Forrestal (CVA 59) - Naval Cruise Book

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FORRESTAL in task group during underway replenishment. Food, Fuel and Supplies are passed between ships in non-stop fashion. After returning from the Sixth Fleet on july 6, 1973, FORRESTAL entered the shipyard for a three-month overhaul. On November 2, the overhaul was completed and the carrier began qualifications off the east coast. On March 11, 1974, FORRESTAL departed Norfolk for the Mediterranean. During this deployment with the Sixth Fleet, operations in the eastern Mediterranean in the vicinity of Cyprus .assured a great deal of sea time for FORRESTAL crewmembers. Following her return to the U.S. in mid-September and a brief yard period, she steamed back into the Mediterranean in March, 1975. Another yard period followed the return of F ORRESTAL to the U.S. in September, keeping her in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard until January 1976. Routine operations were conducted but excitement quickly grew aboard when the ship learned that F ORRES TAL was chosen to play Host Ship at the International Naval Review in New York City Harbor in july, 197 6. On July 4, FORRESTAL gained national exposure by hosting President Ford and over 100 VIPs and representatives of the news media who reviewed the arrival of the 40-odd Tall Ships participating in the International Naval Review from various countries around the globe. Another first was experienced by FORRESTAL when on September 13, she was selected to undergo a Shock Test, a demolition of high explosives near the hull to test whether a ship of capital size could withstand the strain of full close-order combat and still remain operational. After the successful testing of FORRESTAL and her crew, the ship returned to Norfolk and on October 1, 1976 began yet another in a long line of firsts : an attempt to complete an extensive overhaul, which usually takes 14 to 18 months, in only 9 months. Again she was successful and steamed out of the shipyard on june 14, 1977. From overhaul to Mediterranean deployment required an intense amount of dedication and effort by ship's company and Air Wing, with many short at sea periods, which began in August 1977. On October 1, 1977, FORRESTAL changed homeports from Norfolk, Virginia to Mayport, Florida. ORE and Type Training, with FORRESTAL under close scrutiny by many evaluation teams, were successfully accomplished. During this period, while in the Caribbean, FORRESTAL made a brief call at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a port not visited by an American aircraft carrier in many years, and two short week-ends in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Then a final farewell to loved ones and friends with a highly successful Family Day Cruise on March 21, 1978. Underway April 4, 1978, USS FORRESTAL commenced her thirteenth Mediterranean cruise.

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FGRREST AL - FIRST IN DEFENSE The F ORRESTAL story began long before the ship herself was laid down. In the closing months of World War II, Admiral Mark Mitscher, at the time the Commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the South Pacific, made the first recorded suggestion for a carrier with the general characteristics of the Forrestal Class. Other military and civilian leaders agreed with him. In the years following the war, the need for aircraft carriers larger than the Midway Class became increasingly apparent. Advances in aviation, particularly the advent of the heavier, faster, jet aircraft, could be exploited fully only by the construction of a large, modern carrier, designed specifically for compatibility with these high-performance aircraft. On July 12, 1951, the Navy announced that the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company had been awarded a contract to build CVA-59. The keel for the new ship was laid July 14, 1952. Less than 30 months later, the first of the post-war carriers was launched. Mrs. James V. Forrestal, widow of the first Secretary of Defense, christened her USS FORRESTAL. Commissioning ceremonies were held October 1, 1955, at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. On the same day, Captain Roy J. Johnson became the first commanding officer of F ORRESTAL. Commander Ralph L. Werner, commander of the air group, recorded the first arrested landing on January 3, 1956. Since then, F ORRESTAL has recorded well over 235,000 landings. Following a ten-week shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and summer operations off the Atlantic coast with the U.S. Second Fleet, F ORREST AL was called to bolster U.S. forces in the Mediterranean during the Suez crisis in the fall of 1956. The new carrier returned to Norfolk for Christmas, but on january 23, 1957 she sailed for her first regularly-scheduled deployment as a unit of the Sixth Fleet, this time because of civil strife in Lebanon. When the crisis ended, she returned to Norfolk. From 1958 through 1966, F ORRESTAL alternated between the Second Fleet in the Atlantic and the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. In June 1967, F ORRESTAL departed Norfolk for her first combat cruise in the Western Pacific as a member of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. She took up station on Yankee Station, off the coast of North Vietnam, on july 23, 1967. A tragic fire on the fifth day of combat operations brought F ORRESTAL's part in the war to a sudden end. The fire killed 134 men and sent FORRESTAL back to Norfolk for repairs. Following seven months in Norfolk Naval Shipyard, F ORRESTAL deployed for the Mediterranean in July, 1968. With Air Wing Seventeen embarked, she recorded the longest CVA deployment in the Sixth Fleet up to that time - more than nine months. Upon returning to Norfolk in April 1969, the ship's engineering spaces were overhauled for three months. This was followed by six weeks refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. On December 2, 1969, FORRESTAL deployed to the Mediterranean for her eighth Six Fleet deployment which she completed on July 8, 1970. Following a minor overhaul period at the shipyard, the ship celebrated her 15th birthday by putting to sea for sea trials. Following operations off the Virginia Capes area, and a Christmas and New Year's holiday leave period, F ORRESTAL left her homeport of Norfolk for her ninth deployment with the U.S. Sixth Fleet. F ORRESTAL returned from the Mediterranean on July 2, 1971, and entered the shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, on july 16 for a ten-month overhaul. After completion of her yard period, she began type training, carrier qualification of Attack Carrier Air Wing Seventeen and operational readiness evaluation off the eastern coast of the U.S. On the early morning of july 10, fire broke out on the 03 level in flag country. The damage was heavy and forced FORRESTAL into the yards again at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. FORRESTAL left the shipyard on August 18 and resumed preparation for her 10th deployment to the Mediterranean, for which she departed on September 22, 1972. On March 28, 1973 FORRESTAL sped to Tunisia to participate in rescue operations on the flooded Medjerda River valley near Tunis. FORRESTAL helicopters from Anti-Submarine Helicopter Squadron THREE transported thousands of pounds of food, water, and medical supplies and rescued hundreds during the three-day operation.

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-i - - ea. PREPARE T O DEPLOY Predeployment training began in late Sept. 1977 with Refresher Training and culminated in FORRESTAL's successful completion of her Operation- al Readiness Evaluation on January 30, 1978. Green crewmembers quickly became seasoned hands due to the seemingly endless series of emergency drills and the fast operational pace. The long, hard days and nights at sea off Florida and in the Caribbean had payed large dividendsg we were ready for the Med.