2543 UNSC Montana fire

On 9th May (Earth date), a fire broke out on board the battleship UNSC Montana after an electric anomaly caused a pair of ANVIL-II rockets on a D77-TC Pelican to fire, puncturing into a Longsword's fuel tank. The flammable fuel subsequently caught fire and set off an electrical fire in the Longsword which triggered a chain of explosions that killed 196 and injured 226. UNSC Montana was busy conducting combat missions in support of the UNSC and Hakodeshi Army against left over remnants of a Covenant fleet and her supporting troops, although the ship survived the cost of the damage including the aircraft totalled up to cR 351 million. 
The fire meant the UNSC Navy took greater steps to train and properly install fire suppression systems on vessels as well as modifying it's ordnance handling procedures. The fire also caused the end of the career of Captain Shino Patel who was charged with negligence over the loss of the 33 aircraft and the deaths of 196.
==Background==
===Start of operations over Hakodesh===
UNSC Montana departed Reach in early 2542 after having completed the inspections needed for the slip space jump to the Hakodeshi System. UNSC Montana was the secondary flagship of the 17-ship Task Force 62 led by Vice Admiral Vladimir Santiago which included the Punic-class super carrier UNSC Midway and the Valiant-class cruiser UNSC Arethusa. Task Force 62 arrived over Hakodesh on the 4th January and manoeuvred to Point Golf.
By 5th January, Carrier Air Wing 269 based on the UNSC Montana began conducting operations in support of the UNSC Army on Hakodesh and began flying combat missions. During this period, Lieutenant Commander Gerdhardt Massoud was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and subsequently became captured for the next 8 months.
===OPERATION: PHANTOM MIST===
OPERATION: PHANTOM MIST was the code-name for the Hakodeshi bombing campaign during the Hakodeshi Campaign. Aircraft from the UNSC Navy conducted bombing and close support missions against remnant Covenant forces from the Fleet of Inherent Righteousness in support of the Army. During this period, over 15,000 bombs were expended in a 3 week period which quickly caused a critical supply shortage in ordnance for the battlegroup. 
The UNSC Navy primarily used the GA-TL1 Longsword and B65 Shortsword for combat missions, the latter caused massive supply shortages with the B65s being able to carry 30 of the latest Mark 208 bombs. By the start of July, only the capital ships were permitted to conduct bombing operations due to the mass shortage of 1,000lb and 500lb bombs.
===Wartime production and training issues===
UNSC Montana was a wartime production Vanguard-class Battleship, commissioned in 2540 and did not undergo the necessary space trials for a ship of her size. As a result, the fire suppression system in the primary hangars were not properly tested which impacted heavily during the fire that broke out. 
Training when the war broke out severely decreased in quality, crewmen were being trained in a shortened period which meant that the UNSC Navy had reverted to an old practice of having specialised firefighting and damage control teams that trained heavily on combating fires in specific areas rather than training the rest of the crew in proper damage control techniques. 
The damage control team tasked with combating fires and limiting damage in the main hangar was Damage Control Team Kilo led by Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate George Hyde. The team had been trained in combating hydrogen fires and how to prevent chain explosions as well as combating electrical fires. However, the team wasn't trained with the older versions of the Mk 208 fitted the more volatile G7 casings and Mk 98 detonator which were not as advanced and safe as the new generation that came into service just as the Human-Covenant War began. The G7 casing was quite sensitive to heat compared to newer generations which were more better protected against high heat and sub-zero temperatures, the UNSC Navy had indeed ordered the destruction of the Mk 208s with the G7 casings under safety concerns. However, with the UNSC quickly losing control of the war, these orders were revoked by 2542 and millions of Mk 208 bombs with older generation casings were issued out to the fleet.
===Unstable ordnance received on the vessel===
On 8th May, the ammunition supply ship UNSC Richardson arrived and issued out 64 Mk 208 bombs with the G7 casings and Mk 98 detonators. These had been picked up over Reach having been exposed to heat in unventilated storage depots on the planet. These bombs were amongst those that were meant to be destroyed, most were over 40 years old with some being around 70. The ammunition depot commander, Lieutenant Commander Raymond Wuxian, was so shocked when told they were being shipped to an active fleet that he threatened to resign his commission and refused for the transfer of the 64 bombs and only acquiesced once orders from FLEETCOM Sector One came through which absolved him and the base of the bombs' condition. The bombs were loaded onto the UNSC Richardson and shipped to Hakodesh. Later, Raymond Wuxian would commit suicide after the end of the investigation into the fire.
