Finally in 2005, it was decided that the more than 60-year old ship has completed her service life.
Once this process was begun, the elven ship had completed its primary task.
The ship completed a 10-month overhaul in early 2010.
The other ships were still completing their testing in the final days of the war.
The ship has just completed a 38,000-mile test voyage.
The ship completed repairs and returned to active duty on 18 March.
Under this new timetable, the ship would complete one final deployment before being decommissioned in late 2012 or early 2013.
The ship arrived on 23 February and completed the evacuation without serious incident.
The ship completed preparations by 29 September and put to sea that same day for her first voyage.
Our plan requires three ships, of a very specific profile, to successfully complete the mission.