[CW] CW Mention - USS AMERICA

[David J. Ring, Jr.]

USS AMERICA CV/CVA-66 MUSEUM FOUNDATION,Inc.
http://www.ussamerica-museumfoundation.org
120 N Cedar Lane
Upper Darby, PA 19082-1306

Press Release

Contact: GREGORY W.MOORE     RESERVATIONS OFFICER    Phone: (215) 805-9260

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UPON RECEIPT

NAVY TO SINK SUPERCARRIER FOR TESTS
LARGEST SHIP EVER DELIBERATELY DESTROYED FOR RESEARCH, SHIP WAS NAMED AT 
EXPRESS DIRECTIVE OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

On April 19th, 2005, the USS America (CV/CVA-66) will cast off her mooring 
lines and go to sea for the last time. The Navy plans to deliberately sink 
her for test purposes In order to gain information they deem necessary for 
the design of their future carrier fleet.

The USS America was commissioned in 1964, and was named prior to her keel 
being laid down, by the then President of the United States, John F Kennedy, 
whose Presidency was cut short by his tragic assassination on November 25, 
1963. No other carrier has borne the name of our country, and the USS 
America is unique in this fact of being named "out of class".

She will be the largest warship, and the largest (and only carrier) sunk by 
any nation, in peace, or in war, according to a statement by NAVSEA (Naval 
Sea Systems Command), the Governmental agency responsible for running the 
tests. They claim that the tests are necessary to provide proof of concept 
for the new classes of carriers now being designed and to provide valuable 
data to insure the safety of crews of those ships.

The last time carriers were used in this type of tests was at Operation 
Crossroads, at Bikini Atoll in 1946 to test the effect of atomic weapons in 
both airburst and subsurface bursts.

The USS America holds a unique place in history, in that she has served in 
every conflict since Vietnam, and served with Honor and Valor, and holds a 
special place in the hearts of each and every crewmember that served aboard 
her during her long and illustrious career.

One organization, the USS America Museum Foundation, led by it's President 
Mr. Lee McNulty, A former Boatswain's Mate, has worked tirelessly to attempt 
to save this outstanding ship from its undeserved fate and turn it into a 
museum and vocational training facility for the public to see just what an 
aircraft carrier is, and what it is capable of doing.

"An Aircraft Carrier is Like a small city" he says, it has to sustain 5000 
people for months at a time," and have the ability to support every trade 
and occupation which exist on shore. No other ship has this particular set 
of trades, and the infrastructure to support them. The America could have 
been both a museum and a floating school to pass along the knowledge of the 
skills necessary for life to a new generation of our youth, who sadly, 
today, are often unable to gain those skills due to a lack of training 
facilities".

Mr. Steve Diano, Vice-President of the USS America Museum Foundation and 
FormerCrewmember of this Great and Historic Ship, states that “Not only was 
I former Crewmember of the America, but was a part of the Commissioning 
Process/Crew and a PlankOwner. I watched her transform from a large Bare 
Flattop Carrier to a Fighting  Machine, taking her on her first ever 
operation to Gitmo (The Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) to get her 
battle ready for her Lengthy Service protecting America just like her Name. 
It saddens me to see her go out this way after she served her Country 
(AMERICA) so honorably.

This should have not been her fate, she could have gone on serving her 
country as a Museum/Education center which we all fought for. As a 
Signalman, the Ships Bridge was my home aboard, hoping that someday the 
bridge would become a training/learning facility as well as the entire ship. 
This is truly atragedy. We as former crewmembers will always be a part of 
the America (CVA-66) and she will never be forgotten. We stand by the ship’s 
motto”"Dont Tread On Me".

The Preservation Officer, Mr. Greg Moore, being a former Radioman, who has 
remained associated with communications his entire life, wished to restore 
the radio rooms and communications facilities of this ship to the form they 
were in during the 1960's and early 1970's. His comment is "There aren't too 
many people today who have heard Morse Code (CW) used in communications, 
even the FCC has reduced the requirement for a General; Class Amateur 
license to 5 Words Per Minute, and a Technician Class has to know no CW 
whatsoever,, well, back in the 1960's, we worked CW at 20 to 25 WPM, and I 
personally hold a Navy Speed Key Certificate for 30 WPM, it's a neglected 
art, and one which should be preserved and perpetuated." Mr. Moore also 
wished to expose the public to the sound and feel of mechanical Teletype 
machines, formerly ubiquitous in every communications facility, and heard in 
the background of every news broadcast, but now, sadly replaced by the 
silent computer screen and the laser printer. "We have to keep the old ways 
alive, Mr. Moore states, because once lost, they never can be resurrected”. 
Mr. Moore, who, collects and restores these artifacts, like many who do, 
call themselves “Greenkeyers” after the color of the keys on the machines. 
“It’s a visceral thing, watching one work”, he states,” there are over 2000 
parts in the typing unit alone, and they all have to work perfectly”. “it is 
too bad that we couldn’t have saved our ship, so that the public could have 
seen communications as they were, and had the opportunity to learn the same 
skills that are just as viable today as they were back then.”

The USS America is scheduled to depart on her final voyage on April 19th, 
2005, At 1100 (11:00AM) from the pier at the former Philadelphia Naval Yard 
where she is now Moored. She will then be towed to a classified location, 
and the tests will be carried out, The USS America will be gone forever, 
beneath the waters she once sailed so proudly.

USS AMERICA CV/CVA-66 1964-2005 R.I.P.

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