Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) - Naval Cruise Book

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Where We Start From What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all oar exploring 0 Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time --Prom 'Pour Quartetsf by T. S. Eliot The history of Naval aviation had its begin- nings nearly a century ago with Professor Samuel P. Langley's pioneering efforts to develop an airplane, or aerodrome. Although his craft never flew, Lan- gley drew the attention of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt -- four years before the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk. In 1910 a Curtiss pusher plane was launched from the cruiser Birmingham. Two months later Eugene Ely, that plane's pilot, landed his craft on a platform erected on the stern of the cruiser Pennsyl- vania in San Francisco Bay. Ely's feat was the first arrested landing, snagging cables stretched across the deck and anchored with 50-pound bags. After the first World War, the Navy converted the coal-carrying ship Jupiter and two battle cruisers into aircraft carriers. Iupiter was renamed Langley and used for research and development. The two cruisers became the first true aircraft carriers, Lex- ington and Saratoga. More carriers followed: Ranger, Wasp and Hornet. The Essex-class carrier followed, and lasted until well beyond World War II. In the 1950's, USS Forrestal became the first true supercarrier. The wor1d's first nuclear-powered carrier, USS Enterprise, was commissioned in 1961. USS Abraham Lincoln is the N avy's fifth N imitz-class carrier, displacing well over 95,000 tons. The ship was commissioned on November 11, 1989, and takes its motto, Shall Not Perish, from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The Lincoln Legend begins with the commissioning ofUSS Abraham Lincoln tCVN72J in 1989. It continues with Lincoln 's second major overseas deployment.

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Abraham Lincoln President Lincoln seeks a better Navy... The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents in detail the operations of that branch of the service, the activity and energy which have characterized its administration, and the results of measures to increase its efficiency and power. Such have been the additions, -by construction and purchase, that it may almost be said a navy has been created and brought into service since our difficul- ties commenced. Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than ever before assembled under our flagi have been put afloat and performed deeds which have increase our naval renown. I would invite special attention to the recommendation of the Secretary for a more perfect organization of the navy by introducing additional grades in the service. --Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861 The naval force of the United States consists at this time of five hundred and eicghty-eight vessels, completed and in the course of completion, an of these seventy-five are iron-clad or armored steamers. The events of the war give an increased interest and imriprtance to the navy which will probably extend beyond the war itse . The armored vessels in our navy completed and in service, or which are under contract and approaching com letion, are believed to exceed in number those of any other power. gut while these may be relied upon for harbor defence and coast service, others of greater strength and capacity will be necessary for cruising purposes, and to maintain our rightful position on the ocean. --Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1863 Nor must Uncle Sam's Web-feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also Lap the narrow mu dy bayou, and mlihereverkthe ground was a little amp, they have been, and made t eir trac s. --Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to James C. Conkling, August 26, 1863 A statue of USS Abraham Lincoln 's namesake looks solemnly out from the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.