G7 had a bad reputation for being a volatile casing, a recent accidental explosion caused the destruction of Air Force Base Propenol as a result of the heat which is the reason they were pulled out of service in the first place. The Mk 98 detonators were also far past their shelf lives and were much more sensitive to heat and contact as, it was later found out, the safety mechanisms on the bombs had degraded to a point they were useless. Notably, the Mk 208s issued to the Montana were in a very bad condition after months in hot and damp conditions without proper care as the staff of the ammunition depot thought they were to be destroyed. Lieutenant Junior Grade Bhut Manderi who took the supply of the Mk 208s noted: "The bombs were in such terrible condition, I wanted to beat up the guys who brought them in. They were filled with grim and dust, I swear that some of the shyugmatised agent (the chemical agent used to stabilise the explosive) was leaking. I thought to myself that someone was gonna die on this ship due to these hunks of garbage." 
Similarly, Lieutenant Kyomi Dawes who headed the quartermasters of the Montana later commented: "Our ordnance handlers didn't want these bombs, they were going to explode. We didn't even know if they were designed to fit onto the hardpoints on our Longswords, let alone be deployed with them. My people were afraid they would detonate, sending a chain reaction that could destroy the whole fucking ship." These concerns were quickly passed up to Captain Shino Patel, however she had set out a strict time schedule and she needed fighters out there to perform CAS and bombing missions. 
Patel, despite the desires of the ordnance officers and the commander of UNSC Montana's airwing, demanded that the bombs not be disarmed or jettisoned and instead used for the next days assignment. The commander the air wing, Captain Wainwright Gryzmski, heavily objected to this and refused to use the bombs until Patel stripped him of his command and began arrangements for a court martial. Despite this, Patel knew the risks of the bombs and decided to store them in the hangar instead of the magazine on request from Lieutenant Dawes. 
==The events==
Whilst preparing the fifth sortie for the cycle, the main hangar was packed with 13 Longswords and 9 Pelicans which were fully loaded with fuel, bombs, rockets and various other munitions. With them were pallets of the newly delivered Mk 208 bombs which were stored at the corner of the hangar in an area known quickly by the crew as "The Blasting Box". On the aft side of the hangar, there was a number of Pelicans loaded with ANVIL-II Rockets which included the one piloted by Lieutenant Roxie Devereaux from 986 Naval Air Squadron. These were meant to be fitted with a number of safety pins which were meant to be removed prior to launch for missions. 
=== ANVIL II Pod malfunctions===
At 11:05 UTC, an electrical surge caused by Lieutenant Devereaux switching her Pelican from external to internal power, caused one of the internal ANVIL-II Rocket pods on the Pelican to malfunction and fire off two of it's rockets. It was later found out that the rocket pod had been missing all of it's safety pins which allowed it to fire. The rocket flew 100 meters into it struck Longsword No. 19, piloted by Commander Elise Corbeau. The safety mechanism of the rocket meant that it didn't explode, however it penetrated into the Longsword and ruptured the hydrogen fuel tank.
===The fire begins===
The remnants of the rocket propellant caused an ignition of the hydrogen fuel, this soon spread into the internals of the Longsword, causing an electrical fire. The WSO and the co-pilot were killed in the fire and the fire soon spread as the Longsword was hooked up to reserve hydrogen tanks for refuelling. This soon spread across the hangar and ignited Longsword No. 6 as hydrogen began leaking all over the hangar. 
Official reports state that Condition Paraphet was called at 11:06 UTC, all the fire-proof sealed doors were closed with aviation and non-ordnance handling crew from the hangar ordered to evacuate to allow the damage control team to arrive. However, Aviation Boatswain's Mates' Kyle Lindholm and Joo Chun as well as pilot Ensign Mohammed Morzi became trapped by Pelican No. 10 and became unable to escape from the hangar. 
Damage Control Team Kilo arrived on scene by 11:07 UTC, however the heavy hoses and equipment were unable to be transported due to cramped corridors packed with escaping crewmen. The team was not in full protective kit and were only equipped with PEF Extinguishers, they attempted to combat some of the electrical and hydrogen fires using them whilst the ship's ordnance handlers desperately worked to remove munitions out the hangar to prevent a detonation. 
