
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 12, 1990                   TAG: 9005120165
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

FUEL LEAK CITED IN FIRE ON MISSILE DESTROYER

The skipper of the USS Conyngham said Friday a major fuel leak in one of the ship's boiler rooms touched off a fatal fire that sent smoke and flames racing through the guided-missile destroyer.

Cmdr. William R. Williams also told reporters he feared he might lose his ship and had small boats in the water in case the ship had to be abandoned.

"But when I saw the determination of the faces of my men, all those thoughts left my mind," he said at a pier-side news conference at the Norfolk Naval Station.

The fire Tuesday killed the operation's officer, Lt. Cmdr. Algernon Pope Gordon Jr., 34, of Montgomery, Ala., and injured 18 sailors. Nine sailors remain hospitalized, seven in good condition and two in satisfactory, the Navy said.

The blaze broke out around 5 a.m. when about 90 percent of the crew was asleep, Williams said. The ignited fuel quickly spread the fire upward, filling berthing spaces with smoke and sending flames up two decks through the middle of the ship into the Command Information Center and bridge, he said.

The ship was without power, making communication between the fore and aft areas difficult, but firefighting crews were organized and equipment dispersed, Williams said.

He also said some of the ship's firefighting equipment was lost in the fire.

The ship had been operating 80 miles off the Virginia-North Carolina coast when the fire broke out. The crew was getting ready for an annual inspection Thursday that would have tested their firefighting capabilities in case of a major engine room fire.

by CNB