Nimitz class aircraft carrier
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Nimitz-class supercarrier  Class Overview | |
|---|---|
| Class Type | Aircraft carrier, nuclear-powered |
| Class Name | In honor of Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz |
| Preceded By | Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers, CVN-65 – USS Enterprise |
| Succeeded By | CVNX/CVN-21 |
| Ships of the Class | |
| CVN-68 – USS Nimitz CVN-69 – USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN-70 – USS Carl Vinson CVN-71 – USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-72 – USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 73 – USS George Washington CVN 74 – USS John C. Stennis CVN 75 – USS Harry S. Truman CVN 76 – USS Ronald Reagan CVN 77 – USS George H. W. Bush | |
The Nimitz-class supercarriers are the largest capital ships in the world. All of the ships in this class are nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. These ships are numbered with consecutive hull numbers starting with CVN 68. The letters "CVN" denote the type of ship: CV is the hull classification symbol for Aircraft Carriers, and N to indicate nuclear-powered propulsion. The number after the "CVN" means that this is the 68th "CV", or aircraft carrier.
Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in 1975. As of 2006, George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), the tenth and last of the class, is being built by Northrop Grumman Newport News and will enter service in 2008. Bush will be the first transition ship to a new class of carriers (CVN-21) to start construction in 2007 and will incorporate new technologies including a new multi-function radar system, volume search radar and open architecture information network, and a significantly reduced crew requirement. To lower costs some new technologies were incorporated into Ronald Reagan, though not nearly as many as will be involved with Bush.
Because of construction differences between the first three ships (Nimitz, Eisenhower and Vinson) and the latter seven (from Theodore Roosevelt on), the latter ships are sometimes called Theodore Roosevelt-class aircraft carriers, though the U.S. Navy officially holds no difference between the two groups. As the older ships come in for Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), they are upgraded to the standards of the latest ships, virtually eliminating differences.
By tonnage, Nimitz class are by far the largest class of carriers ever built, holding the world record for displacement of any naval vessel. When Bush is completed, the ten ships of the class will total just under a million tons combined displacement. Although the Nimitz class ships are the heaviest sips in the US fleet they are not the longest ships in the fleet, as that honor belongs to the carrier Enterprise.
Nimitz was the first to undergo its initial refueling during a 33-month Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, in 1998. Dwight D. Eisenhower was next, completing RCOH in 2005. Carl Vinson began RCOH in late 2005.
General characteristics
- Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia
- Power Plant: Two A4W reactors, four shafts
- Length: 333 m (1092 ft) overall
- Flight Deck Width: 76.8 m (252 ft)
- Beam: 41 m (134 ft)
- Displacement: 97,000 tons (98,600 metric tons) full load
- Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h)
- Aircraft: 85
- * Intended to operate aircraft currently including the F/A-18 Hornet, EA-6B Prowler, E-2 Hawkeye, C-2 Greyhound, SH/HH-60 Seahawk, and S-3 Viking for many missions including self defense, land attack and maritime strike.
- Cost: about US$4.5 billion each
- Average Annual Operating Cost: US$160 million
- Service Life: 50 years
- Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 — Air Wing: 2,480
- Armament:
- * NATO Sea Sparrow launchers: three or four (depending on modification)
- * 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts: Three on Nimitz and Eisenhower and four on Vinson and later ships of the class, except Washington which has three.
- * RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile: Two on Nimitz, Washington and Reagan, will be retrofitted to other ships as they return for RCOH.
- Date Deployed: 3 May 1975 (Nimitz)
Ships in class
See also
| Nimitz-class aircraft carrier |
| Nimitz | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Carl Vinson |
| Modified Nimitz-class aircraft carrier (Theodore Roosevelt-subclass) |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Abraham Lincoln | George Washington | John C. Stennis | Harry S. Truman | Ronald Reagan | George H. W. Bush |
| List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy |
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