The Navy’s Program Executive Office (PEO) for Aircraft Carriers along with the In-service Carriers Program Office (PMS 312) and Future Carriers Program Office (PMS 378) have contributed to a tradition that could last decades and span future ships named for America. They have presented a capstan cover from ex-America (CV 66) to the USS John C Stennis (CVN 74). The capstan is a rotating machine used onboard ship and dock walls for heaving in ropes, cables and hawsers. The capstan cover on a ship is an ornate, highly decorated and usually polished circular device that sits on top of the capstan. The capstan cover from the ex-America weighs 138 lbs. In fiscal year 1996, the USS John C. Stennis was commissioned and the USS America, having served in the U.S. Navy since 1965, was decommissioned.