USS Harry Truman

"USS Harry S Truman (CVN-75) is the eighth Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy, named after the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. The keel was laid by Newport News Shipbuilding on 29 November 1993 and the ship was christened on 7 September 1996. The official launching of the ship was on 13 September 1996. The crew moved aboard ship from contract housing in Newport News in January 1998. The ship successfully completed builder's trials on 11 June 1998 and acceptance sea trials on 25 June 1998 before being commissioned on 25 July 1998. The builder's trials and sea trials were delayed from the initial scheduling dates in May 1998 due to noise issues in one of the reactor closure heads during hydrostatic testing. HST was authorized as USS United States but her name was changed before the keel laying. The keynote speaker of the commissioning ceremony was President Bill Clinton. Other notable attendees and speakers were: Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who pushed to have the carrier named after the 33rd president; Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan; Captain Thomas Otterbein, the Truman's first commanding officer; Secretary of Defense William Cohen; and Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton. The ship is currently based at Norfolk, Virginia. The first deployment of Harry S Truman was in Operation Southern Watch, from 28 November 2000 to 23 May 2001. She then entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., for her first Planned Incremental Availability (PIA). The carrier deployed again for Southern Watch on 5 December 2002, visiting Marseille, France, and Souda Bay, Crete, and then participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, stopping in Portsmouth, England, before returning home 23 May 2003. Later that summer it "surged" in support of the Navy's Fleet Response Plan, deploying to the Mediterranean Sea, where she ported in Naples, Italy, and participated in Operation Majestic Eagle in the eastern Atlantic Ocean before returning home to enter Norfolk Naval Shipyard for her second PIA. The ship set out from Norfolk for the Persian Gulf on 13 October (the U.S. Navy's birthday) 2004, and visited Souda Bay, Crete, followed by Manama, Bahrain, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on two occasions and was relieved on 19 March 2005. Despite plans to cross the equator and visit South Africa, diplomatic issues caused her to push back through the Suez Canal and stop in Portsmouth, England, on the way home instead. In competition year 2004, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award, an honor given to the most battle-ready ship in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. The ship also was awarded the Battle E award three consecutive years, from 2003 to 2005. On 1 September 2005, in response to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Harry S. Truman set sail for the devastated U.S. Gulf Coast. Truman arrived in the Gulf of Mexico on 4 September and served as the flagship for the Naval task force, though in name only. While the ship's strike group (Carrier Strike Group 10) commander, Rear Adm. Joseph Kilkenny, was appointed deputy commander of Joint Task Force (JTF) Gulf Coast (also known as JTF Katrina & Rita), the ship remained anchored in the gulf and provided fresh desalinated water for the relief effort via helicopter. (The actual command hub for the JTF was USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). Harry S. Truman returned to home port in October 2005 after five weeks of relief efforts. Harry S. Truman entered the shipyards for a Docked Planned Incremental Availability in January of 2006. The ship received many system upgrades, and underwent preventative maintenance to repair minor weld defects originating from the initial construction of the reactor plants. Harry S. Truman left Norfolk Naval Shipyard in December of 2006 to undergo its training cycle in preparation for surge capability beginning in April of 2007. On 5 November 2007 the Harry S Truman left Norfolk for its seven month Mediterranean deployment." -Wikipedia