Hero Navy veterans left severely burnt saving 80 lives in 1962 finally to be honoured

Two Navy veterans severely burnt saving 80 lives from a fire on a ship more than 50 years ago are finally to be honoured.

Lieutenant Pat O’Mathuna, 86, and Stoker William Mynes, 73, fought a boiler room blaze on the LÉ Cliona on May 29, 1962, after a depth charge exploded prematurely during a training exercise.

The force of the blast lifted the corvette ship several feet out of the water in seas off Cork and ruptured oil lines sparking the lethal fire below deck.