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Military Pics / Photos

In August of 1943, General George Patton and Brigadier General Ted Roosevelt stand on the street of a small town in Sicily.

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USS Forrestal CVA-59 General view of the vessel off Newport News, Virginia on 12 December 1954 shortly after her launching.

Due to fire damage the Forrestal was permanently docked in Norfolk when I was serving my time. We used it as a comm sta when we were in port. They watched and got all the messages we would normally get and we would pick them up once or twice a day.

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Doc said:
USS Forrestal CVA-59 General view of the vessel off Newport News, Virginia on 12 December 1954 shortly after her launching.

Due to fire damage the Forrestal was permanently docked in Norfolk when I was serving my time. We used it as a comm sta when we were in port. They watched and got all the messages we would normally get and we would pick them up once or twice a day.

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I'm pretty sure we UnReps her off Yankee Station.
 
Lenny said:
I'm pretty sure we UnReps her off Yankee Station.
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Yep, she was at Yankee Station. Here is her story here. from: https://www.virtualwall.org/units/forrestal.htm


USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59)
When placed in commission on 01 October 1955, USS FORRESTAL was the first of the "super-carriers" and the largest warship ever constructed. She displaced almost 80,000 tons and was 1,076 feet long and 129 feet in beam at the waterline. When her air wing was embarked she had a complement of over 5,000 sailors and Marines, and her "main battery" consisted of 80 to 100 aircraft of various types. She was a formidable weapon of war.

FORRESTAL was home-ported on the East Coast and spent the first twelve years of her commissioned life serving with the 2nd and 6th Fleets. She departed Norfolk (Virginia) on 6 June 1967 for her first deployment to Vietnam with Carrier Air Wing 17 and about 80 aircraft embarked:
  • Attack Squadrons 46 and 106 with 24 A-4E SKYHAWK light bombers
  • Attack Squadron 65 with 12 A-6A INTRUDER all-weather bombers
  • Fighter Squadrons 11 and 74 with 24 F-4B PHANTOM fighter-bombers
  • Heavy Reconnaissance Squadron 11 (RVAH-11) with 6 RA-5C VIGILANTE recon aircraft
  • Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123 (VAW-123) with four HAWKEYE airborne control aircraft
  • Det 59, Heavy Attack Squadron 10 (VAH-10) with four KA-3B SKYWARRIOR tankers
  • Det 59, Helicopter Squadron 2 (HC-2), with several UH-2A SEASPRITE utility and ASW helicopters
  • A VAP-61 detachment of RA-3B SKYWARRIOR intelligence collection aircraft
FORRESTAL arrived on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin on 25 July and immediately began combat operations. The first four days were routine; the fifth day, 29 July, was not.

The ship was preparing to launch a major strike and many fully fueled and armed aircraft were parked about the deck. At 10:52 AM a 5" ZUNI rocket accidentally fired from an F-4 Phantom parked on the starboard side of the ship and pointed inboard. The rocket impacted an armed A-4 Skyhawk (piloted by then-LCDR, now Senator, John McCain) parked on the port side.

The rocket's impact dislodged and ruptured the Skyhawk's 400-gallon external fuel tank and ignited the jet fuel which poured out. A 1000-pound bomb also fell to the deck, into the spreading pool of flaming jet fuel. Within 90 seconds the bomb "cooked off" and detonated. That explosion resulted in a chain reaction as the closely-packed aircraft were first engulfed in and then contributed to a massive fire with repeated high-order bomb detonations. The ship's "plat" cameras, mounted on the island and embedded in the deck itself, provided ample video coverage of the initial accident and the subsequent catastrophe.

The first responders were Repair Party 8, led by Chief Petty Officer Gerald Farrier, who can be seen in the plat tapes running toward McCain's Skyhawk immediately after the rocket strike. The fuel tank had already ruptured and burning fuel was spreading around the aircraft. Chief Farrier had, as his weapon against this blaze, a hand-held fire extinguisher. He had not yet reached the Skyhawk when the first detonation occurred . . . he simply disappeared in the blast. A number of air- and deck crew were trapped in the inferno; many died there, while others were able to escape to the deck-edge catwalks.

Outside the rapidly spreading fire, the flight deck crew immediately began an effort to contain the blaze. The on-deck firefighting crews rallied after the first explosion and attacked the fire, only to disappear in the second, and larger, round of explosions. The plat tapes show the decimated firefighters recruiting help from anyone in the vicinity, and these make-shift crews once again pressed into the growing inferno. The third round of detonations cleared the deck of men and fire-fighting gear, but within a minute more crewmen from the forward deck and below-deck areas had reconstituted fire-fighting teams and were working their way aft.

