USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76 Model

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) is the ninth and largest Nimitz class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. She was laid down on February 12, 1998; launched on March 4, 2001; christened by Nancy Reagan; and commissioned on July 12, 2003. She is first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the late President Ronald Reagan. Traditionally, very few ships of the Navy were named after a person who was alive at the time of the christening, but recently the number has been increasing. President Reagan was not able to attend the launch or the commissioning due to Alzheimer’s disease.

Ronald Reagan displaces approximately 95,000 tons of water fully loaded, has a top speed of over 30 knots, and can sail for over 20 years before needing to refuel. She is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall at 1,092 feet. The ship carries more than 5,500 sailors and over 80 aircraft.

During her maiden deployment, Ronald Reagan conducted operations in support of the continuing war on terror. From January 4 to July 6, 2006, she was at the western Pacific and Persian Gulf, participating in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and Exercise Valiant Shield 2006. She was awarded the 2006 Battle “E” for West Coast carriers.

January 27 to April 20, 2007 saw Ronald Reagan on a three-month western Pacific deployment to fill in for USS Kitty Hawk which underwent scheduled maintenance in Japan. On December 15, 2007, she answered a distress call from a cruise ship off the coast of Baja California. A teenager with a ruptured appendix was airlifted by an SH-60 helicopter to the carrier, where an emergency appendectomy was performed by Navy medical personnel.