USS Constellation's arrival was severely delayed when a fire broke out on while she still underwent construction. Though no casualties were reported damaged reached into the tens of millions of dollars putting a black eye on the ship's career before it had even left port. After repairs were completed, she joined the Pacific Fleet in 1962 where she took Kitty Hawk's place in the Gulf of Tonkin near Vietnam.
The warship completed multiple tours-of-duty during the Vietnam Conflict (1955-1975) and was present for both the beginning and the end of the American involvement in the war. Her warplanes conducted a slew of strike, bombing, patrol and reconnaissance missions for their part in the theater. She and her crews participated in several RIMPAC exercises over the years following and took part in enforcement of the No-Fly Zones over Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. She went on to serve as a deterrent near North Korea on several occasions and her final deployment arrived with "Operation Enduring Freedom" and the subsequent "Operation Iraqi Freedom" after the events of 9/11 - amazingly no casualties were reported for her air crew and only one aircraft was lost in the commitment. Over time, her air wing was accordingly modernized with more potent fighters and bombers as well as transport and special mission types while updates came in the form of SLEP (Service Life Extension Program) for her and two of her sisters (USS America was given up prior).
USS Constellation was decommissioned on August 6th, 2003 and struck from the Naval Register that December 2nd. Her post was officially filled by the newer, nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) Nimitz-class supercarrier. The end of her ocean-going career marked just over forty years of faithful service for the grand carrier before her hulk, stripped of all of its usefulness, was unceremoniously sold for scrapping in 2015.
All four Kitty Hawk-class carriers have since been retired from frontline service - the last being USS John F. Kennedy decommissioned in March of 2007. USS Kitty Hawk remains in reserve status while Kennedy is slated to become a museum ship. USS America was sunk as a target in May of 2005.
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