Nimitz class aircraft carrier

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The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are the largest warships in the world. USS Nimitz (CVN 68) was the first to undergo its initial refueling during a 33-month Refueling Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, in 1998.

Nimitz, the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in 1975; Bush, the tenth and last of the class, will be built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems 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.

General characteristics

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia
Power Plant: Two A4W reactors, four shafts
Length: 333 meters (1092 feet) overall
Flight Deck Width: 76.8 meters (252 feet)
Beam: 41 meters (134 feet)
Displacement: 98,500 tons full load, somewhat less than big cruise ships
Speed: 30+ knots -- in June 1999, the USN publicly released these trial speeds:
- Nimitz: 31.5 knots
- Theodore Roosevelt: 31.3 knots
- Harry S Truman: 30.9 knots
Aircraft: 85
- Intended to operate fighter aircraft including the F/A-18, bombers and other military aircraft for many missions including self defense, land attack and maritime strike.
Cost: about US$4.5 billion each
Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 - Air Wing: 2,480
Armament:
- NATO Sea Sparrow launchers: two or three (depending on modification)
- 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts: Three on Nimitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower and four on Vinson and later ships of the class
- RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile: Two on Nimitz and Ronald Reagan, will be refit to other ships as they return for RCOH.
Date Deployed: May 3, 1975 (USS Nimitz)

Ships

Nimitz class aircraft carrier

List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy