U.S.S. AMERICA

USS America is the third naval ship to be named such. The aircraft carrier was built at Newport News, Virginia, and was commissioned on Jan. 23, 1965. The ship made her first two cruises to the Mediterranean. On her second voyage, the Six Day War broke out. America provided aid and support during this time. After this, the ship was deployed three times to support combat operations in southeastern Asia.

During the latter part of the 1970’s and into the early 1980’s, she was often in the Mediterranean, including during the Lebanon Crisis. In 1986, America was involved with the Libyan confrontation. The carrier sent aircraft to handle Libyan planes sent to attack American ships. Corsairs from the American were sent to hit key targets within Libya.

From late 1986 to early 1988, the ship underwent an extensive overhaul. The rest of 1988 was spent along the east coast and the Caribbean. During the first Iraq war of 1990-1991, she sent over 3000 combat sorties and lost no aircraft. The ship undertook deployments to the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean during the following years. Although scheduled for another major upgrade in the late 1990’s, the Navy ended up sending the ship to retirement early. The ship was formally decommissioned on Aug. 9, 1996.