The retired Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier, USS America (CV-66), performed a singular and unparalleled final act in 2005 when it was deliberately sunk in a test of how much damage it could endure. Known as a SinkEx-a sink at-sea live-fire training exercise provided valuable data on future carrier design and showed just how sturdy and resilient such large warships could be.
Commissioned in 1965, the USS America would go on to serve the U.S. Navy for over three decades in some of the most historic military operations, including those involving the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. After such an illustrious history, the carrier was decommissioned in 1996 and sent on a path toward scrapping. In a change of plans, however, the Navy decided it would make better use of the vessel for live-fire tests to gather data on carrier survivability.
On April 19, 2005, the USS America was subjected to a four-week process of being blown up. The endurance of the carrier was simply remarkable survived the attacks, just evidence of the tough strength of the double-hulled hull and compartmentalization. Later, mechanical engineer Blake Horner would say, “She is not only far larger than WWII battleships, but she is also a lot tougher.”
The order to scuttle the ship named for the U.S.A. was met with protests from veterans who had served on the America. They lobbied to turn the carrier into a museum. But the Navy refused. Admiral John B. Nathman, then the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, told reporters that the information generated by the tests would be invaluable in engineering future carriers, paving the way for the next generation of naval warships to have a much better chance of survival.
“America will make one final and vital contribution to our national defense, this time as a live-fire test and evaluation platform,” Adm. Nathman wrote to the veterans. “America’s legacy will serve as a footprint in the design of future carriers – ships that will protect the sons, daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of American veterans.”
On May 14, 2005, at approximately 11:30 am EST, the USS America finally slipped beneath the waves, coming to rest 16,860 feet below the surface southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The somber moment marked the end of a historic chapter for the carrier, yet its legacy will live on in the data that shall shape the future of naval engineering.
That final mission of the USS America underlined how well the limitations of carrier durability in combat are understood. The exercise showed that modern aircraft carriers are designed to absorb heavy damage, which would provide a crucial layer of defense for the thousands of sailors serving aboard these floating fortresses.
Lessons learned from the USS America’s SinkEx have no doubt trickled down into the design of the Navy’s latest class of supercarriers, making them more resilient and survivable to meet the changing nature of modern warfare.