The plate then broke off the plug of a 500 US gallons (1,900 L; 420 imp gal) tank of diesel fuel which spilled from the container reaching the lower levels of the ship.

For the two-month trip around Cape Horn to her new home port of San Diego, California, Constellation embarked elements of CVG-5 and departed Mayport, Florida, on 25 July.

Following an upkeep period at Subic Bay, Philippines, Constellation reached Hong Kong for a port visit on 27 July, but within a few days was called back into action.

On 4 August, Constellation launched F-4B Phantom IIs to join aircraft from Ticonderoga in providing air cover over the destroyers which were alleged by the Johnson administration to have been attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats.

On 5 August both carriers launched Operation Pierce Arrow, a series of air strikes on a North Vietnamese oil facility and naval vessels.

During 111 days on station, aircraft from Constellation pounded roads, bridges and other targets, attempting to impede the flow of men and war materials south.

Following an initial 20-day period of supporting strikes in South Vietnam as well as Laos, Constellation sailed to Defender Station in the Sea of Japan, which had been created as a result of increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

[citation needed] A return to Yankee Station on 1 November also produced a major milestone in the carrier's life when the F-4J aircrew of air wing skipper Commander R. K. Billings and Lieutenant (junior grade) Jeff Taylor of VF-143 conducted Connie's 100,000th arrested landing.

Two anti-Vietnam War groups, the Concerned Officers Movement and San Diego Nonviolent Action organized a Constellation Vote which became a major antiwar campaign over several months.

[16] He argued in a widely distributed pamphlet that aircraft carriers had become weapons "used to crush popular uprisings and to bully the weaker and poorer countries of the world.

The "Connie 9", as they were quickly dubbed, were soon arrested in an early morning raid by US Marshals and flown back to the ship, but within weeks were honorably discharged from the Navy.

[18][19][20] Constellation was the focus of media attention when black members of her crew protested what they saw as systemic racism in the Navy, leading to what some saw as an aborted mutiny in late 1972.

On the night of 3–4 November 60 black sailors took control of the scheduled meeting, refused to leave the mess deck, and threatened to "tear up the ship."

The Paris Peace Accords took effect on 28 January, but CVW-9 aircraft continued to strike targets in Laos until a cease-fire in that country was called on 21 February.

A 14-month major overhaul and upgrade at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington, commenced in February 1975, during which Constellation was modified to reflect the Navy's new multipurpose air, surface and antisubmarine warfare role for carriers.

Constellation's next deployment, from September 1978 to May 1979, was originally scheduled to end in March but was extended due to her sortie into the Indian Ocean in reaction to a political crisis in Yemen.

After participating in RIMPAC exercises, Constellation steamed westward to the Arabian Sea, where Gonzo Station had been established following the November 1979 takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran.

Connie had reached the eastern Indian Ocean when the unsuccessful 24 April 1980 raid to free American hostages took place, and she relieved Coral Sea on Gonzo Station on 1 May.

For their performance in 1985, Constellation's crew earned the Meritorious Unit Citation, and the ship herself received the Secretary of the Navy's Environmental Protection Award.

The subsequent investigation showed that there was a problem with a JP-5 pipe leading to a fuel station that wasn't adequately inspected after an in-port maintenance availability period.

[28] A Notice to Mariners had been issued warning of the danger, but Jagvivek left port before receiving the communication and subsequently strayed into the test range area, and the Harpoon missile, loaded just with an inert dummy warhead, locked onto it instead of its intended target.

Following exercises with the air forces of several South American countries, including Gringo-Gaucho with the Argentine Navy, while en route and preparations at Norfolk, Virginia, Constellation entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pa., in July to begin an $800-million, three-year Service Life Extension Program (SLEP).

With CVW-2 assigned, Connie departed Mayport on 29 May and conducted exercises with various South American air forces while en route to San Diego, where she arrived on 22 July 1993.

Constellation's next deployment, from 1 April to 1 October 1997, included a return to the Persian Gulf for Southern Watch, now under control of the United States Fifth Fleet.

Connie departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 9 September with dependents on board for the traditional Tiger Cruise on the final leg to San Diego.

On 11 September Constellation was nearly halfway between Pearl Harbor and San Diego when word was received of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

[citation needed] After 41 years of commissioned service, USS Constellation was decommissioned at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on 7 August 2003.

On 2 December 2003, the ship was stricken (formally removed from the Naval Vessel Register) when Admiral Vern Clark decided against expenditure of maintenance costs.

Reserve Category X applies to ships that have been stricken and are awaiting disposal by scrap, sale to foreign countries, as a designated target in a live fire exercise, memorial, or donation, as applicable.

[31] As of 26 January 2012, the Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command posted a notice of solicitation for the towing and complete dismantlement of multiple CV-59/CV-63 Class Aircraft Carriers in the United States, to include ex-Forrestal, ex-Independence, and ex-Constellation.