Trump: USS Ford is ‘100,000-ton message to the world'

Associated Press ^ | Saturday, July 22, 2017 | Darlene Superville

[Jyotishi]

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- With praise and a blessing for the military, President Donald Trump helped hand over the USS Gerald R. Ford to the Navy on Saturday and said the state-of-the-art aircraft carrier will send a "100,000-ton message to the world" about America's military might when it is ultimately deployed.

[null and void]

[txhurl]

This landlubber saw a trial video of a hard port turn she made and went green for a minute.

[JoeFromSidney]

Just one quibble. I don't like the idea of naming naval vessels after former presidents (or senators, or governors, etc.). I think they should be named after naval heroes, or important naval battles or similar actions. However, no one asked my opinion.

[MileHi]

Agree. Gerald Ford doesn’t exactly evoke strength or confidence.

[dfwgator]

At least Ford served honorably in the Navy.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I think it depends, so long as the individual they name it after is no longer living. Jerry Ford did serve in the Navy in WW2, though.

[MHGinTN]

City on the waves ...

[dfwgator]

After applying for sea duty, Ford was sent in May 1943 to the pre-commissioning detachment for the new aircraft carrier USS Monterey (CVL-26), at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey. From the ship’s commissioning on June 17, 1943, until the end of December 1944, Ford served as the assistant navigator, Athletic Officer, and antiaircraft battery officer on board the Monterey. While he was on board, the carrier participated in many actions in the Pacific Theater with the Third and Fifth Fleets in late 1943 and 1944. In 1943, the carrier helped secure Makin Island in the Gilberts, and participated in carrier strikes against Kavieng, New Ireland in 1943. During the spring of 1944, the Monterey supported landings at Kwajalein and Eniwetok and participated in carrier strikes in the Marianas, Western Carolines, and northern New Guinea, as well as in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.[25] After an overhaul, from September to November 1944, aircraft from the Monterey launched strikes against Wake Island, participated in strikes in the Philippines and Ryukyus, and supported the landings at Leyte and Mindoro.[25]

Although the ship was not damaged by Japanese forces, the Monterey was one of several ships damaged by the typhoon that hit Admiral William Halsey’s Third Fleet on December 18–19, 1944. The Third Fleet lost three destroyers and over 800 men during the typhoon. The Monterey was damaged by a fire, which was started by several of the ship’s aircraft tearing loose from their cables and colliding on the hangar deck. During the storm, Ford narrowly avoided becoming a casualty himself. As he was going to his battle station on the bridge of the ship in the early morning of December 18, the ship rolled twenty-five degrees, which caused Ford to lose his footing and slide toward the edge of the deck. The two-inch steel ridge around the edge of the carrier slowed him enough so he could roll, and he twisted into the catwalk below the deck. As he later stated, “I was lucky; I could have easily gone overboard.”

Ford, serving as General Quarters Officer of the Deck, was ordered to go below to assess the raging fire. He did so safely, and reported his findings back to the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Stuart Ingersoll. The ship’s crew was able to contain the fire, and the ship got underway again.

[batterycommander]

Electro magnetic catapult will kill many young pilots.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Friggin’ carbon footprint. Why isn’t this powered by solar panels or wind turbines? < /Envirowackos >

[sheehan]

I would like to thank taxpayers like myself and this thread for the USS Ford

Audit & Drain the pentagon swamp NOW

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

Of course the Dhimmicraps will want ships named after B. Hussein Obama and BJ Clinton, so may I suggest the USS Obama and the USS Clinton? (Yes, I borrowed it from a FReeper posting on March 4, 2008 who's account has apparently been suspended.)

[chrisser]

I agree. Plus, aren’t there several former carrier names available that could be used? I’m a little rusty on my naval history, but it seems Hornet is one name ...

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Just one quibble. I don’t like the idea of naming naval vessels after former presidents (or senators, or governors, etc.). I think they should be named after naval heroes, or important naval battles or similar actions. “

mt feelings exactly!
Politicians get paid very well; they are NOT public SERVANTS.

We should name a carrier for people such as the pilots of the first wave at Midway; who knew they likely wouldn’t make it.
But they went in anyway and allowed the other aircraft to sink the Jap carriers.

[DownInFlames]

Let’s hope it doesn’t have a trick knee.

[Jacquerie]

Probably far fewer than the steam catapults.

[suthener]

The president, who is commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces,

Off topic, but the press seems to think that their audience is a bunch of 3rd graders. I was already thinking this after watching my local news tonight, but this is pretty ridiculous.

[Afterguard]

you may be right but steam cats have killed bunch too. But when counted against the millions of strikes off the front end, the occasional cold cat is a very small number. Admittedly it’s a big deal for the aircrew though.

[Afterguard]

Strikes = strokes