They've sent the USS America to the bottom.

The Navy sent the retired USS America aircraft carrier to its final resting place at the bottom of the sea Saturday, in a closely guarded series of explosions that the Navy didn't announce until days later.

The 84,000-ton, 1,048-foot warship, which served the Navy for 32 years, thus became the first U.S. carrier to be sunk since 1951, and the largest warship ever sunk.

"Explosions were internal to the ship and allowed a controlled flooding," said Pat Dolan, a spokeswoman with the Naval Sea Systems Command. She declined to say where the ship now sits, except that it was 50 nautical miles - or about 58 miles - off the coast, and more than 6,000 feet below the surface.

The Navy previously said the final explosions would be off North Carolina.

Before it sank, it also served as a target for a series of explosions over 25 days designed to help in the making of the of the Navy's next generation carrier, the CVN-21, now being designed at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard.

It is always a sad thing to see such vessels go into the great beyond. Not every ship can be saved as a museum, though there was hope for USS America. I have to say I agree fully with this former member of the ship's crew.

"Very depressing," said Lee McNulty, a New Jersey resident and president of the USS America Foundation, which wanted to turn the ship into a museum. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about it. I just can't believe that she sunk. She's gone. Of all the carriers, that one should have been saved, just for the name of the America."

Before she the last explosions were detonated, the ship was given an appropriate farewell.

"A solemn moment of silence was held as the aircraft carrier ex-America slipped quietly beneath the waves," Dolan told the USS America Carrier Veterans Association on Monday. "We thank and honor all the veterans of the USS America who lived and fought for freedom and democracy aboard this majestic vessel."

Farewell, USS America. We honor you, and those who served aboard you.

USS America Museum Foundation

USS America Carrier Veterans Foundation

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