[MARKUSPRIME]

Go navy. This is the last carrier in this series. The next carrier will have a new redesign. Nothing like our carrier fleet on the planet. Huge floating acres of sovereign American territory.

[MARKUSPRIME]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/carriers.htm

[PeteB570]

Man, oh man,

That is some crane lifting the bow "super lift" into position.

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

as long as the Empire State Building is tall...

Gooooooolly Sarge!

[jimtorr]

When the contract for CVN 77 was let, there was talk of incorporating some of the design features of the next series of carriers. Features such as stealthy superstructure, greatly increased automation and smaller crew.

[WorkingClassFilth]

I personally own a Grumman carrier. Here's one just like it: http://img.alibaba.com/img/product/11/15/75/11157514.jpg

[Enterprise]

780 tons seems a bit light for a carrier.

[Enterprise]

Never mind, the article wasn't talking about the whole ship.

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

Huge floating acres of sovereign American territory.

So nicely put that I thought it beared repeating.

[sergeantdave]

How thick is the metal on an aircraft carrier?

Does the Navy still use wood for decks or steel?

Are sailors still portioned a measure of rum each day or did that custom end?

[M Kehoe]

Bird farm bump.

5.56mm

[tlb]

It will be the USS Bill Clinton, count on it. After the USS Carter, the USS Reagan, and the USS George H Bush, it's Clinton's turn.

[R. Scott]

If anyone wants to be truly impressed, visit Newport News. Go downtown to the shipyard area and look at a carrier under construction or refit – the tallest building in Newport News is any carrier in the shipyard. These ships are truly huge, but they don’t look all that big until you get within a few blocks of the shipyard.

[em2vn]

".........the nation's sole designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers."
Disturbing. The concentration of military production facilities is short sighted. It may be cost effective but the lack of production redundancy could prove fatal.

[A.A. Cunningham]

CVN 77 Upper Bow Lift - March 15, 2006
The nation's tenth and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), grows by 780 tons as the upper bow unit is placed onto the ship. Photo by Chris Oxley

CVN 77 Upper Bow Lift - March 15, 2006
The George H.W. Bush is the second carrier with the bulbous bow design. USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is the first. Photo by Rick Thompson

CVN 77 Upper Bow Lift - March 15, 2006
The addition of the upper bow on the George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) completes the flight deck and extends the overall length of the carrier to its full size, which is as long as the Empire State Building is tall. Photo by Rick Thompson

[Vision]

How about the USS Rush Limbaugh CVN-77?

[Final Authority]

A former carrier captain once told me, actually, he asked me then gave me the answer. He asked, how many kinds of ships do you think we have in the US Navy? I said, I don't know. He said, the answer is real simple. We have two kinds, submarines and targets.

[finnman69]

Cool pic here