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U.S. Navy Construction & Commissioning of Aircraft Carrier Uss Forrestal Sea Trials 81054 (1956)

1956 · Short film · 19 min

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Synopsis

Presented by the U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Forrestal (MN 8087) is a 1956 film that shows the construction of the Forrestal at the shipyards of the Newport News Shipbuilding company, the ship’s christening and commissioning, and its first sea trials. The ship is named after James Forrestal, the first US Secretary of Defense; it is first launched on 11 December 1954 and commissioned on 1 October 1955. It is the first U.S. carrier to be built with an angled flight deck. The film opens with shot of the U.S.S. Forrestal, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, cruising at sea. Crowds gather for the christening of the Forrestal (00:47). Two men watch the ship leave the docks and head out to sea. Construction cranes move materials into place and men work to lay the ship’s keel (02:09). The film shows the construction of the ship, including the bottom of the hull, the gasoline tank, deck structures up to the flight deck, plus footage of the hull filling out. There is a number of shots that show men going to work on the ship. Men layout the ship in wood (03:49), based on blueprints, then cut out steel patterns to replace the wood. Men weld the subassemblies of the ship, including the bow assembly and elevator platforms. A giant crane delivers a subassembly to the main ship (05:40), easing in the massive steel sections. In one of the shops, a large propeller is tested (06:24). A steam turbine is lowered into the ship’s hull (06:46). There are shots of the ship’s construction from the…

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Details

Running time
19 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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