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A gold-colored capital "E" is painted on Forrestal's stack. The Gold E signifies 5 consecutive years of the best, comprehensive, ship's engineering operations and maintenance as rated by fleet experts.
Forrestal earned the Gold E in 1991 and was the first, and possibly last, aircraft carrier in the history of the Navy to do so. Starting in 1987, and continuing for 5 busy years, over 2,000 Engineering crewmen, in a mixture of teams integrated to provide services, have gone many extra miles to get the drills right, the training done and the high scores from inspectors.
Large enough to provide full utility capacity to a medium-sized city, an aircraft carrier has boilers, engines, generators, turbines, water evaporators, fire main systems, fresh and salt water service, telephone systems and massive amounts of piping, wires, valves, gauges, switches, and relays to make it all useful. The complexity is mind-numbing.
To be noticed as the best in the fleet, all ships go through a series of tests and inspection to evaluate training, maintenance, operation and administration. From the newest fireman wiping oil from the precious surfaces of finely-crafted machinery, to expert engineering orchestrating the powerful ballet of boilers and turbines the tests demand a demonstration of know-how.
When Forrestal was awarded her fifth consecutive Engineering "E" it marked the first time an aircraft carrier has ever earned the coveted gold "E" symbol on her stacks.
The sheer difficulty in attaining that level of excellence over several consecutive years, makes it unlikely any aircraft carrier will earn the gold "E" again.
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