A silent but colossal arms race churned the waters of technological advancement between the world’s superpowers. It was a time of unprecedented military innovation, particularly in the realm of naval warfare.

The U.S. Navy’s Forrestal-class carriers stood as monumental testaments to this intense period of development, reshaping sea-based combat with their formidable presence.

These “supercarriers,” aptly named for their staggering size, was a leap forward from their predecessors, the Midway-class carriers.

With an approximate 25% size increase, the Forrestal-class ships were designed to tackle the issues that their forerunners faced, specifically concerning operations in rough weather due to low freeboard and a hefty flight deck.

They sported a robust flight deck that doubled as the strength deck and featured a deeper and larger hull, raising the ship’s profile above the water for a more stable platform.

One of the class’s defining features was the revolutionary angled deck—a design change pioneered by Royal Navy Captain Dennis Campbell in the early 1950s.

This ingenious layout enabled the simultaneous launch and recovery of aircraft, a critical advantage in maintaining operational tempo.

The U.S. Naval Institute highlighted the strategic significance of this innovation: “The landing area was remote and directed away from the starboard side such that a structure there would present no safety issue.”

Among the four giants—Forrestal (CVN-59), Saratoga (CVN-60), Ranger (CV-61), and Independence (CV-62)—stood the USS Saratoga with her own tales of triumph and tribulation.

Despite incidents such as a collision with a German freighter and a deadly fire, the Saratoga proved her worth in the Mediterranean and during the Vietnam War.

Her sister ship, USS Forrestal (CVA-59), the lead of her class, also bore witness to history’s harsh reality.

Commissioned in 1955, she sailed through multiple theaters from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, supporting operations during the Lebanon crisis in 1958 and later during the Vietnam War.

The horrors of war were not lost on the Forrestal; in 1967, a catastrophic fire on her flight deck claimed the lives of over 130 men, a tragedy that led to invaluable fire-fighting lessons that the Navy still adheres to today.

The USS Ranger, meanwhile, etched her name as the first American carrier designed with an angled deck from the onset.

Decommissioning of the majestic Forrestal-class carriers on September 1993, with the last of the class, the USS Forrestal, being scrapped in December 2015 after failed attempts to preserve her as a museum ship.

Relevant articles:
– Cold War Naval Giants: The U.S. Navy’s Forrestal-Class Supercarriers | The National Interest
– USS Forrestal (CVA, United States Navy (.mil)
– Photos: How Forrestal-Class Aircraft Carriers Made the U.S Navy so Powerful, The National Interest