It was carried out in May 2005. She lies 15,000 plus feet below the Atlantic Ocean. There was a serious organized effort to try and get her put on Museum Hold for preservation. The Pentagon and the Navy was not at all interested or even very open for that matter in information about preserving her. The kept going on about hull condition but never despite many request provided specifics on the matter. Kinda odd when Forestall Class Carriers {Older than KITTY HAWK Carriers} are sitting mothballed. First it was get her scrapped ASAP and I do mean as quick as possible ahead of all other carriers then when they saw it was not cost effective {actually no company would do it due to EPA rules} they used her for the test.
Look at her age. The second newest conventional carrier senior only to John F Kennedy. Her class name sake KITTY HAWK out lasted her and will even out last JFK as well. AMERICA was even younger then the ENTERPRISE. Her hull was intact. There was no cheap steel in the hull it was made on a KITTY HAWK plan and intended from the very first day to be so by IKE. One age old rumor is McNamara ordered her changed from a nuke to conventional. That was impossible to do. Her keel was laid a month before JFK even took office and was launched before LBJ took office or shortly after. It's easier to scrap a program and start over than to change a carrier once the keel is laid. It would have added years to production.
There were three carriers which hulls suffered much more abuse than AMERICA's. ENTERPRISE, FORRESTAL, and Oriskany had much greater hull damage histories. The Oraskany was recently sunk as a reef. Those three ships saw the worst carrier fires in modern Naval history.
I think the name AMERICA was not PC anymore and Congress wanted the name gone not just the name but any reminder as well. It signifies our nation rather than a multinational Navy and military which is where we are being taken. We likely stand a better chance of seeing the USS United Nations in todays political climate.
Senator John Warner also ignored letters and petitions sent to congress and literally INSISTED this CVN-78 class be named after Gerald Ford. This task by tradition is done by Sec of Navy. Sec of Navy also got the same letters and petitions. But Warner slept through some of the worse military budget cuts in history he being the RINO he is. I'll stop at that.
To put things in perspective. Gerald Ford was a Naval officer. So was Carter. Carter was vetted by Hiram Rickover. Despite Carter's political views that is an achievement in itself. He got a sub named for him. Reagan I can see as this man changed the map and did significant improvements to our military. A ship for Ford? Fine a Frigate, sub, or Cruiser, for a POTUS who was not elected to that office would have been fitting.
If I get into office, I'm going to rename those ships wholesale. Goodbye USS Texas, hello USS Bergall. Adios, USS Dallas, hello USS Pomfret. Double-ditto the CVN's. And you'll see the Constellation, JFK, and Kitty Hawk come back from the boneyard faster than you can say "but my peace dividend!....."