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Information about Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier

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USS Nimitz, lead ship of her class of supercarrier

USS Nimitz
United States
Builders:Newport News Shipbuilding
Preceding class:Kitty Hawk-class
Following class:Gerald R. Ford-class
Commissioned:May 3, 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:332.9 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 the Ford class, the first ship of which is 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 considers them to all be in one class. 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.

General characteristics

Ships in class[1]


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Near Victoria, BC

USS Nimitz (CVN-68)


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With George Washington behind

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)


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Returning from Operation Enduring Freedom

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)


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USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)


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In the Gulf of Alaska

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)


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In the Mediterranean

USS George Washington (CVN 73)


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Heading home to Bremerton, WA

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)


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With Giuseppe Garibaldi

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)


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The USS Ronald Reagan

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)


USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77)

References

GlobalSecurity article on Nimitz Class carriers

See also

  •  • [ e] Nimitz-class aircraft carrier
Nimitz | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Carl Vinson | Theodore Roosevelt
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
So Paulo | Charles de Gaulle | Centaur | Garibaldi
Admiral Kuznetsov | Principe de Asturias | Chakri Nareubet
Invincible | Nimitz, Enterprise, Kitty Hawk
Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN), formerly called Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (NNS&DD or simply NNS), is the largest privately owned shipyard in the United States.
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Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers of the United States Navy were an incremental improvement on the Forrestal-class vessels. Four were built, all in the 1960s:
  • Kitty Hawk (CV-63) (1961–2008)
  • Constellation

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Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers (or Ford-class) will be the next generation supercarrier for the United States Navy. Before its redesignation as the Ford-class (CVN-78), this new class of carriers was known as the CVNX
..... Click the link for more information.
May 3 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1972 1973 1974 - 1975 - 1976 1977 1978

Year 1975 (MCMLXXV
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USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a supercarrier in the United States Navy, the lead ship of its class. It is one of the largest warships in the world. It was laid down, launched and commissioned as CVAN-68, but was redesignated CVN-68 (nuclear-powered multimission aircraft carrier)
..... Click the link for more information.
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVAN-69/CVN-69), nicknamed "Ike", is the second of 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers in the United States Navy, named after the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is a United States Navy Nimitz class supercarrier named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia.

She was commissioned in 1982 and carries F/A-18 Hornets and F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as well as surveillance and other aircraft.
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USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) (known affectionately as the Big Stick or TR) is the fourth Nimitz-class supercarrier and its call sign is Rough Rider, the name of President Theodore Roosevelt's volunteer cavalry unit during the Spanish-American War.
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USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), nicknamed "Abe", is the fifth Nimitz-class supercarrier in the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship named after former president Abraham Lincoln. Her home port is Everett, Washington.
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USS George Washington (CVN 73) (Callsign: WARFIGHTER) is the sixth ship in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered supercarriers, and the fourth United States Navy ship to be named after George Washington, first President of the United States.
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USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier in the United States Navy, named for Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi. She was commissioned on 9 December 1995. Her homeport is Bremerton, Washington.
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USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) is the eighth Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy, named after the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman.
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USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), the ninth Nimitz-class supercarrier, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the late President Ronald Reagan.
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USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and last Nimitz class supercarrier of the United States Navy. She is named for former President George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II. George H. W.
..... Click the link for more information.
supercarrier is a ship belonging to the largest class of aircraft carrier, and generally has a displacement greater than 75,000 tons. Most countries that have carriers operate carriers with a displacement of less than 40,000 tons (such as Charles de Gaulle
..... Click the link for more information.
surface-to-air missile (SAM) or ground-to-air missile (GAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft system.

Land-based SAMs can be deployed from fixed installations or mobile launchers.
..... Click the link for more information.
A Close-in weapon system (CIWS) is a naval shipboard weapon system for detecting and destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft at short range (the threat(s) having penetrated the ship's available outer defences).
..... Click the link for more information.
supercarrier is a ship belonging to the largest class of aircraft carrier, and generally has a displacement greater than 75,000 tons. Most countries that have carriers operate carriers with a displacement of less than 40,000 tons (such as Charles de Gaulle
..... Click the link for more information.
UO2 pellets in zircaloy cladding.]]

The key components common to most types of nuclear power plants
  • Neutron moderator
  • Coolant
  • Control rods
  • Pressure vessel
  • Emergency Core Cooling Systems (ECCS)
  • Reactor Protective System (RPS)

..... Click the link for more information.
aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and in most cases recover aircraft, acting as a sea-going airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations.
..... Click the link for more information.
United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. The U.S. Navy currently has over 340,000 personnel on active duty and nearly 128,000 in the Navy Reserve.
..... Click the link for more information.
The capital ships of a navy are its "important" warships; the ones with the heaviest firepower and armour. There is usually no formal criterion for the classification, but it is a useful concept when thinking about strategy, for instance to compare relative naval strengths in a
..... Click the link for more information.
The United States Navy uses hull classification symbols (sometimes called hull codes) to identify the types of its ships. The Royal Navy and some European and Commonwealth navies use a somewhat analogous system of Pennant numbers.
..... Click the link for more information.
USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is a supercarrier in the United States Navy, the lead ship of its class. It is one of the largest warships in the world. It was laid down, launched and commissioned as CVAN-68, but was redesignated CVN-68 (nuclear-powered multimission aircraft carrier)
..... Click the link for more information.
USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and last Nimitz class supercarrier of the United States Navy. She is named for former President George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II. George H. W.
..... Click the link for more information.
Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN), formerly called Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (NNS&DD or simply NNS), is the largest privately owned shipyard in the United States.
..... Click the link for more information.
Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers (or Ford-class) will be the next generation supercarrier for the United States Navy. Before its redesignation as the Ford-class (CVN-78), this new class of carriers was known as the CVNX
..... Click the link for more information.
Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain.
..... Click the link for more information.
Computer networking is the engineering discipline concerned with communication between computer systems or devices. Networking, routers, routing protocols, and networking over the public Internet have their specifications defined in documents called RFCs.
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