[Trueblackman]

Sad end for the NAVY's First Supercarrier and the ship whose carrier fire changed the way the NAVY trained it sailors. From 1968 onward all Sailors were Firefighters first and Sailor second. I had the honor of serving on her sister ship the U.S.S. Independence CV-62, which will be heading to the scappers soon herself.

[US Navy Vet]

I HATE the DAMN “Modern” Navy!

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

The Forrestal was moored at Newport Naval Station when I was a kid growing up on the base. Its a shame to see it go. A lousy end for a good ship.

[Sybeck1]

Isn’t the Enterprise on schedule to be dismantled too?

[Billthedrill]

Has it really been that long? Feeling sort of old here. BTT

[cva66snipe]

She was the first super carrier and the last one with a 600 PSI propulsion plant. Carriers afterward went to a 1200 PSI system.

[JRios1968]

[longhorn too]

I went in the navy in November 1968 and still remember the fire fighting training every recruit got. I sure glad I never had to face a fire on board.

[MCF]

I worked with a guy who was on the Forrestal. He said the nick name became the USS Forest Fire.

[Robert A Cook PE]

A 1 cent bid? To scrap 30,000 tons of steel?

Is the EPA (asbestos/lead paint, contamination) THAT BAD that all of the copper, nickel, steel, and chrome on board THAT worthless?

[Sheapdog]

The ship was named after this guy I believe.

The Forrestal Case

Truman tapped former CFR member James Forrestal to be Defense
Secretary. Forrestal stunned the Establishment, however, with overtly
anti-Communist activities. His initiative was largely responsible for
preventing a Communist takeover in Italy in 1948. Discerning the true
intent of Establishment foreign policy, he stated with revulsion:
“Consistency has never been a mark of stupidity. If the diplomats
who have mishandled our relations with Russia were merely stupid,
they would occasionally make a mistake in our favor. 11 He resolved to
counteract treason within the government. Truman fired him in March
1949. Forrestal then planned to buy the New York Sun and convert it
into an anti-Communist citadel — an undertaking sure to mean
steamy revelations about Washington. He never had the chance.
Five days after his dismissal, he was taken to Bethesda Naval
Hospital (for “fatigue’ h ), where he was heavily drugged and held
incommunicado for seven weeks. All visitors except immediate family
were denied. Forrestal’s diaries — undoubtedly explosive — were
meanwhile confiscated by the White House. His priest, Monsignor
Maurice Sheehy, finally prevailed upon Navy Secretary John Sullivan
to authorize his release. On May 22, 1 949, Forrestal was scheduled
for discharge. But at 2 AM that morning, he fell from a window near
his sixteenth-floor room. His bathrobe cord was found knotted around
his neck, The death was declared suicide, Forrestal T s brother Henry
called if murder. The tragedy, subsequent cover-up, and
contradictions in the “suicide” verdict were canvassed by Cornell
Simpson in his 1966 book The Death of James Forrestal

[clamper1797]

The Saratoga is to be scrapped as well. However, I had a better idea ... anchor her right off the coast of Iran and sink her the way they did the old Saratoga #3.

[diverteach]

I knew of a few guys who’d served aboard the Forestall who seperately told stories of ghosts of sailors killed during that fire.

[Fiji Hill]

The USS Forrestal is the one "Jihad Johnny" McCain almost sank.