Three months of refresher training periods ended in April when AMERICA stood-out of Hampton Roads, eastward bound for Yankee Station and her first tour of duty with the Seventh Fleet off Vietnam. A shipyard availability period which lasted until the first of 1968 included the modifications necessary to operate the A-7A Corsair II, A-6A Intruder and F-4J model Phantom II aircraft. The following day, a memorial service was conducted on the flight deck to pay honor to the LIBERTY crew.įollowing additional training exercises and visits to ports in Turkey, Greece and Italy, AMERICA concluded her eight and one-half month second deployment on 20 September. An hour later, about 350 miles southeast of Souda Bay, Crete, AMERICA rendezvoused with the badly damaged LIBERTY. One of AMERICA’s medical officers and two corpsmen were dispatched to help treat the wounded, and at 1030 hours on 9 June two ship's helicopters began transferring the seriously wounded to the carrier. The attack on LIBERTY claimed the lives of 34 men, with 75 wounded. When word was received via Tel Aviv that the attackers had been Israelis, and the attack had been made in error, the aircraft outbound toward LIBERTY’s now known location in international waters were recalled. Not being aware of who had attacked LIBERTY, or her exact location, the task force in short order readied an armed response, and both carriers launched aircraft. Three days later, shortly after 1400 hours (2:00P.M.) local time, a brief message was received from the technical research ship LIBERTY (AGTR 5) that she was under attack. That afternoon, the crew conducted a general quarters drill and at its conclusion, remained on condition three alert, an advanced state of defensive readiness. On the morning of 5 June while AMERICA was refueling with the fleet oiler TRUCKEE (AO 147), word came that the Arabs and Israelis were at war. Later, in late May, when evidence indicated that a crisis was brewing in the Middle East, America, along with SARATOGA (CV 60), headed once again for the Sea of Crete. Fortunately violence never materialized, and the task force was not called upon to act. What appeared to be a routine deployment changed in April when a military coup ended parliamentary rule in Greece, and as flagship of a special operations task force, AMERICA steamed to standby for possible evacuation of American citizens caught up the turmoil. Added for the first time aboard a CVA was an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability when a detachment from Helicopter ASW Squadron 9 was assigned. After conducting final training exercises and her crew enjoying the holidays at home, AMERICA set sail for the Mediterranean in January 1967. November 1966 found AMERICA conducting initial carrier qualification trials off the Virginia Capes for the new A-7A Corsair II. After post-shakedown availability and further training cruises off the Virginia Capes and to Bermuda, AMERICA departed for an uneventful seven-month maiden Mediterranean Sea deployment with the Sixth Fleet at the end of November 1965. A two-month shakedown cruise to the Caribbean with her assigned carrier attack air wing (CVW-6) followed. Austin, piloted an A-4C Skyhawk of Attack Squadron 76.

She conducted her first catapult launch and arrested landing on 5 April when her executive officer, Commander Kenneth B. for local operations off the Virginia Capes. Eleven months later, on 23 January 1965, she was commissioned as the nation's 16th active attack carrier, Captain Lawrence Heyworth, Jr., in command.įollowing fitting out, USS AMERICA was underway on 25 March from her home port of Norfolk, Va. McDonald, the ship was launched on 1 February 1964. McDonald, wife of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral David L. She was named 'America', the third Navy ship so honored, on 10 January 1962. The keel for the third KITTY HAWK-class attack aircraft carrier was laid on 9 January 1961 at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Va. USS America (CV 66) History written by Mike Weeks

Cv 6 battle group