America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

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HISTORY OF AMERICA Although there have been five ships named America, ' only two have been designed specifically for naval service. The present AMERICA is the first warship so named to be commissioned into the fleet of the United States Navy. Her identity has been established by the officers and men who serve her. The first AMERICA, intended to be a formidable 74 gun warship of the line for Continental Navy, was begun in 1777. Lack of funds and subsequent delays in construction post- poned her completion until 1782. Just a few months before her launching, the Continental Congress gave her to the French Navy to replace MAGNIFIQCIE which was lost by grounding in Boston Harbor and subsequently denied John Paul Jones command of her in 1783. The second AMERICA, a schooner, served for more than 70 years. She was built in 1851 for Commodore John C. Stevens and won the first America Cup race in 1852. Ten years later, during the Civil War, the Confederacy obtained and pressed her into service as a blockade runner. She was later retaken by Federal forces and served the Union block- ading the harbors of the South for the duration of the war. In 1921, she was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy. The third and fourth ships to bear the name AMERICA were steamships. AMERIKA, built in Ireland for the Ham- burg-American Line, was taken into U.S. Navy service in 1917, renamed AMERICA and used as a troop transport. She returned to service as a line in 1921 with the United States Line, retired in 1931, but returned to service as a troop transport with the advent of World War II. Also serving as a troop ship was the United States Lines ' passenger liner SS AMERICA, which served during World War II as WEST POINT. After the war, she was returned to the United States Lines and sold by them in 1964 to a foreign shipping com- pany which renamed her AUSTRAILIS.

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Chaplains 286 Communications 288 Deck 296 Dental 306 Engineering 310 Marine Detachment 358 Navigation 370 Operations 374 Safety 3M 398 Supply 400 Weapons 420 CVW-1 436 442 456 474 A-72 490 AQ135 506 AW123 522 rT-33 534 F-102 552 VQ-2 570 VS-32 576 Photo Gallery 598 In Memoriam 612 Credits 614 Ombudsman 615 Awards 616

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Opposite: The first AMERICA presented to France, 1783. Middle: Schooner Yacht AMERICA, 1851 ... the radical hull and sail design became the model for future yachts . winner of 1st America Cup 1852. Top left: laying of keel of Schooner AMERICA. Top right: Steamship AMERIKA 1905 ... a troop transport in WWI. Above: SS AMERICA . . . passenger liner and troop transport in WWII.