The pilots, who were inside their aircraft were quick to immediately escape as soon as the first fire erupted. Command Corbeau pulled her navigator out of the Longsword and ran for the exit whilst the rest of the pilots went to escape their soon-to-be burning aircraft upon noticing the flames and hearing the Condition Paraphet announcement.
===The bombs detonate ===
By 11:09 UTC, the flames had reached to "The Blasting Box" and despite the efforts of Damage Control Team Kilo to cool off the bombs, the casings cracked and the explosive began to burn. Hyde quickly ordered his team to move away from the bombs, however they detonated which caused a chain reaction with 59 of the bombs exploding in the hangar, with the others having been evacuated. The Damage Control Team was annihilated in the explosion with only 5 survivors, the blast consequently ruptured the bulkheads and blew a hole in the middle of the ship which exposed the aircraft storage bay and various other compartments to the fire.
This detonation is thought to be the primary cause of death with hundreds of crewmen filing down the corridors in an attempt to escape from the fire. 105 were killed in the corridors whilst another 75 were killed in various internal compartments caught in the explosions. "I just ran... I had Dixie on my shoulders as I saw everyone legging it for the exits." Commander Corbeau later said. A number of pilots did not escape the explosion such as Commander Pepper Yumi and her crew, who flew Longsword No. 4 next to the one flown by Corbeau, who managed to escape out of the back of her aircraft but were killed by shrapnel from the detonating bombs. Another killed was the Air Wing's replacement commander, Commander Oscar Wilde, who was killed when the bombs detonated next to his Longsword and blew up him and his crew.
===Fire breaks out into other compartments===
Captain Patel had suffered a nervous breakdown upon learning of the spiralling situation, as such, her executive officer Commander Peter Mills took command and ordered the immediate lockdown of the areas that were punctured. As such, the reserve damage control teams were able to arrive with full protective kit and contain the electrical fires that had broken out in other sections of the ship. 
Personnel from the rest of the vessel began to rally to help fight the fires, however, their lack of training meant serious mistakes were made during the attempt. In Mess Hall 3, unsupervised crewmen attempted to use water from their hoses to extinguish an electrical fire that led to the electrocution of 6 crewmen until an officer came to reprimand them and order a damage control team to assist.
By 11:56 UTC, damage control teams from UNSC Arethusa and Midway arrived in the secondary hangar to assist in the putting out of fires whilst also evacuating wounded personnel to the UNSC Midway and the hospital ship UNSC Poppen. They immediately arrived with fresh equipment and bodies, beginning operations to combat the electrical fires.
The ruptured bulkheads, which subsequently led to a fire breaking out in the aircraft storage bay, caused more gas to leak from the aircraft and create a more intense fire. It also reached one of the berthing compartments and killed 23 of the night crewmen in the flames who were sleeping in their beds.
===Fires controlled===
By 12:09 UTC, with help from crewmen from the Arethusa and Midway, fires in the berthing and internal compartments were quickly smothered with foam. This allowed a path to be created to the primary hangar in order to extract the crewmen who were trapped inside. Damage Control Team Bravo from UNSC Arethusa led by Chief Aviation's Boatswains Mate Christian Hussein broke standard protocol by requesting access to the primary hangar. Commander Mills authorised this, with the team moving in and extracting the leftover wounded survivors from the hangar. After all had been extracted from the hangar, the areas exposed by the blast were locked down and the hangar bay was opened up, the pressure change subsequently sucked out the flames and the hydrogen gas out of the area as well as the remaining explosive ordnance in the hangar as well as 1 of the Pelicans which hadn't been properly magnetically fixed to the hangar floor. 
From there, the hangar bay doors were closed and the access to the main hangar was permitted. An explosive ordnance team from the UNSC Midway entered into the ship and began assessing the remaining unexploded ordnance that had been evacuated from the hangar. The officer in command, Lieutenant Junior Grade Marilyn Xi later recounted: "I saw just... Lines of unexploded ordnance littered all over the gym hall (the area where the crew had evacuated some of the bombs to). I couldn't fucking believe how careless the crew on the ship was. They were all so hot, I could swear that some of them were even smoking. I had to go up and defuse them, then they got jettisoned in the air locks to prevent them from being a further threat." 
