50 Years of USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
USS Enterprise (CVN 65) was commissioned on Nov. 25, 1961. Happy Anniversary to “Big E,” the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
November 21, 2011
Great NY Times slide show on operations aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
(Photo credit: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
January 16, 2012
The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) join for a turnover of responsibility in the Arabian Sea.
(Source: navy.mil)
January 19, 2012
U.S. maintains fleet of 11 aircraft carriers
Aboard the country’s oldest aircraft carrier, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed that he will maintain the Navy’s fleet of 11 carriers, despite budget pressures.
Panetta’s Saturday announcement aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65) served as reassurance and encouragement to the 1,700 sailors heading to the Gulf this spring for the ship’s final deployment, in light of recent tensions with Iran.
“You’re part of what keeps our force agile and flexible and quickly deploy-able and capable of taking on any enemy, anywhere in the world,” Panetta told the crowd. “It’s for that reason that the President of the United States and all of us working at the Department of Defense have decided that it is important to maintain our carrier force at full strength and that means we’ll be keeping 11 carriers in our force.”
What do you think about SecDef Panetta’s decision to keep an 11 carrier fleet?
January 25, 2012
Sailors release lines from a rigid hull inflatable boat during a man overboard drill aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lincoln is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
(Source: Navy.mil)
January 30, 2012
On this date in 1964, the USS America (CV 66) was launched at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. America was decommissioned in a ceremony at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia on August 9, 1996. In 2005, she was used as a live-fire test and evaluation platform to aid in the design of Ford-Class Aircraft Carriers
February 01, 2012
“Congress must think 10 years down the line when it comes to nuclear carriers”
With a new generation of aircraft carriers in development and global threats on the rise, Congress must take a step back and consider the impact of their decision making for not just next year, but rather 10 years down the line. In 2022.
In today’s Washington Post, Walter Pincus penned an aptly named column, Congress must think 10 years down the line when it comes to nuclear carriers that explained just that.
As Pincus pointed out,
Carriers are interesting because they take 10 years to build, another two to three years in shakedown cruises before they become operational — and then they last up to 50 years.
Thus, when determining a strategic defense plan that includes carriers, one must take into consideration the amount of time it takes to build and maintain them. Now that the President has shifted his defense priorities to the Asia-Pacific, Navy experts have already asserted that it’s going to take the current fleet of 11 carriers to fulfill the President’s strategic plan.
At Monday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said of the proposed fiscal 2013 budget:
We’ve maintained the 11 carriers in the Navy in order to ensure that we have sufficient forward presence. There’s nothing like a carrier to be able to allow for quick deployment. . . . And that’ll give us a great capacity to be able to show our force structure in the Pacific.”
But maintaining carriers at the status quo isn’t enough. The Navy has created a new class of carriers — the Ford class. This new generation of carriers, which includes Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), will continue the legacy of U.S. Navy aircraft carrier ships. Enhancements being incorporated into their design include flight deck changes, improved weapons handling systems, and a redesigned island, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie rates. It will also include a new nuclear power plant; increased electrical power generation capacity; allowance for future technologies; and reduced workload for the sailors, translating to a smaller crew and lower operating costs for the Navy.
Thus, Congress should not make a myopic decision when budgeting for our nation’s aircraft carriers. But rather, take into account where we will stand 10 years from now.
What do you think? Based on Pincus’ article — do you think Congress is thinking 10 years down the line when it comes to nuclear carriers?
February 16, 2012
TOP: Sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) man the rails as the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled port visit as they return from a seven-month deployment to the U.S.
BOTTOM: USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
(Source: navy.mil)
February 22, 2012
Ships from the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group transit the Pacific Ocean during a photo exercise.
(Source: navy.mil)
February 27, 2012
