USS America (CV-66)

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USS America (CV-66)

USS America underway on 24 April 1983
History
United States
Name	America
Namesake	United States of America
Ordered	25 November 1960
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down	9 January 1961
Launched	1 February 1964
Sponsored by	Catherine McDonald
Christened	1 February 1964
Acquired	13 January 1965
Commissioned	23 January 1965
Decommissioned	9 August 1996
Reclassified	CV-66, 30 June 1975
Stricken	9 August 1996
Homeport	Norfolk, Virginia
Motto	Don't Tread on Me
Nickname(s)	The Big "A"
Fate	Scuttled after live-fire testing 14 May 2005
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	61,174 long tons (62,156 t) (light), 83,573 long tons (84,914 t) (full load)
Length	990 ft (300 m) (waterline), 1,048 ft (319 m) overall
Beam	248 ft (76 m) extreme, 129 ft (39 m) waterline
Draft	38 ft (12 m) (maximum), 37 ft (11 m) (limit)
Installed power	280,000 hp (210 MW)
Propulsion	4 × steam turbines 8 × boilers 4 × shafts
Speed	34 kn (39 mph; 63 km/h)
Complement	502 officers, 4684 men
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-49 AN/SPS-48
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32
Armament	Terrier missile (replaced with Sea Sparrow) Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried	about 79

USS America (CVA/CV-66) was one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. 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. She also served in the Persian Gulf War's operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

America was the first large aircraft carrier since Operation Crossroads in 1946 to be expended in weapons tests. 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 was the largest warship ever sunk.