A number of bombs had fallen into the aircraft storage bay, one had fallen into the cockpit of a Longsword and it required a team in order to lower into the aircraft storage bay and remove the bomb in order for it to be jettisoned. For the rest of the cycle, the fire fighting crews attempted to combat the fires whilst bodies and wounded crewmen were evacuated to the UNSC Poppen and the medical compartment of the vessel. 
The medical crew of both vessels soon became overwhelmed by the number of wounded that arose from the incident, Montana was escorted to connect with Poppen in order for the transfer of the wounded to occur quicker whilst some wounded were transported from the secondary hangar by Darter to the surface of the planet. A number of firefighters were soon retasked to carry wounded as well, firefighter Abdul Hussein later said "I remember seeing... Just... Corpses... You couldn't fucking tell them apart. How could to preserve the dignity of a crewmen when you couldn't even keep their bodies together." 
The muster for the ship was called by 14:32 UTC, Captain Patel was deemed incapable to carry out her command and thus Commander Mills was to lead the ship for the foreseeable future. The ship's command staff had a hard time to determine who died, it took many hours and it wasn't until the next cycle that they had fully been able to account for the ship's crew.
Firefighting was not helped by the mass amount of smoke and heat which made unprotected crewmen unable to enter into certain areas due to the high heat which hampered efforts to combat the internal electric fires. By 1:06 UTC, the fire is declared to be put out by the damage control teams and the rest of the crew worked to cool the hot metal and clear smoke.
==Aftermath ==
The fire and subsequent explosions left 196 death and 223 injured, this meant the fire was the biggest loss of life in a naval fire disaster since the 2400s. 
Of the 58 aircraft on the vessel, 33 were stricken. Majority was destroyed in the aircraft storage bay however a number were destroyed in the hangar in the midst of the explosion. A total of 19 GA-TL1 Longswords and 14 D77-TC Pelicans were destroyed during the incident, Carrier Air Wing 269 was deemed combat ineffective and was only brought up to strength by the turn of the year. The UNSC Montana made a slip space jump to Reach the next cycle to undergo repairs.
===Repairs and investigation===
UNSC Montana arrived over Reach on the 11th May (Earth date) and immediately docked into the SinoViet shipyards to start repairs. The cost of the repairs would end up totalling to around cR 200 million and would keep the UNSC Montana at dock for over 9 months. Upon arrival on Reach, the crew was transferred planetside and an investigation team from ONI would move to investigate the cause of the accident. This involved interviewing the crew of the vessel as quickly as possible.
4 months later, the investigation finally closed with the findings that the poor circuitry as a result of poor manufacturing of the Pelican had led to the firing of the ANVIL-II Rocket. They also concluded that the handling of the ANVIL-II Rocket Pods was considered to be negligent by the crew and the fire suppression systems were inadequately tested and made. 
A naval safety board later stated that the "doctrinal issues on board as well as improper training on the handling of aircraft and munitions that became evident at all levels of command were the primary cause of the incident." The investigation found out that the safety pins for rockets were all taken out under an order from Captain Patel who desired more combat missions to be carried out at a faster rate. This was a blatant violation of UNSC Navy Safety Regulations which stipulated that they MUST keep the pins in, until they were to launch for combat missions. 
Captain Patel was deemed to be responsible for the damage to her ship, her negligence of weapons safety protocol and her breakdown in the face of the ensuing incident meant that the Navy Safety Board found her to have neglected her duty as captain of the Montana. Blame also lay with the manufacture of the Montana, she was a wartime production Vanguard-Class and had not been properly undergone trials. Her crew was also mostly of drafted personnel, UNSC Trafalgar was meant to transfer a number of crew to help make up a veteran core but the immediate need for her deployment meant this never occurred. Her fire suppression systems, the electrical systems on the Pelicans, the training of her personnel and the construction of a number of fighters were found to be inadequate. 
The Board also dictated that the usage of the older Mk 208s was far too dangerous to the fleet to be permitted. UNSC High Command sent out a general order for ammunition ships to take the older Mk 208s and transport them to ammunition depots for disposal, to prevent such a disaster from occurring again. Greater orders for replacement guided bombs and unguided Mk 208s with the more recent G8 casings were placed, sought to make sure that the affects of withdrawing millions of bombs would not be too severe on the operational effectiveness of the Navy
The UNSC Montana came under the command of Captain Meynard Petain, previous commander of UNSC Arethusa and distinguished officer of over 4 campaigns, after Captain Patel's dismissal. Commander Peter Mills was transferred to the UNSC Sun of Life, an ammunition supply ship like the UNSC Richardson, as the new commanding officer whilst the investigation for the reasons of the fire was ongoing.
