Do you have a specific reference for the claim “…and being so hated by everyone on the USS Forrestal that the skipper shipped him off the ship while the fires were still raging.”?
Two men who were on the Forrestal at the time married cousins of mine. One was a cook who unfortunately had daily contact with McCain. The other was a young officer who had some contact with McCain but had first hand knowledge of the many complaints officially levelled against McCain by sailors and Jr officers. McCain never let anyone forget he was the son of a highly placed Admiral and went out of his way to throw his dad’s weight around.
When the fire happened the rumor that McCain started the whole mess swept through the crew, few doubted it.
McCain was sent for by the captain who gave him some papers to sign. The papers were a request for transfer to another carrier. McCain signed and was whisked off the carrier in a New York minute. The only uninjured pilot to leave the ship so quickly.
Both men freely admitted McCain had no blame in the fire but his reputation as a Prick of the highest order made it imperative that he be he be transferred post-haste before he had a terminal “accident”.