Conyngham in Norfolk After Fatal Blaze

The guided-missile destroyer Conyngham, damaged by a fire so hot its decks were “bubbling,” docked today at the Norfolk Naval Station as the Navy began investigating the blaze that killed a crewman.

Eighteen other sailors, including the No. 2 officer, were injured in the worst shipboard fire since a string of accidents prompted the Navy to suspend operations for a two-day safety check in November. A second Navy man was killed in a separate accident on Chesapeake Bay.

Six of the sailors with less serious injuries accompanied the ship back to port before going to the hospital, said Capt. Paul Hanley, Atlantic Fleet spokesman. Twelve others had been flown from the ship to hospitals.

The Conyngham, with a large scorch mark on its right side just above the waterline, docked 21 hours after the fire erupted during routine operations about 100 miles southeast of Norfolk, said Lt. (j.g.) Karl Johnson, an Atlantic Fleet spokesman.

The commander of a ship that helped the Conyngham fight the blaze said today it was “a major league fire” that could have destroyed the warship.

Capt. Joseph W. Perrotta Jr., skipper of the Normandy, said when he approached the Conyngham, smoke was pouring out of the ship’s forward stack area and bridge. The Normandy provided additional firefighting equipment and personnel to help the Conyngham crew control the blaze.

The Conyngham crew “did a super job of putting out that fire,” Perrotta said. “The ship could have been lost if not for the gallant effort of the crew.”

About 200 family members and friends met the 383-member crew, which disembarked as work crews from other vessels boarded the Conyngham to clear the vessel’s decks of water, Hanley said.