USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
Encyclopedia : U : US : USS : USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier in the United States Navy named for a Senator from Mississippi. She was commissioned on 9 December 1995. Her homeport is Bremerton, Washington.
Mission and capabilities
The mission of Stennis and her embarked Air Wing (CVW-9) is to conduct sustained combat air operations while forward deployed in the global arena. The embarked Air Wing consists of eight to nine squadrons. Attached aircraft are the F/A-18 Hornet, EA-6B Prowler, S-3B Viking, E-2C Hawkeye, and SH-60 Seahawk.
The Air Wing can destroy enemy aircraft, ships, submarines, and land targets, or lay mines hundreds of miles from the ship. Stennis
Stennis
For defense, in addition to her Air Wing and accompanying vessels, Stennis has NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow short-range and Rolling Air Missile (RAM) surface-to-air missile systems, the Phalanx Close-in Weapons System for cruise missile defense, and the SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System.
Propulsion system
- Type: nuclear reactor
- Number of reactors: 2
- Maximum speed: more than 30 knots (56 km/h)
- Number of screws: 4 (5 blades each)
- Weight of screws: 66,200 lb (30 t) each
- Number of catapults: 4
- Number of aircraft elevators: 4
- Size of Air Wing: 80+ tactical aircraft
USS John C. Stennis at anchor- Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co.
- Sponsor: Mrs. Margaret Stennis Womble
- Contract Date: March 29, 1988
- Keel laid: March 13, 1991
- Christened: November 11, 1993
- Commissioned: December 9, 1995
- Crew size: 5,000 (including air wing)
- Meals served daily: 16,600
- Number of compartments: 2,700
- Number of anchors: 2 (From Forrestal)
- Weight of anchors: 30 long tons (30 metric tons) each
- A/C plant capacity: 2,900 refrigeration tons (10.2 megawatts, enough to service 950 homes)
- Distillation plant capacity: 400,000 U.S. gallons (1,500 m³) (enough to serve 2000 homes)
- Number of telephones: 2,000
- Tons of structural steel: More than 60,000 short tons (55,000 metric tons)
- Length of cable and wiring: over 900 miles (1,500 km)
- Number of light fixtures: more than 30,000
- Required technical manuals: A stack as high as the Washington Monument at 555 feet (170 m)
- Bed mattresses: If lined up end-to-end, they would stretch more than 9 miles (14 km)
- Sheets: 28,000
- Pillow Cases: 14,000
- Cost: $3.5 billion; projected service life: 50 years
Ship's seal
John C. Stennis
The circular shape signifies the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier's unique capability to circle the world without refueling while providing a forward presence from the sea. The predominant colors are red, white, blue and gold, the same as those of the United States and its navy. The outer border, taken from one version of a U.S. Senate crest, represents the strength through unity of the ship's crew. The four gold bands and eight ties denote John C. Stennis' four decades (41 years) in the Senate and the eight presidents he served with, from President Truman to President Reagan. The seven stars in the blue border represent his seven terms in the Senate and characterize John C. Stennis as the seventh Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The red and white stripes inside the blue border represent the American flag and the American people John C. Stennis serves. They also honor the courage and sacrifice of the United States' armed forces.
The eagle and shield is a representation of the gilt eagle and shield overlooking the Old Senate Chamber. The shield represents the United States of America. The twenty stars represent the US's twentieth state, Mississippi, the home of John C. Stennis. The three arrows in the eagle's talons symbolize the Ship and Air Wing's ability to project power. The burst of light emanating from the shield, representative of the emergence of a new nation in the United States Senate Seal, portrays the birth of over 25 major Naval Aviation programs under Senator Stennis' leadership, including all aircraft carriers from Forrestal to Harry S. Truman, and aircraft from the F-4 Phantom to the F/A-18 Hornet. The eagle is representative of John C. Stennis' stature in the Senate, where he was respected and admired as a "soaring eagle" by some of his colleagues.
The ship itself is pictured in the seal. On the edges of the flight deck are the words "Honor, Courage, Commitment" which are the United States Navy's Core Values.
The Seal, after selection by the ship's crew, was submitted to Mrs. Margaret Stennis Womble, the ship's Sponsor and daughter of Senator Stennis, and to Mrs. John Hampton Stennis, the Matron of Honor and wife of Senator Stennis' son, for their approval. In February 1995 they approved the design.
John C. Stennis Carrier Battle Group
The JCS battlegroup (or Carrier Strike Group 3, CSG-3) consists of seven surface ships, two submarines and eight squadrons equipped and trained to work as a forward deployed force providing a deterent force as well as serving to protect U.S. interests abroad.The Stennis is the flagship of the battlegroup, and commands the group's air wing (Carrier Air Wing Nine – CVW-9). The Stennis is also home to the commander of Destroyer Squadron 21 (DESRON 21).
Squadrons of CVW-9
- Fighter Attack Squadron 154 (VFA-154) "Black Knights"
- Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA-323) "Death Rattlers"
- Fighter Attack Squadron 146 (VFA-146)"Blue Diamonds"
- Fighter Attack Squadron 147 (VFA-147) "Argonauts"
- Electronic Attack Squadron 138 (VAQ-138) "Yellow Jackets"
- Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 112 (VAW-112)"Golden Hawks"
- Sea Control Squadron 31 (VS-31) "Top Cats"
- Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 8 (HS 8) "Eight-Ballers"
- Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 30 Detachment 4 (VRC 30)"Providers"
Ships of DESRON 21
- Lake Champlain (CG 57)
- Port Royal (CG 73)
- Decatur (DDG 73)
- Elliot (DD 967)
- Jarrett (FFG 33)
- Bridge (T-AOE 10)
Other elements of JCS Battle Group
Grounding
On November 30, 1999, the Stennis ran aground in a shallow area adjacent to its turning basin as it attempted to maneuver near Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego. Silt clogged the intake pipes to the cooling systems of the nuclear reactors, causing the carrier’s two nuclear reactors to be shut down (one reactor by crew, the other automatically) for a period of 45 minutes. The Stennis was towed back to its pier for maintenance and observation for the next two days. The cleanup cost was about $2 million.John C. Stennis in popular culture
- In Tom Clancy's novel Debt of Honor, John C. Stennis is one of two carriers dispatched to participate in a naval exercise with ships from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) when she was intentionally damaged by Japanese anti-submarine torpedoes. Stennis limped into Pearl Harbor for repairs before participating in the US campaign to liberate the Mariana Islands.
- In the movie The Sum of All Fears, which is based on Tom Clancy's novel of the same name, the Stennis is attacked by Russian fighters. Although the ship is not mentioned by name, the number "74" is visable on the tower.
See also
References
Sources: US Navy web site; ship images from TimShellExternal links
| 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 |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.