===Fates of Captain Shino Patel and other members===
Captain Patel was brought before a court martial committee on Reach after 3 months. She was charged with negligence for the loss of the ship as well as further crimes regarding her conduct during the incident and the general toxicity of her command. Her refusal to listen to the advice of her subordinates and her callous regard for safety regulations meant that the accident became far more serious than if proper safety procedures had been followed.
The Court's official ruling dictated that her ineffective command, arrogance in the face of advice of subordinates and her lack of control after the fire had begun led to the spiralling of the fire. She was demoted to Ensign, stripped of all military honours and dishonourably discharged from the UNSC Navy as a result of the incident.
Other members of the vessel, including Lieutenant Dawes and Captain Gryzmski, as well as Lieutenant Commander Raymond Wuxian were brought on charges of negligence. However, the court eventually absolved all other members of the ship of responsibility as the lack of training and the orders of Captain Patel to conduct as many combat missions were not of any fault of theirs.
Lieutenant Commander Wuxian eventually killed himself a few months after the incident via a gunshot with his service pistol. He was given full military honours. It was noted that Lieutenant Command Wuxian had fallen into a deep depressive bout as a result of the loss of life from the incident. His death note stated that he felt personally responsible for the deaths of all the men and women who died on the vessel. His family attempted to sue the UNSC for the trauma suffered by him and his family following the fire and his suicide, although this was eventually dismissed by the UEG Courts.
==Legacy==
The 2543 UNSC Montana fire drastically changed the UNSC's policy regarding fire fighting and production of warships. 195 of the dead were interred at the Reach War Cemetery in Section 227. It was the largest section of a War Cemetery dedicated purely to an accident, the cemetery was later destroyed when Reach was glassed. Chief Aviation's Boatswains Mate George Hyde was interred at the Heroes of War cemetery at Vancouver, United Republic of North America as a result of his service.
Multiple members of SinoViet were charged with negligence and imprisoned, the UNSC also court martialled multiple members of the Ship's Safety Committee although none were ever convicted of anything. SinoViet themselves were fined for the negligence in construction of the Vanguards for a total of cR 3 billion. However, this was appealed and reduced to a paltry cR 400 million thanks to lobbying from SinoViet amongst senior members of the UNSC. 
===Awards===
Commander Peter Mills was soon promoted to Captain for his actions during the incident and given command of the carrier UNSC Trafalgar from 2544 to 2548. He was also awarded the Navy Cross for his exceptional leadership and willingness to take command after the breakdown of Captain Patel. He later rose to Vice Admiral and commanded CENTCOM Two before dying at the Battle of Alpha Corvus during a delaying action that saw hundreds of thousands able to escape from the world. 
Chief Aviation's Boatswains Mate Christian Hussein was awarded the Colonial Cross for his brave action to save the wounded crew in Pelican No. 10, he shortly retired from the Navy after over 27 years of dedicated service for the Navy. This award was also given to Chief Aviation's Boatswains Mate George Hyde who gave his life to fighting the fires on the ship, the entirety of Damage Control Team Kilo for the UNSC Montana as well as Damage Control Team Bravo from UNSC Arethusa were given Unit Citations for their bravery.
===Reform of naval safety===
The war had clearly reduced the needs of safety in the navy in favour of producing as many warships as possible to combat the enemy and thus many things such as fire suppression systems and safety equipment were neglected. UNSC Montana lacked many of the heavy equipment needed for hauling munitions and was thus unable to properly move the munitions from the primary hangar. New safety protocols were put in place to make sure that safety features were not compromised, however the UNSC did not totally overhaul the construction of vessels as needs to produce vessels for the war still mounted and ships still found that areas to cut costs and reduce construction time were still present.
Firefighting was also a point of change, a trained damage control team was killed during the explosions of the 59 Mk 208 bombs and thus the crew were unable to effectively handle the fire and the damage control teams of various other ships had to arrive to contain the fire. UNSC Naval crewmen were to undertake at least a week period of fire fighter training in order to train them on how to effectively combat the various fires that are expected to be seen in the navy as well as how to properly handle ammunition. Trainees use simulations and smoke rooms in order to properly train them, veteran firefighters and crewmen brought on as instructors.
Category:Events