One of the colossal supercarriers developed by the US Navy after World War 2, USS Forrestal
was an enormous capital ship built to show the world the extent of US naval supremacy
and guarantee its Allies a new age of peace and prosperity.
The almost four-football-field-long vessel immediately became a critical part of US
foreign policy, carrying shakedown operations in Guantanamo Bay before the Cuban Missile Crisis,
supporting a military coup d'état against Brazilian president João Goulart, conducting
several NATO exercises, taking part in the Suez Crisis, and breaking numerous world records.
But despite its extraordinary achievements, the carrier would be cursed with a series
of catastrophic accidents and unrestrained fires that would haunt her crew for almost four decades…
A New Ship for a New Age
To assume its new central role on the world stage after World War 2 ended,
the United States invested heavily in its naval capabilities so it could be better
prepared for future threats. Furthermore, it had recently signed the North Atlantic Treaty and was
now responsible for providing military support for NATO to deter a Soviet invasion of Europe.
The war had put the final nail in the coffin of the old naval doctrine
focused on battleships and ship-to-ship combat;
instead, the new carrier-focused principle demanded the creation of larger,
more powerful aircraft carriers able to launch entire swarms of warplanes in a moment’s notice.
A new class of colossal US carriers of unprecedented size and tonnage then emerged.
The Forrestal-class supercarrier was the first in a series of ships built under this new philosophy.
With their unparalleled 75,000-ton weight, a size 25 percent larger than Midway-class ships,
full integration of the angled deck, a huge island, and most importantly,
their extreme air wing capable of carrying up to 100 individual aircraft,
the new Forrestal-class ships proved to be a military and naval breakthrough.
USS Forrestal was completed in 1955, followed by USS Saratoga, USS Ranger, and USS Independence. At
that moment, she would become the largest carrier in the world, surpassing the Japanese Shinano.
More importantly, she became the first carrier specifically designed to support jet aircraft and
the first one built with an angled flight deck, steam catapult, and an optical landing system.
With its daunting size, state-of-the-art technology, and the ability to deploy an
unprecedented number of warplanes from its deck, USS Forrestal quickly became the pride
and joy of the US Navy and the beacon of a new age of American naval supremacy.
A Long Career
USS Forrestal deployed from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia and spent her first
year of service in training operations off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean.
One of many critical tasks she conducted during those initial months was training;
as the first ship of her kind, Navy crews had
to undergo extensive training to learn how to use the new systems.
On January 15, 1957, the supercarrier departed to join the 6th fleet in the Mediterranean,
where she would spend most of her service years.
With no significant conflicts in the region, Forrestal conducted several diplomatic tours
in which she would visit local ports and take dignitaries and the general public on board.
Forrestal made history in November of 1963 when Lieutenant James H. Flatley III and his crew
made 21 full-stop landings and takeoffs in a C-130 Hercules aboard the carrier, setting a
record for the most significant and heaviest aircraft landing on a Navy aircraft carrier.
The feat was an attempt to determine whether the massive Hercules could serve as a “Super-COD”
or “Carrier Onboard Delivery” aircraft to replenish supercarriers on duty. Despite the
success, the landings were later deemed too risky for conventional crews, and the idea was scrapped.
Forrestal continued to serve in the Mediterranean region for several years, allowing the US
to respond to significant events immediately. One such occasion was when Forrestal rushed to
Tunisia in 1973 to support the rescue operations in the flooded Medjerda River Valley near Tunis.
A year later, amid the sudden Turkish invasion of Cyprus, USS Forrestal was crucial in
helping evacuate US citizens from Cyprus. In a significant joint Navy-Marine Corps operation,
Forrestal provided air support as the 6th fleet evacuated 466 people in only five hours.
But supporting US troops was not the 20-year-old ship’s only duty.
Forrestal was chosen to participate in a particular shock test
that entailed planting high-yield explosives near the hull of the massive ship to determine
if a capital ship could withstand the strain of close-quarter combat and still remain operational.
The test showed that the supercarrier was not only massive in size but also incredibly sturdy.
