USS Abraham Lincoln CVN72
| USS Abraham Lincoln conducting combat operations in support of Operation Southern Watch, 28 November 2002 | |
| Ordered: | 27 December 1982 |
| Laid down: | 3 November 1984 |
| Launched: | 13 February 1988 |
| Commissioned: | 11 November 1989 |
| Fate: | in service |
| General Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Displacement: | 81208 tons light, 104112 tons full, 22904 tons dead |
| Length: | 1092 feet overall, 1040 feet waterline |
| Beam: | 252 feet extreme, 134 feet waterline |
| Draft: | 42 feet maximum, 41 feet limit |
| Speed: | 30+ knots |
| Complement: | 200 officers, 6075 enlisted |
| Armament: | 3 Sea Sparrow, 4 Phalanx CIWS, 90 Aircraft |
The second USS Abraham Lincoln
(CVN-72), is the fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in
the United States Navy. It is named in honor of former
president Abraham Lincoln.
The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News
Shipbuilding on 27 December 1982 and her keel was laid
down 3 November 1984 at Newport News, Virginia. She was
launched on 13 February 1988, delivered to the Navy on 30
October 1989, and commissioned on 11 November 1989. She
is homeported in Everett, Washington.
The Lincoln was one of the carriers in the Persian Gulf
supporting the 2003 Iraq war.
In the 2003 movie The Core, the Lincoln makes an
appearance in a search-and-rescue mission; while not
mentioned by name, "CVN 72" caps are readily
apparent in scenes on the bridge.
On 1 May 2003 President George W. Bush safely landed in
an S-3B Viking on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln, which
was returning from a nearly ten month deployment for
operations in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The deployment was the longest of an aircraft carrier
since the Vietnam War. The President landed while the
carrier was underway 100 miles off the coast of San
Diego, California. It was the first time a sitting
president arrived on the deck of an aircraft carrier by
plane. Bush made a primetime address from the flightdeck,
surrounded by hundreds of sailors, in which he declared
major combat operations in Iraq over