There was little mention of the FID’s truly revolutionary design, outside of air-conditioning, and zero mention of her valiant wartime cruise accomplishments, combat sorties, or the number of brave men killed over Vietnam.
No, rather than summarize her brave record, the author takes the easy way out. He harps on the time worn one liner, a flight deck mishap that gets endlessly repeated, and one pilot who ended up a despised politician.
When I was on the JFK, we often called her “The Big John”, and it wasn’t meant affectionately (although there were cases when it was...)
Sailors often refer in a derogatory fashion to their own ship, but...don’t YOU do it!