USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
History of the USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
The USS Abraham Lincoln was ordered for the U.S. Navy on December 27, 1982. Her keel was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Virginia on November 3, 1984. She was launched on February 13, 1988 and commissioned on November 11, 1989.
USS Abraham Lincoln was transferred to the Pacific shortly after her commissioning, making her maiden deployment to the Western Pacific in response to Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm on May 28, 1991. As she sailed to the Indian Ocean, however, she was diverted to the Philippines to support Operation Fiery Vigil, an evacuation effort when Mount Pinatubo erupted on Luzon. This operation was the largest evacuation of active military personnel and their families during peacetime in history.
From there, the USS Abraham Lincoln headed to the Persian Gulf to perform combat air patrols and reconnaissance in Kuwait and Iraq. The aircraft carrier returned to Naval Air Station Alameda in California for maintenance and refitting in 1992. In October 1993, she took part in Operation Restore Hope, aiding UN humanitarian operations off the coast of Somalia.
When Combat Exclusion Laws were lifted in April 1993, USS Abraham Lincoln became the first carrier to integrate female aviators into her crew. Lieutenant Kara Spears Hultgreen, the first female F-14 Tomcat pilot, died during refresher training when her plane crashed on final approach on October 25, 1994.
The USS Abraham Lincoln returned to the Persian Gulf in April 1995 to take part in Operation Southern Watch and Operation Vigilant Sentinel. The USS Sacramento ran into her during underway replenishment. Though the fast combat support ship had to put in for several weeks of repairs, the carrier was able to continue along on her mission. She returned again to the Persian Gulf in June 1998, during which time temperatures on the flight deck reached as high as 150 degrees.
After a period of upkeep at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington in 1999, USS Abraham Lincoln returned to the Persian Gulf in August 2000. This deployment earned her the Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Arleigh Burke Award.
When terrorists attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, the USS Abraham Lincoln was in port at Naval Station Everett in Washington. On June 20, 2002, she sailed for Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She then supported Operation Southern Watch before making a port visit to Perth, Australia. From there, she was ordered back to the Persian Gulf to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, extending her return from deployment from January 20, 2003 to May 6, 2003.
Upon USS Abraham Lincoln’s return trip, the carrier made a stop at San Diego, California to receive a visit from President George W. Bush. This was the scene of President Bush’s speech announcing the end of major combat operations in Iraq with the banner reading “Mission Accomplished” as his backdrop. A Navy spokesman later stated that the banner was the carrier’s idea, signifying the successful completion of their 290 deployment, a longer deployment than those completed by any other nuclear-powered carrier in history.
The USS Abraham Lincoln was deployed next on October 15, 2004. She was visiting the port of Hong Kong on the day after Christmas when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Indian Ocean. The aircraft carrier headed to the western coast of Sumatra to provide humanitarian aid as part of Operation Unified Assistance. When the Indonesian government refused to allow her fighter pilots to conduct training flights and air patrols, she moved into international waters in mid-January 2005. Before she departed the area on February 4, the carrier and her strike group delivered 5.7 million pounds of relief supplies and her helicopters flew 1,747 relief missions.
After a Western Pacific deployment that lasted from February to August 2006, USS Abraham Lincoln put in at Washington’s Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for overhaul. When her yard work was completed in December ahead of schedule and under budget, she sailed for another tour of the Persian Gulf that lasted from March until October 2008. The aircraft carrier is still in active service as of July 2009.
The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma .
Sources include:
John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed, "Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences," Ulster Med. J. 77(3):191-200 (Sep 2008) Naval Historical Center, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships—USS Abraham Lincoln