USS Forrestal (CV-59)

US Navy Ship Wood from the   USS Forrestal (CV-59) 5" long wood blanks 27/64" blanks are for Sierra Clones 3/8" blanks are for Bolt Action Pens These two blanks are label cast images of USS Forrestal with bands of wood from the ship on the ends of the blank. 12.5mm & 10.5mm blanks are for JR series pen kits JR Set blanks are label cast images of USS Forrestal with bands of wood from the ship on the ends of the blanks for the Cap and Post blanks. The Jr Post blank also has coper wire from the ship embedded in the blank. All blanks will come with one COA per blank or blank set. COAs are 4" x 6" card stock with gold foil embossed COA seal. All blanks are cut as they are ordered. USS Forrestal (CV-59) (later CVA-59, then AVT-59), was a supercarrier named after the first Secretary of Defense James Forrestal. Commissioned in 1955, she was the first completed supercarrier, and was the lead ship of her class. Unlike the successor Nimitz class, Forrestal and her class were conventionally powered. The other carriers of her class were USS Saratoga, USS Ranger and USS Independence. She surpassed the World War II Japanese carrier Shinano as the largest carrier yet built, and was the first designed to support jet aircraft. The ship was affectionately called "The FID", because her namesake was the first Secretary of Defense, FID standing for "First In Defense". This is also the slogan on the ship's insignia and patch. She was also informally known in the fleet as the "USS Zippo" and "Forest Fire" or "Firestal" because of a number of highly publicized fires on board, most notably a 1967 fire in which 134 sailors died and 161 more were injured. Forrestal served for nearly four decades in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific. She was decommissioned in 1993, and made available as a museum. Attempts to save her were unsuccessful, and in February 2014 she was towed to Brownsville, Texas, to be scrapped. Scrapping was completed in December 2015. Name: USS Forrestal Namesake: James Forrestal, first United States Secretary of Defense Ordered: 12 July 1951 Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Cost: US$217 million Laid down: 14 July 1952 Launched: 11 December 1954 Acquired: 29 September 1955 Commissioned: 1 October 1955 Decommissioned: 11 September 1993 Reclassified: CVA to CV-59 on 30 June 1975 Struck: 11 September 1993 Identification: Radio Call Sign: November-Juliet-Victor-Foxtrot Motto: First in Defense Nickname(s): Forest Fire Firestal Zippo The FID / FID (most common) (First In Defense or Fidelity Integrity Dignity) Fate: Scrapped in 2015 Class and type: Forrestal-class aircraft carrier Displacement: 59,650 long tons (60,610 t) standard 81,101 long tons (82,402 t) full load Length: 990 ft (300 m) at waterline 1,067 ft (325 m) overall Beam: 129 ft 4 in (39.42 m) at waterline 238 ft (73 m) extreme width Draft: 37 ft (11 m) Propulsion: Steam turbines, 4 shafts; 260,000 shp (190 MW) Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) Complement: 552 officers, 4,988 enlisted Armament: 8 × 5"/54 Mk 42 guns (removed) Mk 29 NATO Sea Sparrow, Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS Aircraft carried: approx. 85 aircraft (F-14, F-4, A-4, A-7, A-6, E-2, S-3B, EA-6B, C-2, SH-3, A-3B, KC-130 (test flight))