USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)

History

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the lead ship of her class. The ship is named after the 38th president of the United States, Gerald Ford, whose World War II naval service included combat duty aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey in the Pacific Theater.

Construction began on 11 August 2005, when Northrop Grumman held a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that forms part of a side shell unit of the carrier. The keel of Gerald R. Ford was laid down on 14 November 2009. She was christened on 9 November 2013. Gerald R. Ford entered the fleet, replacing the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which ended her 51 years of active service in December 2012.

Originally scheduled for delivery in 2015, Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the Navy on 31 May 2017 and formally commissioned by President Donald Trump on 22 July 2017. She departed Naval Station Norfolk on her first deployment on 2 May 2023. When she was commissioned she was the world's largest aircraft carrier and the largest warship ever constructed.

Text from Wikipedia: USS Gerald R. Ford, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

1. 2005
   Northrop began advanced construction of the carrier under a $2.7 billion contract in 2005.
2. 2007
   On 3 January 2007, former United States secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld announced that the aircraft carrier would be named after Ford during a eulogy for President Ford at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids, Michigan.
3. 2012
   On 24 May 2012, the important milestone of completing the vessel up to the waterline was reached when the critical lower bow was lifted into place.
4. 2013
   On 3 October 2013, Gerald R. Ford had four 30-ton, 21 ft (6.4 m)-diameter bronze propellers installed.
5. 2018
   In 2018, the Navy requested to delay shock trials for at least six years to speed up the ship's deployment, but this request was denied.
6. 2019
   These performance enhancements were problematic in Pentagon tests, and final software fixes for some of the problems were delayed until after the ship's post-shakedown availability in 2019.
7. 2022
   Gerald R. Ford left Naval Station Norfolk for Task Force Exercise on 4 October 2022.
8. 2023
   She departed Naval Station Norfolk on her first deployment on 2 May 2023.
9. 2025
   On 24 June 2025, Gerald R. Ford began deploying from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Mediterranean.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone aboard this ship

A ship history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “USS Gerald R. Ford”

More history

• Wikipedia: USS Gerald R. Ford