Summary and key points: The Forrestal-class “supercarriers” were a product of the Cold War arms race and represented the US Navy’s push to further develop its naval capabilities.
– These carriers, including the USS Saratoga, were larger and more capable than their predecessors, the Midway class.
– Major design improvements included a stronger flight deck, a larger and deeper hull for better stability, and the introduction of an angled deck to enable simultaneous launch and recovery operations.
– Despite some mishaps, including collisions and fires, USS Saratoga served in the Mediterranean and played a role in the Vietnam War before the Forrestal-class was decommissioned in 1998.
Forrestal-class supercarriers: giants of the Cold War era
During the Cold War, the arms race to develop more modern and lethal naval fleets was in full swing.
From submarines and carriers to aircraft and battle tanks, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the development of cutting-edge technologies such as aircraft carriers.
One product of these efforts was the US Navy’s Forrestal-class “supercarriers”. The huge ships were so named because of their extraordinary tonnage at the time.
In comparison, the predecessor ships of the Midway class were 25% smaller. The Forrestal class remained in service from 1955 to 1998.
The history of the Forrestal class:
After World War II, aircraft became larger and larger. The military also began to consider whether aircraft could soon carry smaller nuclear weapons. This combination led the Navy to place greater emphasis on its air power.
When designing the Forrestal-class ships, engineers addressed some of the deficiencies of the earlier Midway ships.
The Midway aircraft carriers in particular were known for not operating properly in rough weather due to their low freeboard and heavy flight deck. To counteract this, the flight decks of the Forrestal ships were the reinforcement deck. Each ship of this class had a larger and deeper hull, allowing for a more stable platform with greater height above the water.
Like earlier U.S. Navy ships, the Midway ships had a gap between the flight deck and the ship’s structure at the front.
The engineers built a hurricane bow into the Forrestal aircraft carriers to enclose the front part of the ships.
Perhaps the most notable design change in the Forrestal ships was the modern angled deck. Developed in the early 1950s by Captain Dennis Campbell of the Royal Navy, this layout allowed the carriers to conduct launch and recovery operations simultaneously.
As the US Naval Institute explains:
“The integration of an angled deck on the port side into the Forrestal design eliminated the planned need for a level deck. The landing area was remote and facing away from the starboard side, so a structure there would not pose a safety hazard. As built, the island’s centerline was nearly 95 feet starboard from that of the ship, and even farther from the angled deck. In addition, the island solved the pickup problems by being integrated into the structure, and radar equipment could be easily mounted without interfering with flight operations. Another advantage was that placing the antenna and radar high on the island achieved greater electronic efficiency.”
Introducing USS Saratoga:
During her decades of service, the USS Saratoga experienced a number of accidents. In 1960, she collided with a German freighter off the coast of North Carolina. Shortly thereafter, seven of her crew were killed when a fire broke out in the carrier’s second engine room. Despite these setbacks, the Saratoga was deployed to the Mediterranean and subsequently took part in the Vietnam War.
About the author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, national security writer for The National Interest, is an analyst at the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has been featured in numerous publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
Image credit: Creative Commons.
