Nimitz class aircraft carrier

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USS Nimitz
United States
Builders:	Newport News Shipbuilding
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceding class:	Kitty Hawk
Following class:	CVN-21 development program
Commissioned:	3 May 1975
Ships in Class
Ships in class:	10
Ships in active service:	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
Class type:	Nuclear powered supercarrier
Displacement:	102,000 tons
Length:	317 m
Beam:	40.8 m
Draught:	11.9 m
Propulsion and power:	Nuclear propulsion 260,000 shp
Speed:	30+ knots
Complement:	3,200 ships company 2,500 air wing
Armament:	16-24 surface-to-air missiles 4 close-in weapons systems
Aircraft complement:	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 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 (in fact, the time lag between carriers means that no two are the same). 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 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 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.

Contents 1 General characteristics 2 Ships in class 2.1 USS Nimitz (CVN-68) 2.2 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) 2.3 USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) 2.4 USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) 2.5 USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) 2.6 USS George Washington (CVN 73) 2.7 USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) 2.8 USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) 2.9 USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) 3 See also

[edit] 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 - 78.4 m (252 - 257 ft 5in)
• Beam: 41 m (134 ft)
• Displacement: 98,235 - 104,112 tons full load
• Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h)
• Aircraft: 85 (current wings are closer to 64, including 48 tactical and 16 support aircraft)
  • 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)
  • 20 mm 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)

[edit] Ships in class