America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 12 text:

SHIP ' S log top left: First overseas Liberty call; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 8 May, 1965 top right: Visiting allied sailors, NATO exer- cises, 1967 right: AMERICAMEN meet Pope Paul VI, 1965 facing page top: Cdr. K.B. Austin, XO, making the first catapult launch and arrested landing aboard AMERICA, 5 April, 1965 bottom: Lcdr. Bailey D. Sterrett makes the 1000th arrested landing aboard AMERICA, 23 April, 1965 f

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AMERICA began her first real test as a fighting vessel on 31 May 1968 when she and embarked Air Wing Six commenc- ed flight operations in the South China Sea. For this war ef- fort, involving not a single accident in more than 18,000 catapult launches and recoveries, AMERICA was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for exceptionally meritorious ser- vice , and her second consecutive Battle Efficiency E . On 10 April 1970, AMERICA and Air Wing Nine departed Norfolk for a second Western Pacific deployment. Upon her arrival in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, the 77,000 ton carrier became flagship for the Seventh Fleet Attack Carrier Striking Force. She then began operating on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin where she launched strike mis- sions over Southeast Asia. For superb wartime performance, both AMERICA and Air Wing Nine were awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation. In July 1971 after a six month overhaul, upkeep, and train- ing period, AMERICA left Norfolk for a third Mediterranean deployment. A particular emphasis of this cruise was joint operations with allied navies. These exercises were particularly successful and the ship ' s aircraft record was accident free. 10