Gonzo Station was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

acronym for "''Gulf of Oman Naval Zone of Operations''" or "''Gulf of Oman Northern Zone''.""Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History," Symonds, Craig L., Oxford Univ Press; New York, NY; c2005, p.275 It was used to designate an area of carrier-based naval operations by the

and U.S. Marine Corps in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

during the 1979-1981

Iranian Hostage Crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over t ...

and the "

Tanker War The Tanker War was a protracted series of armed skirmishes between Iran and Iraq against merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz from 1984 to 1988. The conflict was a part of the larger Iran–Iraq War. Background Prior to 1 ...

" between the United States and the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Carriers deployed

Multiple

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s, their associated air wings and carrier battle groups, and associated sea-based and land-based task forces and task groups served on Gonzo Station. , and were some of the first carriers on Gonzo Station who were at sea for 110 days or more, the longest at-sea record for a conventional US Navy carrier. ''Ranger'' was the first on-scene carrier at the beginning of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, followed shortly after by , with both carriers executing simultaneous air operations and carrier presence in the vicinity of one another off the southern coast of Iran. exceeded ''Midway''s record at sea in May 1980 with 144 days at sea. In 1984 ''Midway'' was on station for 111 days. Subsequent deployments by other carriers, such as and ''Kitty Hawk'', dwarfed the earlier records with over 180 days at sea, or six months on-station. Several U.S. Navy carriers from both the Atlantic Fleet and Pacific Fleet served repeated deployments on Gonzo Station, including ''Ranger'', ''Midway'', , ''America'', , ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Constellation'', , ''Nimitz'' and . While replenishment ships normally rotated on and off the line in order to resupply, served in formation for 180 days, and served in formation for 78 days. In 1980, the ''Dwight D. Eisenhower'' served 315 days of deployed sea time with a consecutive 154-day line period. This was the largest deployment of US Navy ships to the Indian Ocean since World War II.

References

United States Navy {{USN-stub

Carriers deployed

See also

References