Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier

The Nimitz class aircraft carriers are presently the ones which are in service with the US Navy. They are equipped with the latest armament, radars and aircraft. A startling fact about them, that makes them so deadly, is that they can operate continuously for twenty years without refueling. Yes, you heard it right. Twenty years without refueling! That's the power of the nuclear powered Nimitz class aircraft carriers.

These carriers are numbered as CVN, where 'CV' is the hull classification symbol and 'N' indicates the nuclear powered propulsion. Nimitz (CVN-68) was the first ship of this class to be commissioned on September 18, 1976, while George H.W. Bush was the tenth and the last. Almost all the Nimitz class carriers have been made by the Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Newport News, Virginia. USS George H.W. Bush will be the first ship to receive massive modernization. It is being transitioned into Gerald R. Ford class of carriers which will have a new multifunctional radar system, volume search radars, an open architecture information network and reduced crew members.

If we go by the displacement, Nimitz class carriers are the largest aircraft carriers built so far. They hold the world record for displacement of any naval war vessel. Although, these ships are the heaviest, they are not the longest. The record for the longest carrier ever is held by USS Enterprise. USS Nimitz was the first warship of its class to undergo Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) in 1998. It was followed by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2005, Carl Vinson in late 2005 and Abraham Lincoln in 2006. Some general characteristics of Nimitz class aircraft carriers are:

• 333 meters in length
• Flight deck width of 76.8 to 78.4 meters
• Powered by two A4W nuclear reactors with four shafts
• Displacement of about 98,235 to 104,112 tons
• Speed of 30+ knots (56+ kilometers per hour)
• Can carry up to 85 aircraft (including F/A-18, EA-6B Prowler, e-2 Hawkeye, C-2 Greyhound, SH/HH-60 Seahawk and T-45 Goshawk)
• Costs about 4.5 billion US dollars
• Capable of operating for 20 continuous years without refueling
• Average operating cost of about 160 million US dollars
• Service life of about 50 years
• Armament includes:
  • NATO Sea Sparrow launchers
  • 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts
  • Rolling Airframe Missile

The ten operating Nimitz class aircraft carriers, their homeports and the operations and wars they were involved in, at a glance:

Name of the Carrier	Commissioned	Status	Operations
USS Nimitz (CVN-68)	May 3, 1975	In service, based at Naval Air Station Island, San Diego	Operation Evening Light, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Gulf of Sidra
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)	October 11, 1975	In service, based at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia	Iran hostage crisis, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Uphold Democracy, Operation southern Watch, Operation Deny Flight
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)	March 13, 1982	Undergoing RCOH	Operation Southern Watch, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Deserty Fox, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)	October 25, 1984	In service, based at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia	Operation Desert Shield, Operation Provide Comfort, Operation Deny Flight, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Deliberate Force, Operation Allied Force, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)	November 11, 1989	In service, based in Naval Station Everett in Everett, Washington	Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Fiery Vigil, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Restore Hope, Operation Vigilant Sentinel, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Unified Assistance
USS George Washington (CVN-73)	July 4, 1992	In service, based in Yokosuka Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan	Operation Decisive Endeavor, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Vigilant Resolve
USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)	December 9, 1995	In service, based in Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington	Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)	July 25, 1998	In service, based in Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia	Operation Southern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Hurricane Katrina relief
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)	July 12, 2003	In service, based in Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California	Operation Urgent Fury , Operation El Dorado Canyon, Operation Praying Mantis
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)	January 10, 2009	Pending post delivery maintenance before commencing training for operational deployment in 2010	Nil

These are ten Nimitz class aircraft carriers currently in service in the US Navy. With the formidable presence of such massive aircraft carriers, it is unlikely for any navy in the world to challenge the strength of or come on par with the US navy for quite some time.