Article Summary: In 2005, the USS America (CV 66) became the only supercarrier ever intentionally sunk in a classified live-fire exercise. The Navy spent four weeks bombarding the ship, testing its resilience against modern explosives. Despite intense strikes, America refused to sink, proving the incredible survivability of aircraft carriers.
Key Point #1 – Ultimately, Navy personnel had to board and scuttle the ship to complete the exercise.
Key Point #2 – The data collected shaped the design of future carriers, ensuring greater resilience against modern threats. The USS America’s final mission was not just its sinking—but securing the future of naval warfare.
Why the USS America Aircraft Carrier Took Four Weeks to Sink—And What the Navy Learned
On 19 April 2005, the USS America (CV 66), the third carrier built of the Kitty Hawk-class, was towed from Philadelphia harbor for what was to be its final mission – a classified exercise called SinkEx.
The America was to be towed off the east coast of the US where it was to be disposed of – to be sunk as part of a live-fire exercise.
The ship was originally commissioned on 30 June 1975 and decommissioned on 8 August 1996. Following its decommissioning the USS America spent several years at the Naval Inactive Ships Facility in Philadelphia.
A sizeable number of former crewmembers who had served aboard the vessel had wanted the carrier to be turned into a floating museum.
However, in the end, it was decided that the ship would be sunk in this unique exercise.
This operation was designed to inform the design of future capital ships – precisely determining how supercarriers and other large vessels could be designed to be more survivable.
The then-Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John B. Nathman explained to those who objected to the sinking of the ship that “America will make one final and vital contribution to our national defense, this time as a live-fire test and evaluation platform. 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 America veterans.”
“We will conduct a variety of comprehensive tests above and below the waterline collecting data for use by naval architects and engineers in creating the nation’s future carrier fleet. It is essential we make those ships as highly survivable as possible.”
“When that mission is complete, the America will slip quietly beneath the sea. I know America has a very special place in your hearts, not only for the name, but also for your service aboard her. I ask that you understand why we selected this ship for this one last crucial mission and make note of the critical nature of her final service.”
History of the USS America Aircraft Carrier and its Sinking
The USS America was commissioned in 1965 and spent most of its service in the US Navy in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
The ship did make three Pacific deployments as part of its service, participating in the Vietnam War.
The ship was also part of the naval contingent deployed to the Persian Gulf War during Operations Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
The USS America owns the distinction of being the only supercarrier that has ever been sunk, either on purpose or in combat.
Blake Horner, a Mechanical Engineer, who posted extensively on the Quora site on the entire live-fire operation explained “It took four weeks and they ended up having to scuttle her from on board due to her not sinking. She is not only far larger than WWII battleships, but she is also a lot tougher. While she does not have the heavy armor the battleships of yore had, she does have a double layered hull, meaning weapons have to push through alternating layers of steel and empty pockets to reach her internals.”
“The whole point of the tests was to make future carriers more survivable,” he continued. “As well as see how warships reacted to underwater explosion and damage.”
In the end, the Navy bombarded the ship for four weeks without sinking it.
Participants in the exercise admit that it “lasted so much longer because: a) they were not trying to sink her immediately (though they did end up having to board her to make her sink), and b) her sheer bulk made it a lot harder to sink by being able to absorb damage better than battleships.”
Horner also adds “thanks to modern technology, most bombs, torpedoes and missiles actually have smaller warheads than what they used against WWII vessels.
And in the process of the tests, they were actually using controlled explosives, not actual weapons.”
The America, having been built not that long after the war was a hardened design capable of absorbing the lower-yield, more modern munitions.
Final Assessment
After the weeks of bombardment, it became clear that the ship would not be sunk by any conventional means.
US Navy personnel ended up boarding the ship and placed charges on board that opened holes in its hull, damaging the vessel to a level that the weeks of bombardment had not.
The ship eventually sank on 14 May 2005 at 1130 hours.
There are examples in history of capital ships being put out of action and being made combat-ineffective and then being sunk or scuttled by their own side in order to keep the ships from falling into enemy hands.
However, the live firings on the USS America proved that it was possible to make future carriers more survivable.
They also showed as well as see how warships reacted to underwater explosion and damage below the waterline.
USS America Aircraft Carrier: A Story in Pictures
A Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 2 (HC-2) UH-2 Seasprite helicopter flies off the starboard side of the aircraft carrier USS AMERICA (CV 66) while the ship is underway. An unidentified aircraft carrier is in the background.
USS America sinking.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS America (CV-66) underway in the Indian Ocean, 24 April 1983. America, with assigned Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1), was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean from 8 December 1982 to 2 June 1983.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
