Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS Abraham Lincoln The Legend Continues Aircraft carriers and their embarked air wings are the most capable ships at sea and form the nucleus of our carrier battle groups. An air wing is composed of fighter, attack, airborne early warning, electronic warfare, anti-submarine and logistics aircraft. These modern, long-range forces are capable of striking airborne, surface or sub-surface targets at sea, as well as targets ashore deep in an enemy's homeland. The aircraft carrier is essential to achieving and maintaining sea control. Not every mission requires a carrier -- or a carrier battle group -- but there are certain events or crises when only a carrier can do the job. --The U.S. Navy Policy Book Power projection from the sea means bombs, missiles, shells, bullets, and bayonets. When Marines go ashore, naval aviation aboard aircraft carriers and -- if required -- land-based expeditionary aircraft will provide them sustained, high-volume tactical air support ashore to extend the landward reach of our littoral operations. Rugged naval aircraft are well suited for expeditionary airfield operations. These capabilities -- the ability to generate high-intensity power projection from the decks of our carriers and expeditionary airfields -- are critical. They must continue to be suffi- ciently available and ready to contribute to joint warfare and decisive victory. Cur carrier and cruise missile firepower can also operate indepen- dently to provide quick, retaliatory strike capability short of putting forces ashore. Remaining ready indefinitely to strike, this potential force from the sea is a critical tool for diplomacy and influence. The mere arrival of naval strike forces into an area of heightened U.S. interest sends a clear signal. --Excerpt from the Navy White Paper: From The Sea And now the old ships and their men are gone, the new ships and the new men, many of them bearing the old auspicious names,,have taken up their watch on the stern and impartial sea, which offers no opportunities but to those who know how to grasp them with a ready hand and an undaunted heart. --Ioseph Conrad A star-Spangled, decorative emblem with President Abraham Lincoln 's silhouette hangs on the bow ofhis namesake ship, USS Abraham Lincoln, daring the carrier 's christening ceremony, held February 13, 1988.

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USS Abraham Lincoln QCVN 725 Command History USS Abraham Lincoln CCVN 723 is a member of the Nimitz class of aircraft carriers, which are the world's largest warships. Displacing nearly 100,000 tons, it is home to more than 5,500 sailors and Marines, as well as approximately 80 combat and support aircraft. The ship was named in honor of the nation's sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, and is the second ship of the line to bear the name. USS Abraham Lincoln is the Navy's fifth N imitz-class aircraft carrier and was built at a cost of more than S3 billion. The ship's keel was laid on Nov. 3, 1984, at Newport News, Va. Four years later, the ship was christened and began a series of performance trials leading up to commissioning on Nov. 11, 1989, in Norfolk, Va. After completing shakedown and acceptance trials, the carrier de- parted Norfolk in September 1990, to complete an inter-fleet transfer from the Atlantic to Pacific Fleet, and eventual arrival in her new homeport of Alameda, Calif. To change fleets, the ship completed an around the Horn transit of South America and participated in multilateral training exercises with the navies and air forces of several South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. These highly successful operations, involving both air and surface units, were significant for their complexity and unique professional training, and firmly established USS Abraham Lincoln's reputa- tion for excellence. In January 1991, the ship began accelerated workups to deploy in response to Operation Desert Shield X Desert Storm. Over the next four months the ship completed Advanced Training Assessment CATAD and Battle Group Exercise CBGEJ training in preparation for her first overseas deployment. On May 28, 1991, the carrier set sail for its maiden Western Pacific deployment, nearly four months ahead of its original deployment date. While en route to the Indian Ocean, the ship was diverted to support evacuation operations in the Philippines. The operation -- entitled Operation Fiery Vigil -- would become the largest peacetime evacuation of active-duty military and family members in history. USS Abraham Lincoln led a 23-ship armada which sealifted nearly 20,000 evacuees from the naval station. In two trips, the ship moved nearly 4,500 people from the Subic Bay Naval Station to Cebu Island, Philippines. With Operation Fiery Vigil complete, the carrier took up station in the Arabian Gulf in support of allied and U.S. troops remaining in the region for Operation Desert Storm. USS Abraham Lincoln's air wing, CVW-11, provided near continuous combat air patrol, reconnaissance and support air operations over Kuwait and Iraq. The carrier remained in the Gulf for over three months, on alert for any contingencies. The ship served as the command ship for all naval forces operating in the region. After spending much of early 1992 in a Selected Restricted Availabil- ity CSRAD at Naval Air Station Alameda, the ship set out in the latter part of the year on work-ups for a second Western Pacific deployment. Once again, the ship and air wing completed carrier qualifications, a Battle Group Exercise CBGED, and numerous other operations with exemplary results, preparing both for deployment on Iune 15, 1993. After a port visit to Hong Kong, the carrier returned to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, the U.N. sanctioned enforcement of a no fly zone over southern Iraq. The ship made two port calls to the United Arab Emirates, via the port city of Iebel Ali. After its third month of deployment, USS Abraham Lincoln was called to duty off the coast of Somalia, making a high speed run from the Arabian Gulf to the shores of eastern Africa, in support of Operation Continue Hope. Aircraft from CVW-11 conducted extensive reconnaisance overflights of Somalia, as the carrier remained on station for three weeks. In November 1993, USS Abraham Lincoln sailed south of the Equator for its first port visit to Perth, Western Australia. Steaming north, the ship crossed the Equator for the second time, and headed toward Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The carrier participated in Pearl Harbor Day ceremonies Dec. 7, and departed for Alameda with Tigers on board on Dec. 8, arriving in the Bay Area on December 15. Top Left: USS Abraham Lincoln CCVN 721 under construction at Newport News, Va. Top Right: More than 300 pets were housed on Lincoln 's hangar deck during the evacuation of Subic Bay, Philippines after the sudden eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Left: A helo lands aboard Lincoln duringan underwayperiod.