ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 28, 2017) An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 flies over the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). The aircraft carrier is underway conducting test and evaluation operations.( Navy photo by Erik Hildebrandt/Released)

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USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft carriers. 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 13 November 2009. She was christened on 9 November 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. The Navy announced that the carrier will sail on her first deployment sometime during 2022. As of 2017, she is the world's largest aircraft carrier, and the largest warship ever constructed in terms of displacement.

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Size: 5059px × 3274px
Location: Pacific Ocean
Photo credit: © American Photo Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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