These nuclear-powered carriers can carry out more sorties (missions) than their smaller predecessors. Key point: The Cold War was a time of sharp debates over defense spending and the future of carriers. America could have continued with a bunch of lighter carriers, but after much back-and-forth the vision for supercarriers finally won out. USS Forrestal (CV-59) was the world’s first supercarrier. Rivalled only by the converted battleship HIJMS Shinano and the cancelled USS United States (CVA-58), Forrestal established a new template for maritime airpower. Serving for 38 years, Forrestal provided the model upon which the United States would build its fleet of modern aircraft carriers, all the way down to USS Gerald R. Ford (CV-78).