Navy names its new ship ‘America’

Sailors who served on namesake applaud decision

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Artwork courtesy of Northrop Grumman The next USS America will be built at the Northrop Grumman shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss. and is scheduled for commissioning in 2012. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Winter made the announcement at the June 27 reunion dinner of the USS America Carrier Veterans Association in Jacksonville, Fla.

On May 14, 2005 the aircraft carrier America – in commission from 1965 until 1996 – was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean after serving as a target and test platform for an extended period of weapons testing.

The America CVA membership worked to have the next aircraft carrier – CVN-78 – named ‘America,’ but in January 2007 the Navy announced that that ship would be christened the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Walt Waite, an America sailor in the mid-1960s, is president of the CVA. He said his group has been working to get the name ‘America’ returned to a ship ‘‘for about three-and-a-half years ... When it was announced that CVN-78 would be named the ‘Ford,’ we went back to Secretary Winter to make our argument about having a ship named ‘America’ in the fleet.

‘‘I don’t think it took [Winter] too long” at that early 2007 meeting, said Waite, ‘‘to realize that would be the right thing to do, to name LHA-6 ‘America.’ Winter said the name and the ship would be a ‘good fit.’”

Winter wanted to announce the name selection right away, but ‘‘he wanted to make the announcement in front of the largest group of America sailors possible,” Waite said. ‘‘We told him about the [2008] reunion and he agreed to wait until then. We’d just have to keep a lid on our secret for nearly a year. I felt bad, keeping it from the [CVA] membership for so long, but we made a promise to the secretary.”

After the June 27 dinner, Waite introduced Winter as the evening’s guest speaker.

‘‘In his remarks,” Waite said, ‘‘Secretary Winter praised our membership for their patriotism and enthusiasm, and then proceeded to review the history of the USS America. He then said that, thanks to our efforts, LHA-6 would be named ‘America.’ When he said that, the 159 people in the room stood up and roared.”

Former America sailors now living in St. Mary’s are also applauding the decision.

Capt. Pat Buckley, program manager for NAVAIR’s Aerial Targets and Decoys program at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, was an America crewman near the end of the ship’s three decades of service.

‘‘I served [on] America, on her second-to-last cruise, from August 1993 to February 1994 ... We conducted operations ranging from the east Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, supporting efforts to stabilize and assist numerous countries,” he said.Ê

‘‘Although she was beginning to show her age,” Buckley said, ‘‘every crew member I ever encountered was immensely proud to be serving aboard such an esteemed and accomplished warship that bore our country’s name.ÊWhat a great ship she was. It’s good to know there will now be many future sailors who will sail aboard the new America who will proudly conduct our Navy’s mission aboard a warship bearing our great country’s name.”

Mechanicsville surgeon Dr. John Roache was the America’s ship’s surgeon in 1971-1972, during its third deployment to Vietnam.

‘‘This is an exciting piece of news,” Roache said of the naming. ‘‘I think the Navy should always have a ship that bears the name of our nation, and this is a fitting tribute to a grand old ship that served our country proudly for more than three decades.”

Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Mike Legg, now director of business development for Lexington Park-based defense contractor Compass Systems, served on the America in the late 1960s.

‘‘I am very excited,” Legg said, ‘‘to learn that the newest LHA ... will be named USS America. I served on board USS America in 1969 and we conducted some very interesting Cold War operations, including having a U-2 spy plane land on our decks ... It was a sad day when ‘my’ America was towed [out to sea] and sunk ... and I applaud the decision to keep the illustrious name alive and operating in today’s Navy.”

Retired Capt. William Posnett, now a Pax River civilian worker, reported to the America in the summer of 1981, when it was in the Indian Ocean. For the next 18 months Posnett served first as the ship’s catapult officer and then as the V-2 Division officer.

‘‘It was a great ship when I was on it,” he said, noting that his USS America flight deck shirt is now on display on his office wall. ‘‘I remember ... whenever we returned to port – all those people waiting for us on the pier and they were playing that Neil Diamond song, ‘America,’ on the PA system. That was always a proud moment for us. I was at the decommissioning ceremony. That was really a sad moment for a lot of sailors ... I think it’s terrific that another ship will now have that name.”

Waite said the association will monitor the progress of the new America’s construction, and is hoping to time its 2012 reunion to coincide with the ship’s commissioning ceremony.

‘‘And we’re going to extend an invitation,” he said, ‘‘for every crew member [of the new ship] to become part of our association. After all, they’ll all be America sailors, too, and continue with the legacy.”