Having served in Independence and Ranger, this does tug at the heart strings a bit. I did serve in those years with men who were aboard Forrestal during the tragedy of 1967.
The Navy has paid one cent under a contract to have the 60-year-old vessel dismantled by All Star Metals in the Gulf port of Brownsville.
The decommissioned aircraft carrier Ex-USS Forrestal, pictured in 2010, is now on its final voyage to the scrap heap in Texas
Tugboat Alex McAllister pushes the USS Forrestal into the Delaware River on the aircraft carrier’s final voyage from Navy Shipyard in south Philadelphia
The times are indeed a changin……………………………
Reblogged this on Among The Joshua Trees.
I was on the 1978 Med cruise with VAW-116 on the FID. We had some good times, but she wasn’t a ship you loved like the Midway was.
I was in VT-26 at NAS Chase Field, Texas by then.
I still love the North American T-2C Buckeye.
Sad. Memories. She was the carrier where I CQed in the F-4 for the 1st time after being winged.
Agree with Pogue, though. The Midway was loved… and has reached a far better fate.
Indy and Ranger were to be used for somewhat noble purposes, initially. Indy was to be sunk as an artificial reef, which I am a big proponent of. Ranger was to be a museum on the Columbia River, upstream from Portland. Seems the PC Nazis influenced the Navy Department and it is not going to happen. A donor even bought the land for it including enough parking, a visitor center and other sundry things……….Mabus needs to be keel hauled.