--Originally Posted ~10/10/07--

She ended her Navy career armed with none other than the mighty F-14 Tomcat. All of the class (Forrestal, Saratoga, Ranger, Independence) were capable of operating the Tomcat and prior to that, the Phantom. During Vietnam, they operated the Crusader and Phantom. In the early 1980's, all of the class transitioned to the F-14A Tomcat.

The class survived the 1980's and early 1990's. She was converted to a training carrier in the early 90's and operated all the Navy's current (at the time) training birds. She never operated the F/A-18 Hornet tho... Only Saratoga and Indy did. Ranger and Forrestal ended their careers with Tomcats as the fighter force ("VF") and A-6E Intruders as the bomber force ("VA").

Cheers,


Don