A Series of Catastrophes
It is said that the crews aboard USS Forrester had a generally relaxed
and can-do attitude that often overshadowed the safety regulations. Such laxness strongly
contributed to the many incidents that occurred on deck throughout the years.
In October of 1968, a routine night launch turned into a significant incident. As the last VAW-123
E-2A took off, it violently skewed and went off the angled deck and into the water, nose-first.
The aircraft then flipped over onto its back,
breaking its radar dome and quickly submerging as it began to sink.
A helicopter-led rescue operation was immediately deployed;
two crew members were rescued, while the other two officers were deemed lost at sea.
Then, on July 10, 1972, while moored at Pier 12 in Norfolk, Forrestal suddenly
burst into flames when an operations room below deck ignited due to a human error.
The fire destroyed 7 million dollars worth of computer equipment and caused the flight deck
to glow red from the heat of the fire, suddenly leaving a hole on the surface.
The sailors were able to pump water inside the hole to quench the flames,
but the ship was severely damaged after the ordeal and underwent three months of repairs;
the replacement parts needed were taken from USS Nimitz, which was under construction at the time.
Another tragedy struck Forrestal on January 15, 1978,
as an A-7 Corsair II from VA-81 crashed onto her flight deck and two men lost their lives.
The pilot was operating without communication gear due to an onboard malfunction, and as he was
making his approach, he saw the light signaling that it was permissible to land. However, he soon
realized that the deck was covered with parked and moving aircraft. With no way to pull up, the
pilot ejected and survived with minor injuries. Still, his plane crashed into another aircraft.
Forrestal suffered at least three other fires during her career,
all of which were quickly extinguished with no losses. Still, a disaster in July of 1967
would haunt the sailors aboard the supercarrier for the rest of their lives.
An Uncontrollable Fire
On July 29, 1967, Forrestal was located off the coast of Vietnam,
engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Several camera crews were stationed on deck recording aircraft launchings and
landings as part of a training program. The footage shows the sailors immersed in
their routines, with most of them not wearing any safety equipment.
Instead of using the special munition elevators to load warheads into aircraft,
the sailors lifted the projectiles on their own, disregarding safety procedures.
Suddenly, an electrical anomaly caused a Zuni rocket on an F-4B Phantom to fire,
striking the external fuel tank of an A-4 Skyhawk in front of it.
A gust of fire and debris immediately spread through the aircraft.
The sailors quickly rushed to help the pilots who were still aboard
their aircraft, but blinded by bravery, they failed to realize the flammable jet
fuel was already spread across the deck and cooking off the fuel tanks of other planes.
A massive chain reaction ensued, with a series of lethal explosions taking place
as fuel tanks and munitions detonated one after the other.
Several attempts to fight the fire were made, but time and time again,
they ended in tragedy as the crewmen were poorly trained in firefighting protocols and used water
blasts to quench the flames. However, the burning fuel only spread, further worsening the situation.
Eventually, the firefighters had to completely retreat as
the fire became uncontrollable and the fuel began to leak below deck.
As other American ships approached to support the Forrestal crew, specific instructions and
equipment to fight the flames also arrived. Slowly but effectively, the sailors began
to regain control of the perilous situation, and it took them 14 hours to put the fire out.
Aftermath
In total, 134 sailors lost their lives, and another 161 were injured. The ship stayed afloat,
but the damage exceeded 72 million dollars, not including the damage to aircraft.
Pilot and future US Senator John McCain and future US Pacific Fleet Commander Ronald J.
Zlatoper barely survived the ordeal, as McCain was next in line to the aircraft
that misfired the projectile that caused the catastrophe.
The disaster persuaded the Navy to modify its firefighting practices.
It also revised the weapon handling procedures and installed a deck washdown system on all carriers.
To improve firefighting training, the new Farrier Fire Fighting School Learning Site in Norfolk
was named after Chief Gerald W. Farrier, the commander of Damage Control Team 8,
who was among the first to lose their lives during the initial explosions.
But despite all the changes, Forrestal would go on to suffer several more fires
before she was finally decommissioned in 1993.
Thank you for watching our video! Do you think the numerous fires could have been prevented?
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