My husband was on the USS Worden and had just left on WESPAC when this happened, I remember it like yesterday.
I had just returned for a Med depolyment on the USS John F. Kennedy.
4 events stand out during my 20-year Naval career (besides the Gulf War)
In the spring of 1981, an EA-6B crashed on the Nimitz flight deck, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others. I was TAD at achool away from Nimitz at the time.
The Stark.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), on her first deployment, hit a mine in the Persian Gulf, which broke the keel. I remember the crew used cables to tie the ship together and saved her.
The turret explosion on the USS Iowa, which was first blamed in a supposedly gay crewman, then finally blamed on old gunpowder and static electricity.