USS Virginia (CGN-38)

During her early years, the USS Virginia conducted tests, training, and local operations along the eastern US coast and the West Indies. In 1978, she participated in a NATO exercise called Exercise Northern Wedding in northern Europe. The Virginia saw action in the Mediterranean during the 1980s, providing assistance during the Beirut Marine barracks bombing and undergoing a major overhaul in 1984. In 1990, she supported Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Mediterranean, commanding a strike group and firing Tomahawk cruise missiles. The USS Virginia (CGN-38) was decommissioned shortly after, in 1994.