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| ''Nimitz'' class supercarrier |
|---|
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| Class Overview |
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| Class Type | Aircraft Carrier, Nuclear-powered |
| Class Name | In honor of Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz |
| Preceded By | ''Kitty Hawk''-class Supercarrier ,
''Enterprise''-class Supercarrier ,
''John F. Kennedy''-class Supercarrier |
| Succeeded By | CVNX/CVN-21 |
| Ships of the Class: | ''Nimitz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Carl Vinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, John C. Stennis, Harry S. Truman, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush'' |
The 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 compose by far the largest class of carriers ever built. When ''Bush'' is completed, the ten ships of the class will total just under a million tons combined displacement.
''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.
- Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia
- Power Plant: Two A4W Reactor s, 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, on par with current cruise ships though roughly 50% less than the largest in service and under construction
- 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 and ''Eisenhower'' and four on ''Vinson'' and later ships of the class, except ''Washington'' which has three.
- --- , ''Washington'' and ''Reagan'' , will be retrofitted to other ships as they return for RCOH.
- Date Deployed: 3 May 1975 ( ''Nimitz'' )
