Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

USS Forrestal pictured c1957.

Forrestal Class supercarrier USS Ranger pictured in San Francisco Bay,October 26th 1968.

Here are some early shots of FORRESTAL, the first "super carrier"! DFO

Nice shot of Ranger. You can see the sponsons on the bow hat were originally for two each of the 8 x single 5"/54 Mk42 mounts fitted to the class at completion. These guns were soon removed, and the other 3 ships lost their forward sponsons (they were replaced by much smaller ones for a Sea Sparrow point-defense missile system).

Only Ranger kept the large forward sponsons (she was assigned to the Pacific Ocean her entire career, while the others spent most or all of their service in the Atlantic Ocean/Mediterranean Sea). Clearly visible are the many jet engine storage containers stacked on the sponsons - a handy place to park those bulky items.



And nice photos of Forrestal - interesting that she does not yet have her deck-edge aircraft elevator platforms mounted.

Also not yet fitted are the 5"/54 gun mounts - you can see the circles where they will go on the sponsons on all 4 quarters in the second photo.

Neosho Class Fleet Oiler USS Mississinewa...USS Saratoga.....Gearing Class Destroyer USS Hawkins..August 16th 1959.

USS Ranger pictured off Hawaii in November 1968.

Two shots from 1956............

IIRC I had a Revell model of the pictured plane: a Cutlass. Much later I sold Cutlasses sans wings, by Oldsmobile......... DFO

USS Saratoga pictured as she steams in the waters off Naval Station Mayport, Florida,April 15th 1959.

The brand new SARATOGA, now quite a while ago........... DFO

USS Independence,off Guantanamo Bay in 1959.