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VFP-62 RF8 913 BuNo 145645 taking a picture of the VA-66 A-4 formation
USS Intrepid detachment June 16, 1961
Picture taken by pilot John DeChant. Contributed by Don Van Horn PHC
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Updated: July 27, 2010
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TO SEA--One Last Time
"REMEMBER THE SPIRIT"
"First In Defense"
"Forever in Dignity"
USS Forrestal CVA-59 moved from its pier at New Port R.I. on June 15
(FORRESTAL's final destination is Philadelphia Naval Shipyard).
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 16, 2010
By Richard Salit, Journal Staff Writer
The aircraft carrier Forrestal is towed out of its berth Tuesday and into Narragansett Bay, heading for Philadelphia.
The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires
MIDDLETOWN — Like a frail elder being helped out of bed, the rusty old aircraft carrier was carefully nudged away from the pier where it has sat idle for the past 16 years and slowly towed out to sea by doting tugboats on all sides.
Still, the 1,067-foot Forrestal managed to regain its massive majesty as it traveled beneath the Claiborne Pell Bridge under blue skies one last time.
“She’s tired,” said Steve Quadrilla, who watched from a nearby charter boat as the vessel that was his home from 1969 to 1972 passed. But, he said, “To see her moving along was a good feeling.”
Decommissioned and tied up at Naval Station Newport in 1993, the Forrestal remained an eye-catching fixture on the Aquidneck Island shoreline ever since. By itself, the ship was a sight to behold. But since the Forrestal was docked alongside the Saratoga, another mothballed aircraft carrier that arrived the same year, the pair grabbed even more attention.
Soon, however, the Navy base, once home to a bustling fleet of active warships, won’t even have any relics left. The Iowa, the retired World War II-era battleship, departed in 2001. And plans are under way for the Saratoga, the last remaining mothballed warship at the base, to also be towed away. It’s likely to depart in 2011, with the scrap yard its final destination.
The Forrestal’s fate is uncertain. But as with the Saratoga, any hope of turning it into a floating museum was scuttled after the Navy determined that no viable proposals had been offered. As a result, the Forrestal will be towed to a Navy storage site in Philadelphia, due to arrive on Thursday, and will either be dismantled or sunk to create an artificial reef.
So large it was classified as a supercarrier, the nearly 60,000-ton Forrestal was launched in 1954. Despite its size, it could still attain speeds of 33 knots. The Forrestal saw action in the Vietnam War — as well as tragedy.
On July 29, 1967, while operating in the Gulf of Tonkin and serving as a base for air strikes into North Vietnam, a rocket aboard the Forrestal misfired, igniting a massive fire that burned for hours, killing 134, and destroying 21 aircraft.
Quadrilla, 62, of Plainville, Mass., was a petty officer second class while serving aboard the Forrestal two years after the fire. After both he and the ship retired, he joined other members of the USS Forrestal Association for exclusive Veterans Day ceremonies alongside the ship, docked at Pier 1 in Middletown.
The association learned about the impending departure of the Forrestal, and Quadrilla, head of the New England chapter of the group, arranged to board the charter boat Amazing Grace with about a dozen others to watch the momentous event up close. It took a half-dozen smaller tugboats and the 226-foot, ocean-going Navy tug Apache to move the Forrestal from the dock and out into Narragansett Bay.
“I couldn’t even imagine what it was like for the people that were crossing over the Newport bridge and looking at this massive aircraft carrier and not knowing what was going on,” he said.
Navy spokesman Lisa Rama agreed, saying, “You would had to have been texting, reading a book or sleeping to not realize the vessel was going under that bridge.”
Rama said that the Forrestal’s departure attracted a great deal of attention on the base. Both the Officers Club and Enlisted Club opened earlier than usual for personnel to gather and take in the spectacle and people driving down roads on the base pulled over to watch.
“A lot of folks were lining the waterfront on the base,” said Rama. “A lot of folks are sentimental. The only vessel that’s left is the USS Saratoga. It looks a lot different at Pier 1.”
rsalit@projo.com
Internal Links to Pictures of the Forrestal's Move
Photos by Bob Sees
EXTERNAL LINK:-Another great article on Forrestal's move.
- John Sees Update: 6/16/10---"Returned from Newport and the Forrestal transfer today. Forrestal is on yet but another journey enroute to her final demise. Commercial Tugs started her out from the pier straight back into the bay where they turned her 90 degrees to starboard to line her up to be towed.
We departed the boat wharf at 0800 with 14 aboard. That is all that took the trip. When approached
from the south and came up to Forrestal where the Navy Tug Apache T(ATF) 172 was backing up to attach the towing cable. We circled the Forrestal around the stearn to the sunny side where we spent most of the morning. We followed Forrestal under the bridge and to the last buoys before the last light and open sea. The weather could not have been better; cool, sunny and clear skies.
Last Veteran's Day the Association made arrangements with the PAO office to take 5 Flags provided by the Forrestal Association and fly them from the stern flag post of Forrestal which they did. These Flags were presented to various members and Steve Squadrilli had one and brought it with him. We raised the Ensign on the Flag Pole of the charter boat and it stayed there the entire time we were out chasing Forrestal.
I expect half a dozen pictures for the web site will follow shortly. Overall a good day on a sad occasion.
[Webmaster's Note: For more information see the Forrestal Information link below. I wrote this a few years ago and think it's appropriate.]