Forrestal
Forrestal
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USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59)
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7TH FLEET
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USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59
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Over a dozen 1,000 and 500 pound bombs detonated within the first few minutes of the fire, punching holes through the 3" armor plating of the flight deck. Flaming fuel poured through those holes, into the working and berthing spaces on the O-3 level, then down into the aft hangar bay. Numerous smaller explosions occurred as lesser weapons, ranging from the Skyhawk's cannon ammunition to 5" rocket warheads, detonated.

Although it was 13 hours and more before the last fire was extinguished, FORRESTAL's crew did put it out ... but at the cost of 135 dead and hundreds more injured. FORRESTAL left Yankee Station under her own power, steaming to Subic Bay for temporary repairs before returning to Norfolk on 15 September 1967.

After shipyard repairs, USS FORRESTAL continued to serve, making many more deployments with the 2nd and 6th Fleets ... but she never again deployed to Vietnam. The Aircraft Carrier USS FORRESTAL was decomissioned on 11 September 1993 after 38 years of active service.


The listing below includes all of the men who died as a result of the 29 July fire. Names are linked to their personal memorial pages on The Virtual Wall. Several are marked with asterisks (*) to indicate men who died after 29 July of injuries received.

PO2 Marvin J Adkins, VF-11SN Everett A Allen, CVA-59
PO3 Gary J Ardeneaux, VF-11PO1 Toney A Barnett, VF-74
LT Dennis M Barton, VA-46PO2 Robert L Bennett, VF-11
PO2 Mark R Bishop, VF-11SN James L Blaskis, CVA-59
AA William V Brindle, VF-74PO3 Bobby J Brown, VF-11
PO1 Jerry D Byars, VF-11PO3 Francis Campeau, VF-11
PO3 Jack M Carlan, VF-74AN Daniel G Cavazos, VF-74
SN Ray A Chatelain, CVA-59 *AN Richard D Clendenen, VF-11
SN William D Collins, VF-11AN Robert B Cotten, VF-11
PO2 James L Crenshaw, VF-74PO2 Mario C Crugnola, VF-74
AN Robert J Davies, VF-74PO2 Thomas J Dawson, VA-65
PO3 Jerold V Despard, VF-11PO3 Edward R Dorsey, HS-2
PO3 Joseph G Dugas, VF-11PO3 Paul A Dupere, VF-74
SN John S Duplaga, VF-11SN Kenneth Dyke, CVA-59
PO1 Walter T Eads, VF-74PO2 James A Earick, VA-106
PO2 John T Edwards, VF-11CPO Gerald W Farrier, CVA-59
FN Kenneth L Fasth, CVA-59PO1 John J Fiedler, VF-74
AN Russell L Fike, VF-74PO1 Harold Fontenot, VA-106
AN Johnnie L Frazier, HS-2AN Gerald G Fredrickson, CVA-59
PO1 Herbert A Frye, VF-74AN Ramon Garza, VF-74
LT Robert E Geller, VA-65PO3 Richard H Gibson, CVA-59
AN Lawrence J Gilbert, VF-74PO3 William T Gilroy, VF-11
PO3 Larry E Grace, VF-74PO3 Russell A Grazier, VF-74
PO3 Charles C Gregory, VF-74SN William C Hartgen, CVA-59
AN Robert L Hasz, CVA-59AN Richard A Hatcher, VA-46
AN William K Hinckley, VF-11PO2 Stephen L Hock, CVA-59
PO3 Larry D Holley, VF-11PO2 Calvin D Howison, VF-11
AA Philip L Hudson, CVA-59 *AO3 Julius B Hughes, VF-11
WO Donald N Hugo, CVA-59AN Ralph W Jacobs, VF-74
PO3 Donald W Jedlicka, VF-11AN William B Justin, CVA-59
AN Thomas M Kane, VF-74AN Charles D Kieser, VF-74
AN Joseph Kosik, VF-11PO3 Edward L La Barr, VF-11
SN Wade A Lannom, VF-11AN William Lee, CVA-59
PO2 Robert C Leonberg, CVA-59AN John T Lilla, VF-11
PO3 Arnold E Lohse, VF-11AN Charles E Long, VF-11
PO2 William E Lowe, VF-11PO3 Kenneth W Lozier, VF-11
PO3 James S Mac Vickar, VF-74AN Ralph E Manning, CVA-59
PO2 Earle E Mc Auliffe, VF-74AN Brian D Mc Conahay, VF-74
PO1 George C Mc Donald, VF-74PO2 Frank C Mc Nelis, VF-11
PO3 William V Mc Quade, VF-11AN Alan R Metz, VA-106
AN George D Miller, VF-74AN Edward A Mindyas, VF-74
PO3 Hubert H Morgan, VF-11PO3 Leroy Moser, VF-11
AN James E Neumeyer, VF-74PO3 Gary E Newby, VF-11
AA James E Newkirk, VF-11FN Ronald R Ogrinc, CVA-59
AN Thomas D Ott, VA-46AN Wayne H Ott, VF-74
CPO Richard L Owens, VA-46PO3 Richard T Pinta, VF-11
PO2 Raymond N Plesh, VA-106AN John C Pody, VA-46
PO2 Ernest E Polston, VF-11AN Douglas A Postt, VF-74
PO3 Robert M Priviech, VF-11PO3 John M Pruner, VF-11
PO3 Robert A Rhuda, VF-74AN Charles R Rich, VA-106
PO3 Jerry P Rodgers, VF-11PO2 Dale R Ross, VF-11
AN James M Runnels, VF-11AN Harvey D Scofield, VF-11
PO2 Joseph C Shartzer, VA-65PO3 William J Shields, VF-11
PO3 Richard M Sietz, CVA-59AN David W Smith, VF-11
SN Richard T Smith, VF-74PO2 John F Snow, VF-74
PO1 John C Spiess, VF-74SN Nelson E Spitler, CVA-59
PO3 Johnny W Spivey, VF-74LCDR Gerry L Stark, VA-46
AN Walter E Steele, CVA-59PO2 Wendell W Stewart, VA-106 *
AA Robert A Stickler, VF-74AN Kenneth D Strain, CVA-59
PO2 Robert H Swain, CVA-59AN Delton E Terry, VF-11
PO3 Norman A Thomas, CVA-59PO1 William F Thompson, VF-74
PO3 Richard J Vallone, VF-11AN Robert J Velasquez, CVA-59
AN Juan A Velez, VA-106AN George E Wall, VA-106
AN Harold D Watkins, VA-46AA Gregory L Webb, VF-74
PO3 Gerald A Wehde, VA-65PO3 Judson A Wells, VF-11
PO3 Richard L Wescott, VF-11AA Edward J Wessels, VF-74
LCDR Fred D White, VA-46AN Kerry D Wisdom, VF-74
[td][/td]​
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Royal Marines drawing a man through a 15-inch gun to clean it. 1916. Imperial War Museum photo.

