YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. -- The aircraft carrier USS Independence, having been deployed at the U.S. base here for nearly seven years, bid farewell to Japan Tuesday, receiving an emotional sendoff from the sailors' families and friends.
The Independence, the U.S. Navy's oldest and only forward-deployed carrier, will be decommissioned and relieved by the USS Kitty Hawk, which is to arrive Aug. 11.
Since its commissioning in January 1959, the 80,000-ton carrier has served in such conflicts as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, and has also played a significant role since its 1991 deployment to Yokosuka by serving in the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis and the recent tension in the Persian Gulf.