It took the threat of really never seeing her again that I chose to drive the 900 mile round trip to Newport R.I. to participate in the Veteran's Day Commemoration at pierside of the USS Forrestal & Saratoga. I wasn't alone; about 50-60 other shipmates, their wives, children, and grandchildren, came to the same realization.
It's hard for the mind to remember after 44 years how big she is. One can only stare in awe at her bulk; she still looks formidable, this the first of the super carriers...the Forrestal class. Since 1993 she has rested there waiting for her human creators to decide her fate. Despite the unsuccessful attempts of her shipmates, some plank holders, to save her, the Navy has decided to sink her as a man-made reef, unlike the Oriskany, in deep water, perhaps because her hull is still classified.
All-in-all, she doesn't look bad. Like those of us who sailed with her, she has the wrinkles of age; some paint hastily applied to prevent the elements from further degrading her; gangways we used to look at, with relief, from the returning liberty boats plying through choppy waves. Our home, away from home. The work place of our youth; the experiences of a lifetime that haven't diminished with fading memories.
What is it that makes us revere the ships that we sail? Why do we get pulled back time and again? They were part of our lives; the formative part; the part that made us into the men we have become. Unlike other life experiences, the Navy packed the excitement of flight deck operations, and seeing foreign places: belly dancers in Istanbul; the ruins of the Middle East; the ports of call that provided the opportunities for good and bad...much like the world we faced after the Navy. We were so young, then.....where has it gone?
Who could say it better than this: "Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile ... can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction, 'I served in the United States Navy.'" President John F. Kennedy, 1963, Annapolis MD
Farewell CVA-59.
Ken Jack
USS Franklin D. Roosevelt Cruise Video
- Please go to my website: www.usnavyphotos.com . There are links to a number of cruises of the FDR. High Speed Internet needed.
I'm planning a Video for every cruise from 1957-58 on. A few are nearly finished. They might be of interest to the VFP-62, 63 detachments who were aboard.
Larry Blumenthal, webmaster
[vfp62.com webmaster's note: HIGH SPEED INTERNET REQUIRED AS THIS IS A LENGTHY DOWNLOAD, HOWEVER, IT IS WORTH IT. VFP-62 RF8's shown are 905 BuNo 144624 (lost 6 Sept) in one recovery and one prelaunch. There are recoveries for both 902 BuNo 146883 & 903 BuNo 144615. Larry's appeal for old movie footage below:]
[Webmaster's Note: In addition to the above website, Larry is creating a new site: www.ussfranklindroosevelt.com Larry says, "I have just put up the start of a new website, www.ussfranklindroosevelt.com, which will be all about the FDR and her squadrons. A VFP-62 F8U is one of the rotating headers on the site. Please go have a look."]
MAIL CALL
Webmaster's Message: We occasionally get interesting mail. In an effort to share that, I've created a new link:
- Click here to read: Viewer's Mail to the SiteUpdated: December 19, 2008
Stay in Touch Links and Information
Click on underlined text.
- June 8:
USS FORRESTAL Association CVA/CV/AVT-59 Website - Has Been Updated
Visit Website> USS FORRESTAL Association CVA/CV/AVT-59 Website
1. To Join Association - click here> Download Membership Application -Printout and submit
Some of the Benefits of Joining
1) 16 page publication "USS Forrestal Newsletter the Spot Sheet" mailed to your home address on Quarterly basis every year with membership in the USS Forrestal CVA/CV/AVT-59 Association with FID Facts, Ships Log 55-93, Historical Almanac and Pictures, latest news on Ship & Shipmates, Upcoming Events/Ceremonies""""" This is the only OFFICIAL USS FORRESTAL NEWSLETTER Your Newsletter will not be E-mailed""""""
2) The latest news on decommissioned USS Forrestal.
3) How to Register for the next USS FORRESTAL Reunions (VA Beach, VA Sept 2009 and San Diego 2010).
4) What USS FORRESTAL Merchandise is available in the Ships Store
5) USS FORRESTAL SHIPMATE Roster - How to purchase containing names and addresses of over 3000
Forrestal Shipmates including Division/Squadron and time aboard.
6) When the next ceremony is to honor all our 276 Fallen Brothers who served aboard
Forrestal from 1955-93 and our 134 Fallen Shipmates who gave there all 29 July 1967.
- Click here for: USS Forrestal Ceremonies and Information
- A good "People Finder" : zabasearch.com
- A rich website specially created to provide Sailors of all eras the opportunity to not only locate Shipmates from the past, but also to provide a unique venue to enjoy the camaraderie of others who served through the sharing of memories and photographs. "Together We Served" is a neat site populated by present and former sailors and officers. But only a few of the over 400,000 who have signed up have noted an affiliation with VFP-62 -- six to be exact. There are two types of membership - free and full, which costs $20/year, $45 for three years and $125 for a lifetime. If you join please credit Marion Swinford or Jim Brumm.
- Free site to join. The site has a good Buddy Finder, military news updates, videos, and a VFP-62 group to join. Military.com Periodic emails are sent to keep you informed.
- Lots of U.S. Navy information, history, specials for members and more: U S Navy Institute
- External link to an Adobe (.pdf) file of: U.S. Navy Photomates database contributed by: Jim Trenoskie
Information Requests
[Webmaster's Note: The old information requests have been moved to the Bulletin Board Archive (see link on this page). New requests will be added to this area as received.
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