Forrestal (CVA 59) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 21 text:

In July, 1959, this story begins. ... as FORRESTAL, just four years after her christening, finds herself back in the hands of the yard workers for extensive repairs. The super-carrier, in dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, was suddenly transformed from the graceful and towering ship that had just completed a successful tour of the Mediterranean area into an immobile pile of steel, larger and more immense when viewed out of the water . . . covered with coils of wire, great patches of rust and steel-helmeted men, as the yard workers took over. During the four months spent in the yard, FORRESTAL was refreshed and revitalized, through days of drudgery and hard work, as the passage- ways and decks bustled with activity, and resounded with the noise of chattering electrical drills. Acetylene torches with their showers of brilliant, fiery sparks blossomed everywhere in a purposeful pyrote chnic display. With a new coat of fresh, grey paint, FORRESTAL put paper work and the yard behind her.

Page 20 text:

This, then, is the story of a carrier . . . the story of Forrestal. It is the story of one year only, but in it are all the stories that have been written and will be written. We present the story of FORRESTAL with the understanding that it is not every man ' s story, but with the hope that each man will find in it something of the strength that this ship symbolizes, as well as vivid, pictorial remembrances of the shipboard activities, the ports and the friendly, curious faces of the peoples of other nations, memories that include endless days of hard work around the clock, mo- ments of solitude boredom and loneliness . . . moments, too, of exhiliration, dedica- tion, and hilarity. Perhaps in this story each man will find the unique ingredient that each man puts into the curious menage of men and machines that form the ship known as Forrestal.

Page 22 text:

With et cleetn toottoxxi. . . 19