Seaman Wilbert Malvern

United States Navy
 

   

 

At 0811, 26 May 1954, while cruising off Narragansett Bay, the fluid in the port catapult aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bennington CV 20 exploded, setting off a series of secondary explosions which killed 103 crewmen and injured 201 others. The Bennington proceeded under her own power to port at Quonset Point, R.I.

I was on duty on the bridge as the lee helmsman! I went down to the chow hall for some goodies and started back up the ladder to the hanger bay. Suddenly heat and smoke sent me flying up into the hanger deck. Dazed, I couldn't see for a long time and just started running hard and fast to the fantail for air. 

The flight deck had just been in New York and it was later determined to be partially the cause of the explosions. After a short stay back in New York sick bay, I was assigned to the USS Coral Sea CV 43 for about one year (14 months or so). I was then stationed in Norfolk, VA.

Seaman Wilbert Malvern

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Captain W.F. Raborn, Bennington's Commanding Officer, presents awards to members of her crew in recognition of their heroic actions during the catapult explosion and fire of 26 May 1954. Photographed on 7 August 1954.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 97583).

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