Forrestal-class aircraft carrier

The Forrestal class was four aircraft carriers designed and built for the United States Navy in the 1950s and named for James Forrestal, the first United States Secretary of Defense. It was the first class of supercarriers, combining high tonnage, deck-edge elevators and an angled deck. The lead ship, USS Forrestal, was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company on 14 July 1952, launched on 11 December 1954 and commissioned on 1 October 1955. She was driven by four Westinghouse geared steam turbines, with steam supplied by eight Babcock and Wilcox boilers. The first ship entered service in 1955 and the last was decommissioned in 1998. All four ships have since been scrapped, in Brownsville, Texas, between 2014 and 2017.