Forrestal (CVA 59) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 4 text:

, . - . -f .- -TGPQ. .fs -1- -- 'TT---Un rn' .'5I.1-5 .11--.w---f'f-R 4,..g4'. -3--gg T' V' A .L...,...,,.. .. . ,--:W--.--..-f-'AQQLP -.133-gg.,-1.4 -.. 'T f 4'4g ' A GIANT STEP FORWARD A mighty step in the advancement of Naval Aviation was consummated and national security more readily assured, on December 11, 1954. On that date, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, Va., a carrier of vast potential and mighty design was launched. In a quiet but resolute voice, Mrs. James V. Forrestal, widow of the late Secretary of Defense, gave identity to the Navy's most advanced weapon in the program of Power For Peace and affixed to her husband's name a memorial of monumental consequence. Following a fitting out period at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and subsequent Commissioning on Oct. 1, 1955, the USS FORRESTAL CCVA-591, under the command of Capt. Roy L. Johnson, USN, and with CDR. Edward L. Anderson, USN, as her Executive Officer, prepared to take her place with the Navy. On Jan. 3, 1956 off the Virginia Capes, an FJ-3 Fury piloted by CDR. R. L. Werner dropped onto her immense f1attop to record the Forrestal's first air- craft landing. The following weeks were spent qual- ifying pilots of Air Task Group 181 in carrier landings and take-offs and to familiarize them with the angle deck, in preparation for the shakedown cruise, scheduled for the early part of 1956. On January 24, 1956 the Forrestal departed Nor- folk Naval Base and iourneyed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to undergo 10 weeks of rigorous training, essential in ironing the kinks out of a new ship and molding her crew into a competent and well disci- plined team. During the months in the Caribbean, the Forrestal was put through her paces by a crew who worked diligently and long, and successfully com- pleted every phase of a difficult test plan, laid down by the Fleet Training Group. From repeated high speed turns at upwards to 30 degrees rudder to the catapulting and retrieving of a variety of aircraft, the Forrestal accomplished each and every part of the grueling exercise to per- fection. The Forrestal flight deck gang landed, maneuvered and positioned many forms of both prop and iet type aircraft with growing speed and efficiency while the catapult boys dispatched planes in record time. Following the shakedown cruise which ended with the entire ship receiving an outstanding from the Fleet Training Group, the Forrestal headed for home and arrived in Norfolk, Va. on March 30, 1956. Be- fore her scheduled entrance into the yards for a com- plete overhaul, the Forrestal was called upon to test the Navy's newest and most advanced forms of iet aircraft, in coordination with the Bureau of Aero- nautics. On May 4, 1956, the Forrestal entered the Nor- folk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va., for a post- shakedown repair period which included the installation of newer and larger external shafts. June 1, 1956, saw Captain Johnson relieved as Command- ing Officer of the Forrestal by Captain William E. Ellis, USN, and the Forrestal became the f1agship of Commander Carrier Division Four on June 20, when Rear Admiral Dale Harris broke his flag in the power- ful attack carrier. On July 1, 1956, CDR. Arthur J. Brassfield assumed duties as the Forrestal's Executive Officer. After leaving the yards in late August, the For- restal operated between Norfolk and Mayport, Fla., gaining experience in joint exercises at task force strength. lt was during one of these exercises that the Forrestal, accompanied by a small but mobile task force was ordered to sea, supplied and readied for extensive operations. Rear Admiral Murr E. Arnold, USN, Commander Carrier Division Four, since relieving RADM. Harris on September 8, 1956, was in complete command of this movement which saw the Forrestal make her way slowly and steadily across the Atlantic. After operating extensively in the vicinity of the Azores, the small but compact task force was granted welcome liberty in Lisbon, Portu- gal, on Nov. 26, where a respite from the arduous duties of the sea was enioyed. On Nov. 30, with the situation in the Middle East abated, the Forrestal left Lisbon and returned home for Christmas leave which for awhile had been viewed with doubt. On Jan, 21, 1957 the Forrestal once again pre- pared for a long and extensive journey. This time she knew where she was going, and on Feb. 2, the gnarled summit of Gibraltar loomed out of the sea. The Forrestal, which has grown from infancy, quickly, and with a determined effort to prove her- self ready and able to operate with the best of them, has been granted the right to work with the U. S. Navy's mighty Sixth Fleet and has proven an asset to them. If If

Page 3 text:

if . 1 I S J 1 . . i 1 E , I . 5 , 4 . 2, Y 1 E . , 1 ....-v-W. Y P . 5 , V ' ,LS-,

Page 5 text:

,1.,g.c.- fr-,lf-1+1:1-Q,---vrtmfkfi 1 'ix-fx-fgfzm f:. Jiaztvw.-1m,.1n-.ga-:::Tr,. '- ,, - ., - ,.,!4.',2g:eafff ' Lam ' -- - ,Q '.-l'r.:Z zZ!'7 .M-.gm-kb' -, :W -' 2 1-:Lf-'fiig :Q:1-1+ airs-:Ai1.5-:.SEf:2-2311:-221151112 3.iff?559.:L5'1:L1i'ffcgt :5ZEE.1f:f-rg--f,: 3, ,, :fn-, 61, ,244 . A 7- L , . ,-, ,-if--.-V.., V.,,, ,W , lixhis ii- -Iff-Cfiliii-'.A:Fr17Q,7Q:1:.545132-E:1E :f?-iiff'-:Eff-:Liar5-932112255-tri:'.1.5':,.f'5:2:2.:-f -4:2-ig-1,211-'11 4-I 1-,-.txgs-2, 1 : gl. ,':-.1-: -,ff : gf: fr-,J-..fff'., - i ,7-2 ---1- lg .1 ww if if .,: ,:x,,::..f:-:.---:.N-- xr:-fxr. , -:.,-,..1Q..,, f -..f.-.-VM, rf., ,.-,1- - 1-.-,,.H ..:,,, , V-, .., , -,, - ,4-.-.--1-. 1-,