeller, is said to be capable of developing 22,000 shaft horsepower.

The ship was constructed by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. of San Diego and commissioned into active service on Nov. 23, 1968.

Today’s fire occurred three weeks after an explosion in a gun turret on the battleship Iowa killed 47 sailors during an exercise near Puerto Rico.