Forrestal on final voyage

The long-decommissioned USS Forrestal, the Navy's first super aircraft carrier, began its final voyage Tuesday from the East Coast to a Texas scrapyard. After 38 years of service, the 1,067-foot ship began its 17-day towing voyage down the Delaware River and eventual crossing of the Gulf of Mexico to All Star Metals in Brownsville. The Navy contracted with the metals firm for 1-cent in October to dismantle the ship. In 1967 while the ship was in the Gulf of Tonkin, a fire claimed the lives of more than 130 sailors. Future Sen. John McCain was on the flight deck in his A-4 Skyhawk at the time and escaped the fire. (Source: Fox News, 02/04/14) Gulf Coast note: The Forrestal was assigned to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., in 1991 to replace the USS Lexington as the Navy's training carrier. But the Navy later decided to decommission the ship.