Oct. 11, 1975, was a busy day as Newport News shipbuilders laid the keel for USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and christened USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). About 8,000 spectators were on hand to watch the dual ceremony.

First, Tilman and Carl Snead welded Carl Vinson’s initials onto CVN 70’s keel plaque. Vinson – who represented Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 50 years – was unable to attend the event due to illness.

Following the keel authentication, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, CVN 69 ship’s sponsor and widow of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, performed the traditional christening honor of smashing a bottle of champagne across the bow.

Eisenhower was commissioned in 1977, and Vinson was commissioned in 1982. The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers returned to NNS in the 2000s for mid-life refueling and complex overhauls and remain in active service today.