America was chosen to be a
live-fire test and evaluation platform in 2005, to aid the design of future aircraft carriers. There was some objection to a ship being named for the nation being deliberately sunk at sea, and a committee of her former crew members and other supporters attempted to save the ship for use as a
museum ship. Their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. On
25 February 2005 a ceremony to salute the USS
America and her crew was held at the ship's pier in Philadelphia, attended by former crew members and various dignitaries. She departed the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility on
19 April 2005 to conduct the aforementioned tests.
The experiments 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. These explosions were designed to simulate attacks by
torpedoes,
cruise missiles and perhaps a small boat suicide attack like the one that damaged the destroyer
USS Cole in
Yemen in 2000.
After the completion of the tests,
America was sunk in a controlled
scuttling on
14 May 2005 at approximately 1130, although the sinking was not publicized until six days later. At the time, no warship of that size had ever been sunk, and effects were closely monitored; theoretically the tests would reveal data about how
supercarriers respond to battle damage.
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_America_(CV-66)