USS NIMITZ (CVAN-68) (later CVN-68)- THE WARIOR SINCE 3RD MAY 1975

USS NIMITZ (later CVN-68)



A veritable floating city, the nuclear-powered carrier, with its full complement of 90 plus F-18 Super Hornet fighters and helicopters, will make its maiden port call in Chennai on Monday, signaling a new high in the Indo-US military relations.
Since it is too big to be accommodated in the Chennai port, the ship will be stationed two nautical miles away from the dock. Nevertheless, it will be visible from the shore.

The 95,000 ton ship is 18-stories high from the keel to the top of the mast. The ship carries 6000 sailors and officers, out of which almost 2,500 are aircraft engineers, pilots and ground technicians.

The flight deck spans over 4.5 acres — equivalent to four football grounds. The power supply for this leviathan comes from two nuclear-powered engines. The electricity it generates is good enough to illuminate two small Indian cities.
Though there are some apprehensions about the possibility of radiation leakage from Nimitz, the A4W Westinghouse reactors are the standard nuclear reactors operated by the US Navy.



The reactor’s core has a life span of 20 years. Interestingly, the Indian reactors being used by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) are of somewhat similar design though they are bigger in size and use heavy water as coolant.
Being a nuclear-powered ship, Nimitz can stay in the sea for a very long time. In fact, in one of its early task, ‘Operation Evening Light’ (rescuing the US embassy workers being held hostage in Tehran) in 1979, the Old Salt — Nimitz’s nick name — was at sea for 144 days.

The crew generally take advantage of such port calls after long journeys at sea by studying or finishing their educational assignments. But in all probability, neither weapon operator Mason Stoddard nor engineer Shantelle Butche will touch their study manual on criminal justice and aeronautical engineering in the next five days.
The Indian hospitality promises to be more interesting.

NIMITZLORE

The USS Nimitz, which has anchored in the coastal waters off Chennai is visiting Indian waters for the second time after September 2005 when it participated in the Indo-US aero-naval exercises in the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast with the India aircraft carrier, INS Viraat.

USS Nimitz was deployed in March 1996 to patrol the waters off Taiwan amid missile tests by the People’s Republic of China in the area and was the first US warship to pass though the Taiwan Strait since 1976.



An aircraft carrier is an awesome mobile floating weapons platform which enables air superiority over an area whose radius is equal to the operating radius of its aircraft plus the radius of the aircraft carrier’s own mobility. This helps to locate, identify and neutralise targets with a rapid response owing to the carrier’s own mobility — unlike fighter aircraft launched from land bases.
An aircraft carrier’s air superiority enables sea superiority in warlike conditions. For instance, the Nimitz, which spearheads a carrier battle group with several other warships, could easily exercise dominance over the Arabian Sea.
The only thing which can counter a gigantic warship like the Nimiz, is a nuclear propelled submarine that has both stealth and mobility to attack such a target.
Unlike a submarine which cannot be easily detected, an aircraft carrier being a surface combatant can be tracked by satellites or human intelligence sources.


SHIP SAGA

*Commissioned on May 3, 1975, the Nimitz was named after Admiral Chester W Nimitz, who commanded the US Pacific Fleet during World War II
* Fresh drinking water is available in plenty, with four distilling units on board enabling engineers to make over four lakh gallons of fresh water a day.
* Nimitz’ Food Services
Department provides 18,000-20,000 meals a day
* Refrigerated and dry goods for at least 70 days are stocked on the ship
* Over one million pounds of mail a year are processed on board the ship, which has its own post office. Nimitz receives mail every day either by air or through other ships.
* Powered by two nuclear power plants and with a speed of over 30 knots, the Nimitz accommodates a crew of over 5,000 and more than 65 fighters, surveillance and rescue jets, and helicopters.
* The warship has a 53-bed hospital ward and a three-bed intensive care unit and acts as the hospital ship for its strike group
* N-power allows the ship to store 50 per cent more ammunition and almost twice as much aviation fuel than a conventional carrier
* A fighter jet takes off every 30 seconds from its flight deck of 4.5 acres. The height from its keel to the mast is 23 storeys
* Nimitz’ three chaplains conduct daily religious services in an inter-
denominational chapel.



links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nimitz_(CVN-68)


super carriers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercarrier

http://www.nimitz.navy.mil/

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/68.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz_class_aircraft_carrier

http://www.ussnimitzassociation.org/news.aspx