America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

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Left: F1A 18 Hornet . . . initial sea trials aboard AMERICA, October, 1979. Below: AMERICA ' S own R2D2 . . . PHALANX Close In Weapons System CIWS. Bottom: AMERICA and NIMITZ at Pier 12. Between major deployments, March 1977.

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After a brief period of leave and upkeep in Norfolk, AMERICA returned to sea on 6 September, 1974, to partici- pate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exer- cise Northern Merger . Naval and shore units from nine of the NATO countries participated in the two-week exercises which included a port visit to Portsmouth, England. Following an 1 1 month shipyard period, AMERICA em- barked on her fifth Mediterranean deployment on 15 April, 1976. An early accomplishment of this deployment was the aid provided by the ship in the evacuation of American and foreign nationals during the civil conflict in Lebanon. Return- ing from this deployment in October, 1976, AMERICA spent a three-month shipyard period in Portsmouth, Virginia. On 10 June, 1977, the ship led a five-ship task group that deployed to South America. During this five-week period, AMERICA and other ships of the task group conducted exercises with units of the Brazilian Navy. This marked the first time in history that Brazilian aircraft operated from the deck of an American carrier. September 29, 1977, saw AMERICA leaving Norfolk for her sixth Mediterranean deployment. The cruise included intensive flight operations, participation in the annual NATO National Week XXI fleet exercises and port visits to Italy, Spain and Yugoslavia. AMERICA returned to her Norfolk homeport in late April, 1978. After a three month overhaul period and pre-deployment training, AMERICA again embarked Carrier Air Wing Elev- en, a west coast air wing, and departed Norfolk on her tenth extended deployment in March of 1979. She conducted operations with assets of the Sixth Fleet and NATO, and returned to Norfolk in September, 1979. Shortly after return- ing, AMERICA conducted initial carrier qualifications for the F A-18 Hornet. In November, 1979, AMERICA once again steamed into the Norfolk Shipyard for an extensive overhaul period. This overhaul lasted more than eleven months and cost over three hundred million dollars. Installation of new combat equipment and overhaul of the engineering plant was para- mount. Some of the major installations included the NATO Sea Sparrow Missle system, PHALANX Close In Weapons system, Tactical Flag Command Center and a sophisticated Carrier Air Traffic Control and Display system. Naval aviation history was made aboard AMERICA on 14 January, 1981 . Ensign Brenda Robinson, (JSNR, piloting a C- 1 A carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft, became the first black female aviator to become carrier qualified. After a series of qualification landings, Ensign Robinson made an arrested landing on the flight deck and received congratula- tions from the Commanding Officer, Captain Rene W Leeds, USN. After successful type training in the Caribbean and an outstanding performance during the Operational Readiness Exam, AMERICA made final preparations for her eleventh deployment; her first dedicated to Indian Ocean operations. 22 :? 9

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On a gloomy morning, 14 April, 1981, AMERICA depart- ed Norfolk with her escorts. During this deployment, she became the first super class carrier to transit the Suez Canal in both directions. Just by transiting the Suez one way, AMERICA was able to save 900,000 gallons of fuel and reduce 3400 miles and eight sailing days, from the normal 12,000 mile route around the horn of Africa. Total transit time was ten hours and ten minutes for the 104.5 mile route. During her seven month line period, AMERICA operated with the navies of Greece, Great Britian, Australia and Spain, steamed over 60,000 nautical miles in two oceans and visited three countries. Just prior to returning from her seven month deploy- ment, on 12 November, 1981, the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey team embarked in AMERICA to conduct IN- SCJRV. The results of the inspection were deemed outstand- ing by the board. It was particularly interesting to note that AMERICA was the first carrier ever to pass INSC1RV. On 7 December, 1981, AMERICA was back to sea for seven days to conduct fleet carrier qualifications, and a Tiger Cruise . During this period, she hosted the fathers and sons of AMERICA men and recorded almost 1700 ar- rested landings. Following the CQ period, AMERICA entered Norfolk Na- val Shipyard for a four month overhaul period. In addition to the normal renovating that took place, she was fitted with two weather satellite receivers and a heads up display unit for the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) platform. AMERICA also spent a short period in drydock for the purpose of reworking shaft cintron seals and refurbishing a tail shaft. Top: AMERICA departs Suez Canal at Port Said, October 1981. Above: AMERICA makes historic transit of Suez Canal, May 1981. Right: Emotions run high as AMERICA departs on Indian Ocean deployment, April, 1981. 24