page_title: Timeline for aircraft carrier service
section_title: 1990–1999
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline for aircraft carrier service / 1990–1999
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) (left), steams alongside the (smaller) British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R 06) in the Persian Gulf on April 9, 1998. The two ships are operating in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, which is the U.S. and coalition enforcement of the no-fly-zone over Southern Iraq.
context_page_description: Aircraft carriers have their origins during the days of World War I. The earliest experiments consisted of fitting temporary "flying off" platforms to the gun turrets of the warships of several nations, notably the United States and the United Kingdom. The first ship to be modified with a permanent flight deck was the battlecruiser HMS Furious, which initially had a single flying-off deck forward of the original superstructure. Subsequently, she was modified with a separate "landing on" deck aft and later with a full flush deck. Other ships, often liners, were modified to have full flush flight decks, HMS Argus being the first to have such modification begun. Those first faltering steps gave little indication of just how important the aircraft carrier was to prove to be. During the inter-war years, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States built up significant carrier fleets so that by the beginning of World War II, they had 18 carriers between them. The 1940 Battle of Taranto and 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor in retrospect showed the world that the aircraft carrier was to be the most important ship in the modern fleet.
context_section_description: 1990
  Riga renamed Varyag.
  30 April – USS Coral Sea decommissioned.
  21 July – USS George Washington launched.
  2 August – Gulf War begins with Iraq invading Kuwait.
  4 October – Tbilisi renamed Admiral Kuznetsov.
  1991
  Baku renamed Admiral Gorshkov.
  21 January – Admiral Kuznetsov commissioned.
  28 February – Gulf War ends with ceasefire.
  13 March – USS John C. Stennis laid down.
  1 November – Ulyanovsk cancelled at 40% complete.
  8 November – USS Lexington decommissioned.
  25 December – Soviet Union dissolves, Cold War ends
  1992
  Construction of Varyag stopped, transferred to the Ukraine.
  4 February – Ulyanovsk scrapped; USS Bon Homme Richard sold for scrap.
  11 April – USS Midway decommissioned, preserved as a museum ship.
  15 June – USS Lexington donated as a museum ship.
  4 July – USS George Washington commissioned.
  September – Novorossiysk laid up in reserve.
  1993
  7 May – USS Coral Sea sold for scrap.
  30 June – Kiev, Minsk and Novorossiysk decommissioned.
  10 July – USS Ranger decommissioned, on donation hold as of 2004.
  11 September – USS Forrestal decommissioned, on donation hold.
  13 November – USS John C. Stennis launched.
  29 November – USS Harry S. Truman laid down.
  1994
  1 December – USS Bennington sold for scrap.
  7 May – Charles de Gaulle launched.
  12 July – HTMS Chakri Naruebet laid down.
  20 August – USS Saratoga decommissioned.
  1995
  1 August – Novorossiysk and Minsk sold for scrap, Minsk not scrapped.
  9 September – USS Oriskany sold for scrap, not scrapped.
  10 October - HMS Ocean launched.
  9 December – USS John C. Stennis commissioned.
  1996
  20 January – HTMS Chakri Naruebet launched.
  9 August – USS America decommissioned.
  14 September – USS Harry S. Truman launched.
  1997
  ARA Veinticinco de Mayo decommissioned.
  31 January – INS Vikrant (R11) decommissioned, to be converted to a museum ship at Mumbai.
  27 March – HTMS Chakri Naruebet commissioned.
  30 July – USS Oriskany repossessed by the USN due to default by scrapping contractor.
  1 October – Clemenceau decommissioned.
  1998
  12 February – USS Ronald Reagan laid down.
  April – Varyag sold to China.
  August – Minsk towed to China for use in an amusement park.
  30 September – USS Independence decommissioned.
  25 July – USS Harry S. Truman commissioned.
  1999
  Varyag departed Ukraine under tow, refused passage through Bosporus Strait, stationed near the straits for three years.
  January – ARA Veinticinco de Mayo sold for scrap.
caption: USS John C. Stennis (left) and HMS Illustrious (right)
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