The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) celebrated the 23rd anniversary of her commissioning, Nov. 11.
Since its commissioning in 1989, Lincoln has completed seven deployments.
Most recently, the ship concluded an eight-month deployment to the 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility when she arrived at her new homeport in Norfolk, Aug. 7. Prior to the deployment, Lincoln was homeported in Everett, Wash.
Lincoln’s keel was laid Nov. 3, 1984, at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Newport News, Va. Lincoln was eventually christened on February 13, 1988. The second ship named for President Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln entered the fleet as the fifth Nimitz-class supercarrier.
The ship embarked on her maiden deployment beginning May 1991 in response to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In May 2003, then-President George W. Bush became the first sitting president to participate in an arrested landing of a fixed-wing aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier when he arrived on Lincoln as a passenger in an S-3 Viking.
Lincoln is currently in Norfolk preparing for an upcoming four-year refueling and complex overhaul at the Newport News Shipyard.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff,November 18, 2012