James V. Forrestal, First in Defense, namesake of USS Forrestal (CV/CVA-59)

Sorry to drag you into this, but it is part of what is going on at Refuge Farm in the lovely fertile Piedmont of Virginia. We are attempting to generate a fun recount about a time as historic as the one we are living now. What I wrote at the time- more than thirty years ago now- was a simple attempt to capture what a military cruise is like in every extravagant moment of pain, and joy, separation and reunion. As it happened, our ship and her times were part of a unique circle all their own.

Forrestal was the name of our first Secretary of Defense. That appointment was part of an internal struggle in our Government as profound as the one today about the Supreme Court and Constitutional decision-making. The Department of War was the Army, of course, and the other Department with cabinet rank was Navy. We no longer talk about the emotion expanded on the consolidation of those two enterprises. It was huge, and the “First in Defense” appointment of the Secretary of the new Department contains a zillion issues, including a mutiny of senior Naval Officers, establishment of NSA and CIA (essentially a new super-cabinet department responsible to the Executive Branch and the associated and sprawling Defense Industry. So, Jim Forrestal was “FID,” and our ship was named for him as the first super-carrier. We called her by her abbreviated name, and we got to take her across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea.

She was old when I happened to be assigned to the air wing team that provided her offensive capabilities. It was a good team, optimized for operations against the Soviet Union. As it turned out, we were the ones nestled in her steel for the last cruise that would be prepared to do so.

There will be more about this sandwiched around what it is like to work six months of irregular hours with unscheduled emergencies. Here is the objective account of that, told in bald Cruise Book detail. My account is closer to the human aspect of trying to catch a nap in the middle of a 36-hour day. And this is just to the historic moment, not the fact that history always has a little fall-out. We apparently did not realize what would happen to us along with what we did to the Russians, did we?

Here are the plain-language words of it, “The Last Cold War Cruise.”

17 Jul–11 Aug 1989: Advanced phase training in Caribbean waters, with a brief stop in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (26–31 July). The training taxed sailors and marines in many aspects of ship and air wing combined operations against a full spectrum of wartime threats, and also enabled the crew to operate with ships and aircraft already participating in Unitas 30-89, a series of exercises designed to integrate U. S. and Latin American naval forces.

24 Aug–9 Sep 1989: Forrestal participated in Fleet Exercise 4-89 in the Puerto Rico Operating Area.

9 Oct 1989: As the ship made preparations to pull out of Mayport, a fire erupted in her primary command and control trunk space. The blaze severely damaged electrical cabling in an uptake compartment affecting several navigation, weapons and ship control systems, though the rapid response of firefighters prevented further damage. The ship did not report casualties resulting from the conflagration, which nonetheless delayed her departure. Electricians from the shipyards at Philadelphia and Norfolk lent their expertise to those of Jacksonville Shipyard, Inc., the prime contractor, and accomplished repairs to enable Forrestal to return to sea. In the interim, Commander, Carrier Group 6 shifted his flag to guided missile cruiser Wainwright (CG-28) three days later. He remained there until the carrier arrived in the Mediterranean, when he broke his flag from Forrestal on 12 November.

3 Nov 1989: Forrestal set sail for the Mediterranean. RADM Richard C. Allen, Commander, Carrier Group-6, broke his flag from the carrier in command of the battle group. The ship deployed for the first time with the AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM), and in addition, at one point Forrestal directly supported Donald B. Berry (FF-1085), which enabled the frigate to complete an exercise with the Israelis.

20–25 Nov 1989: The ship participated in Harmonie Sud Est with the French in the Mediterranean, her first such experience of that exercise.

27 Nov–3 Dec 1989: The final two months of the year proved to be a strenuous and exciting time for her crew as Forrestal provided crucial support to U. S. diplomats during the Malta Summit. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev met just weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall concerning the collapse of the East Bloc and its impact upon global security. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s habit of meeting key world leaders at sea during WWII purportedly served as the inspiration for President Bush to arrange the summit on the strategic island, the scene of fierce fighting during that conflict, and led to some media representatives describing the summit as “Malta to Yalta and Back.”

That account would suffice for a footnote, but I was startled by the honesty in the account of the actual Cruise, the last one of the Cold War. It was fun beyond belief.

Copyright 2022 Vic Socotra
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