On May 14, 2005, USS America (CV-66) was deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises.

America was decommissioned on August 9, 1996. In 2005, the US Navy supercarrier was chosen to be a live-fire test and evaluation platform, to aid the design of future aircraft carriers. On April 19, 2005 she departed the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to conduct the tests.

The experiment lasted approximately four weeks. The Navy battered America with explosives, both underwater and above the surface, watching from afar and through monitoring devices placed on the vessel. The explosions were designed to simulate attacks by torpedoes, cruise missiles, and the like.

After completion of the tests, America was sunk in a controlled scuttling on May 14, 2005. At the time, no warship of that size had ever been sunk, and effects were closely monitored. America rests 16,860 feet below the Atlantic Ocean surface, roughly 250 miles off the North Carolina coast.