Nimitz class aircraft carrier

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USS Nimitz, lead ship of her class of supercarrier
USS Nimitz
Class overview
Builders: Newport News Shipbuilding
Operators: Naval flag of United States United States Navy
Preceded by: Kitty Hawk-class
Followed by: Gerald R. Ford-class
Commissioned: May 3, 1975
Ships in class: 10
Ships active: USS Nimitz
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
USS Carl Vinson
USS Theodore Roosevelt
USS Abraham Lincoln
USS George Washington
USS John C. Stennis
USS Harry S. Truman
USS Ronald Reagan
Ships fitting out: USS George H. W. Bush
General characteristics
Displacement: 78,280 tons light
101,196 tons full load
Length: 1,040 ft (317 m) waterline
1,115 ft (340 m) overall
Beam: 134 ft (41 m) waterline
257 ft (78 m) extreme
Draft: 40 feet (12 m)
Propulsion
and power:		 2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors

4 × steam turbines

4 × shafts
260,000 shp
Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h)
Complement: 3,200 ships company
2,500 air wing
Armament: 16-24 surface-to-air missiles
4 close-in weapons systems
Aircraft carried: Up to 90

The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a line of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the US Navy, and are the largest capital ships in the world. 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, was built by Northrop Grumman Newport News and will enter service in 2008. Bush will be the first transition ship to the Ford class, the first ship of which began 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 considers them to all be in one class.[citation needed] As the older ships come in for Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), they are upgraded to the standards of the latest ships.

By tonnage, Nimitz class are the largest class of carriers built so far, holding the world record for displacement of any naval war 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 ships in the US fleet they are not the longest ships in the fleet, as that attribute belongs to the carrier Enterprise.

Nimitz was the first to undergo her initial refueling during a 33-month 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. USS Abraham Lincoln entered dry dock at PSNS on September 8, 2006, leaving ahead of schedule on December 18.

Contents


Near Victoria, BC
Near Victoria, BC


With George Washington behind
With George Washington behind


Returning from Operation Enduring Freedom
Returning from Operation Enduring Freedom


USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)


In the Gulf of Alaska
In the Gulf of Alaska


In the Mediterranean
In the Mediterranean


Heading home to Bremerton, WA
Heading home to Bremerton, WA


With Giuseppe Garibaldi
With Giuseppe Garibaldi


The USS Ronald Reagan
The USS Ronald Reagan



GlobalSecurity article on Nimitz Class carriers Naval Vessel Register page for USS Nimitz

  1. ^ U.S. Navy: Carriers: List of Carriers

 United States Navy Portal
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Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

Modified Nimitz-class aircraft carrier (Abraham Lincoln-subclass)
Abraham Lincoln | George Washington | John C. Stennis | Harry S. Truman

Modified Nimitz-class aircraft carrier (Ronald Reagan-subclass)
Ronald Reagan | George H. W. Bush
List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
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Aircraft carrier classes in service
Flag of Brazil São Paulo • Flag of France Charles de Gaulle • Flag of India Centaur • Flag of Italy Garibaldi • Flag of Russia Admiral Kuznetsov • Flag of Spain Principe de Asturias • Flag of Thailand Chakri Nareubet • Flag of the United Kingdom Invincible • Flag of the United States Enterprise, Kitty Hawk, Nimitz
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz_class_aircraft_carrier"
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