Navy sinks plans to bring supercarrier to Maryland
The Associated Press
Dec 7, 2006 3:59 PM (5 hrs ago)
BALTIMORE - A group of veterans who served on the nation's first
supercarrier say their decade-long effort to bring the great ship to
Baltimore as a floating museum has failed. The veterans told The Baltimore
Examiner the Navy likely will sink the USS Forrestal for use as an
artificial reef.
"We're up against a brick wall we can't beat," said Jack Lawler, a board
member of the nonprofit USS Forrestal Museum Inc. "I guess they found it
was better to sink Forrestal than to save 50 years of history."
Launched in December 1954, the Forrestal served in the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean as well as off of Vietnam. It was the first carrier built to
accommodate modern aircraft and became the model for the carriers currently
in service.
During her service in Vietnam, an onboard fire took the lives of 140
sailors. Among the survivors of that fire was Lt. Comdr. John McCain, who
would become a U.S. Sen. from Arizona and presidential candidate.
The ship was decommissioned in 1993 and the nonprofit group was created
consisting of former officers and crew members and other supporters.
Touting Maryland's rich maritime history, the group had proposed anchoring
the Forrestal at sites such as Locust Point, Port Covington, near the Bay
Bridge, Fort McHenry and, most recently, Baltimore County's Sparrows Point
peninsula, which won the support of activists lobbying against a planned
liquid natural gas plant there.
The Navy donates ships to cities, states and nonprofit groups who submit
applications and funding plans, but a Naval official told The Baltimore
Examiner in October that the Forrestal was removed from the official
donation-approved list because of apparent lack of interest.
"Given that the ship had been decommissioned since 1993 and that the Navy
can't continue to retain the ship indefinitely in Newport, Rhode Island, we
cannot support putting the ship back on donation hold," said Katie
Dunnigan, a spokeswoman for the Naval Sea Systems Command.
Officials told The Examiner there were technical problems with some of the
applications submitted.
Information from: The Baltimore Examiner, http://www.examiner.com
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Associated Press
Dec 7, 2006 3:59 PM (5 hrs ago)
BALTIMORE - A group of veterans who served on the nation's first
supercarrier say their decade-long effort to bring the great ship to
Baltimore as a floating museum has failed. The veterans told The Baltimore
Examiner the Navy likely will sink the USS Forrestal for use as an
artificial reef.
"We're up against a brick wall we can't beat," said Jack Lawler, a board
member of the nonprofit USS Forrestal Museum Inc. "I guess they found it
was better to sink Forrestal than to save 50 years of history."
Launched in December 1954, the Forrestal served in the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean as well as off of Vietnam. It was the first carrier built to
accommodate modern aircraft and became the model for the carriers currently
in service.
During her service in Vietnam, an onboard fire took the lives of 140
sailors. Among the survivors of that fire was Lt. Comdr. John McCain, who
would become a U.S. Sen. from Arizona and presidential candidate.
The ship was decommissioned in 1993 and the nonprofit group was created
consisting of former officers and crew members and other supporters.
Touting Maryland's rich maritime history, the group had proposed anchoring
the Forrestal at sites such as Locust Point, Port Covington, near the Bay
Bridge, Fort McHenry and, most recently, Baltimore County's Sparrows Point
peninsula, which won the support of activists lobbying against a planned
liquid natural gas plant there.
The Navy donates ships to cities, states and nonprofit groups who submit
applications and funding plans, but a Naval official told The Baltimore
Examiner in October that the Forrestal was removed from the official
donation-approved list because of apparent lack of interest.
"Given that the ship had been decommissioned since 1993 and that the Navy
can't continue to retain the ship indefinitely in Newport, Rhode Island, we
cannot support putting the ship back on donation hold," said Katie
Dunnigan, a spokeswoman for the Naval Sea Systems Command.
Officials told The Examiner there were technical problems with some of the
applications submitted.
Information from: The Baltimore Examiner, http://www.examiner.com
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
