USS Nimitz (CVN-68)

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|Ship image=
|Ship caption=USS Nimitz at sea near Persian Gulf, 12 October, 1997
|Ship country=(US)
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|Ship ordered=31 March 1967
|Ship laid down=22 June 1968
|Ship launched=13 May 1972
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|Ship commissioned=3 May 1975
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|Ship homeport=San Diego, California
|Ship displacement=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
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|Ship motto=Teamwork, a Tradition
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USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a supercarrier in the United States Navy, the lead ship of its class. It is one of the largest warships in the world.

The keel of Nimitz was laid down 22 June 1968 by Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, and she was commissioned 3 May 1975 by President Gerald Ford. The ship was named for Admiral Chester Nimitz, who commanded the Pacific fleet in World War II.

Ship's History

In the following year, one of Nimitz's EA-6B Prowlers crash-landed on its flight deck, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.

In the Gulf of Sidra incident (1981), while conducting a freedom of navigation exercise in the Gulf of Sidra near what Libya had proclaimed as the "line of death", two aircraft of Nimitz's VF-41 were fired on by Libyan pilots, but they returned fire and shot down both Libyans.

In 1987, Nimitz changed home ports to Bremerton, Washington. She left from there on 25 February 1991 to relieve Ranger in Operation Desert Storm, returning herself on 24 August, 1991.
She deployed again to the Gulf for several months in 1993, relieving Kitty Hawk during Operation Southern Watch. In March 1996, she was deployed to patrol the waters off Taiwan amid missile tests by the PRC in the area, becoming the first U.S. warship to pass though the Taiwan Strait since 1976.

On 1 September 1997, Nimitz began an around-the-world cruise with the destination of Newport News, for a mid-life Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) that lasted until 25 June, 2001. She then changed home port to San Diego, California, arriving there on 13 November, 2001.

In mid-April 2003, Nimitz relieved Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf, launching sorties over Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Nimitz returned to San Diego on 2 November 2003 where she underwent regularly scheduled maintenance and repair. Nimitz and her crew are currently involved in intensive training in preparation for her next deployment, expected in mid-2005.

Nimitz in fiction