I've heard anecdotal reports of small men being passed through the bore of large guns for maintenance. I guess I believe it.
 
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On this day in 1943, Cornelia Fort is tragically killed. She is best known as one of the most accomplished female pilots to serve during World War II. Did you know that an American woman was flying the skies during the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Her father wouldn’t have liked it. He’d seen the dangers of flight, and he’d hoped that his children would have nothing to do with aviation. When Cornelia was only 5 years old, he made his sons swear an oath on a Bible that they would never attempt to fly.

It didn’t occur to him to include his little girl in that promise. Who would have thought that a southern, gently bred girl like Cornelia would ever attempt to become a pilot? But she did.

Cornelia was a spirited tomboy who didn’t want the life of a Nashville socialite. She admired Amelia Earhart, who’d once attended her boarding school. And then, one day in 1940, she had the opportunity to ride along with a friend in a small plane.

She was hooked—and she never looked back. “Flying apparently added a sense of wonder and joy to her life,” her sister said. “It had been a lumbersome, cumbersome growing up . . . . she was a great rebel of her time.”

Cornelia soon had both her pilot’s license and her instructor’s license. By October 1941, she was teaching future military aviators in Hawaii.

Which is why Cornelia was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In fact, she was already airborne when Japanese planes first started to stream into the area that morning. What was that plane in her path? She jerked the controls away from her student, narrowly avoiding a collision before turning to look.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Or maybe she just didn’t want to.

“The painted red balls on the tops of the wings shone brightly in the sun,” she later wrote. “I looked again with complete and utter disbelief. Honolulu was familiar with the emblem of the Rising Sun on passenger ships but not on airplanes. I looked quickly at Pearl Harbor and my spine tingled when I saw billowing black smoke. Still I thought hollowly it might be some kind of coincidence or maneuvers, it might be, it must be. For surely, dear God . . .”

She landed her plane as fast as she could, hopped out and fled for the hangar, even as the Japanese strafed her plane.

A few months later, she left Hawaii, as she said, because “there was no civilian flying in the islands after the attack. And each of us had some individual score to settle with the Japs who had brought murder and destruction to our islands.”

Cornelia was invited to join the newly formed Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. Her job was to ferry planes around, freeing up male pilots for combat.

Her time with the WASPs was cut tragically short. On March 21, 1943, she was ferrying planes with other, less experienced pilots. Unfortunately one of the new pilots flew too close to Cornelia’s plane, and his landing gear nicked the tip of her wing. Cornelia’s wing tip, along with 6 inches of its leading edge, broke off. She went into an unrecoverable dive.

The tragedy made her the first woman pilot to be killed on active duty.

“I loved the sky and the planes,” she’d written her mother after Pearl Harbor, “and yet, best of all, I loved flying. . . . If I die violently, who can say it was ‘before my time’? . . . I want no one to grieve for me. I was happiest in the sky . . . . Think of me there and remember me, I hope, as I shall you.”
 
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