USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)

History of the USS Ronald Reagan Aircraft Carrier

The USS Ronald Reagan, one of the late Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, was ordered for the U.S. Navy on December 8, 1994. Her keel was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. in Virginia on February 12, 1998, and she was launched on March 5, 2001. The carrier was commissioned on July 12, 2003 under the command of Captain John W. Goodwin.

On May 27, 2004, USS Ronald Reagan headed out to her new homeport in San Diego, traveling around Cape Horn and arriving on the California coast on July 23, 2004. On January 17, 2005, a sailor dies from burns sustained while performing steam-valve maintenance on the carrier.

USS Ronald Reagan sails out on her first deployment to the Persian Gulf and the western Pacific on January 4, 2006. On January 28, off the coast of Australia, a plane crashes while trying to land aboard the carrier, but the pilot ejects before impact and is safely recovered. She reports from the Persian Gulf in July.

In late January, 2007, the USS Ronald Reagan was called in on short notice to relieve the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) for three months while the Kitty Hawk was undergoing maintenance.

Between May 19 and November 25, 2008. the USS Ronald Reagan was deployed against to the western Pacific. During this deployment, she provided disaster relief in the Philippines in response to Typhoon Fengshen. She also provided support for Operation Enduring Freedom. She remains on active duty.

Sources include:

John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed, "Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences," Ulster Med. J. 77(3):191-200 (Sep 2008) Official Website of the USS Ronald Reagan