![]() She returned to Norfolk on 15 December, remaining there through the end of the year 1966. The ship also participated in a mine drop, missile shoots, and provided air support for amphibious operations. įrom 28 November – 15 December, America took part in "LANTFLEX 66", gaining experience in the areas of anti-air, antisubmarine, and carrier strike operations. Since leaving Norfolk, America had lost five planes. An airman was burned in the catwalk and the RA ejected safely but the pilot went down with the plane. On 3 September 1965 on the way to Taranto, a plane and pilot were lost when the catapult malfunctioned and tore the front landing gear off the plane the plane's aux fuel tank ruptured and the plane went over the side. On, two Phantom jets collided in midair 20 miles (32 km) from the America, both pilots ejected safely. The following month, America initiated into carrier service the A-7 Corsair II, conducting its flight qualifications off the Virginia Capes, while she also conducted automatic carrier landing system trials which demonstrated the feasibility of "no hands" landings of F-4 Phantom, F-8 Crusader and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft. After Hurricane Inez swirled through the region, her sailors spent an estimated 1,700-man-hours in helping the naval base at Guantanamo to recover and return to normal operations. She arrived at Naval Station Norfolk on 10 July, remaining there for only a short time before shifting to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 15 July for availability.Īmerica operated locally in the Norfolk area from 29 August – 19 September, after which time she proceeded to Guantánamo Bay to carry out training. Early in the deployment, from 28 February – 10 March, America participated in a joint Franco-American exercise "Fairgame IV", which simulated conventional warfare against a country attempting to invade a NATO ally. She sailed on 1 July for the United States. Over the ensuing weeks, the ship visited Cannes, Genoa, Toulon, Athens, Istanbul, Beirut, Valletta, Taranto, Palma, and Pollensa Bay in Spain. New Year's Day, 1966, found her at Livorno, Italy. ![]() First deployment (1965–1966) Īmerica sailed for her first Mediterranean deployment late in 1965. Cobb broke his flag as Commander, Carrier Division 2 (CarDiv 2). She next operated locally through late August and then proceeded to the operating areas off the Virginia Capes and to Bermuda, arriving back at Norfolk on 9 September. Proceeding thence to the Caribbean, the carrier conducted shakedown training and concluded it at Guantánamo Bay on 23 June.Įntering the Norfolk shipyard for post-shakedown availability on 10 July, she remained there until 21 August. Austin, the carrier's executive officer, piloting a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk. She conducted her first catapult launch on 5 April 1965, with Commander Kenneth B. McDonald, the Chief of Naval Operations and commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 23 January 1965, Captain Lawrence Heyworth Jr., in command.Īfter fitting out there until 15 March 1965, America remained in Hampton Roads for operations off the Virginia Capes until getting underway on 25 March. Catherine McDonald, wife of Admiral David L. launched on 1 February 1964, sponsored by Mrs. She was laid down on 1 January 1961 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corp. Originally ordered as an Enterprise-class nuclear carrier, the ballooning costs of Enterprise during construction caused the cancellation of the nuclear CVAN-66 and her reordering as a conventionally powered Kitty Hawk-class carrier. She was the largest warship ever to be sunk.Īmerica under construction at Newport News in 1961 ![]() In 2005, she was scuttled southeast of Cape Hatteras, after four weeks of tests, despite a large protest of former crew-members who wanted to see her instituted as a memorial museum. She also served in the Persian Gulf War's operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.Īmerica was the first large aircraft carrier since Operation Crossroads in 1946 to be expended in weapons tests. Commissioned in 1965, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but did make three Pacific deployments serving in the Vietnam War. ![]() USS America (CVA/CV-66) was one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s.
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