Original vintage 1980s Newport News Shipbuilding advertisement, "In the defense of our nation, there can be no second best."
The Nimitz class is a class of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the USN. The lead ship of the class is named after World War II United States Pacific Fleet Commander Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was the last living USN officer to hold the rank.
Since the 1970s, Nimitz-class carriers have participated in many conflicts and operations across the world, including Operation Eagle Claw in Iran, the 1991 Gulf War, and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror.
Oh – and also the iconic films, “Top Gun” (1986), and the newly relevant “Clear and Present Danger” (1994)
Dimensions: Approx. 8 inches wide by 10.5 inches high.
Virginia-Based Newport News Shipbuilding
Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), now a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the sole designer, builder, and refueler of aircraft carriers and one of two providers of submarines for the United States Navy (USN).
Founded as the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company in 1886 and located in the city of Newport News, Virginia, NNS has built more than 800 ships, including both naval and commercial ships within its facilities, which span more than 550 acres. NNS is a major employer for the lower Virginia Peninsula, portions of Hampton Roads south of the James River and the harbor, portions of the Middle Peninsula region, and even some northeastern counties of North Carolina.
The shipyard is presently building two Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers: USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), and USS Enterprise (CVN-80), and in 2013, NNS began the deactivation of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which it also built.
Newport News Shipbuilding also performs refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) work on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, a four-year vessel renewal program that involves refueling the vessel's nuclear reactors and performing modernization work. The yard has completed RCOH for five Nimitz-class carriers (USS Nimitz, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Carl Vinson, USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Abraham Lincoln). As of November 2017, this work was underway for the Nimitz-class vessel USS George Washington.
The Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier
With an overall length of 1,092 ft (333 m) and a full-load displacement of over 100,000 long tons (100,000 t), the Nimitz-class ships were the largest warships built and in service until USS Gerald R. Ford entered the fleet in 2017. As noted, 10 were made, with each carrier costing approx. US$8.5 billion in FY 2012 dollars (equal to US$11.2 billion now).
As a result of nuclear power, the ships are capable of operating for over 20 years without refueling and are predicted to have a service life of over 50 years. They are categorized as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and are numbered with consecutive hull numbers from CVN-68 to CVN-77.
All ten carriers were constructed by NNS in Virginia; the lead ship of the class, the USS Nimitz, was commissioned on 3 May 1975, and USS George H. W. Bush, the tenth and last of the class, was commissioned on 10 January 2009.
An embarked carrier air wing comprising around 64 aircraft is normally deployed on board, and the air wings' strike fighters are primarily F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets. In addition to their aircraft, the vessels carry short-range defensive weaponry for anti-aircraft warfare and missile defense.
When an aircraft carrier deploys, it takes a Carrier Strike Group (CSG), made up of several other warships and supply vessels that allow the operation to be carried out. The armament of the Nimitz class is made up only of short-range defensive weapons, used as a last line of defense against enemy missiles and aircraft.
As with all surface ships, an aircraft carrier is particularly vulnerable to attack from below, specifically from submarines. An aircraft carrier is an expensive, hard to replace, and a strategically valuable asset, and therefore holds immense value as a target.
As a result of its target value and vulnerability, aircraft carriers are always escorted by at least one submarine for protection. The other vessels in the Strike Group provide additional capabilities, such as long-range Tomahawk missiles or the Aegis Combat System, and protect the carrier from attack. A typical Strike Group may include, in addition to an aircraft carrier: up to six surface combatants, including guided-missile cruisers and guided-missile destroyers, used primarily for anti-aircraft warfare and anti-submarine warfare, and frigates/guided-missile frigates, prior to their retirement from USN service.
Also making up part of the group is one or two attack submarines for seeking out and destroying hostile surface ships and submarines and an ammunition, oiler, and supply ship from Military Sealift Command to provide logistical support. The numbers and types of vessels that make up each strike group can vary from group to group, depending on deployments, mission, and availability.