HISTORY
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
is the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft
carriers. The ship is named after the 38th President of the
United States, Gerald Ford, whose World War II naval service
included combat duty aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey
in the Pacific Theater.
The keel of Gerald R. Ford was laid down on 13 November 2009.
Construction began on 11 August 2005, when Northrop Grumman held
a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that forms part of a
side shell unit of the carrier. She was christened on 9 November
2013. Gerald R. Ford entered the fleet replacing the
decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which ended her 51 years
of active service in December 2012. Originally scheduled for
delivery in 2015, Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the Navy on 31
May 2017 and formally commissioned by President Donald Trump on
22 July 2017. She is expected to leave on her first deployment
around 2022. As of 2017, she is the world's largest aircraft
carrier, and the largest warship ever constructed in terms of
displacement.
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