Portsmouth Shipyard to Have Three Carriers at Once

AP ^ | 22 Jan 2006

[DYngbld]

The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, which typically handles just one aircraft carrier at a time, will be home to three carriers at once this fall, said Navy Capt. Joseph Campbell, the yard's commanding officer.

The three carriers make up one-quarter of the nation's flattop fleet and are scheduled to be in the yard simultaneously for several weeks.

The USS Harry S. Truman arrived at the yard Jan. 9. It will be joined by the USS Theodore Roosevelt in September and the USS George Washington in October. The Truman is scheduled to depart in November.

[AZRepublican]

Great target for the Japanese.......

[diverteach]

That doesn't sound very prudent to be doing during wartime. Unless of course they getting ready for a bigger one, say for, Iran.

[SteveMcKing]

Is that particularly smart, given the capacity of a rogue nuke to summarily destroy one area?

[Tyche]

Oh please.

Don't you know you are supposed to cut military bases and have less bases for your military when you are in the nuclear age. /s

[Cicero]

I see everyone has the same first thought.

This many carriers in one place is a very tempting target.

[burzum]

I'd hate to be one of the sailors looking for a place to park my car!

[freema]

Ditto.

[ClearCase_guy]

I imagine the NSA will pick up interesting chatter as certain people begin discussing the possibilities.

[al baby]

hooters to open a new mega resturant in portsmouth

[NCC-1701]

I'd love to see those three flattops together. The sight of all that American steel in one place would be an awesome sight. Still, it isn't prudent to have that many expensive eggs in one basket. Too much risk of something going wrong.

[taxesareforever]

I see everyone has the same first thought. This many carriers in one place is a very tempting target.

For what? A Venzuelan attack? Get real.

[burzum]

No they won't. The terrorists have no doubt changed their communication tactics by now. The NSA might not have adapted, thanks to traitors.

[kimosabe31]

Responses 2 thru 4 express my thoughts exactly. Anyone know if this "clustering" of high value targets is the result of base closures?

[xrp]

Right on. A lot of FReepers are quite a bit paranoid. LOOK OUT! THE TERRISTS GONNA ATTAQ THE CARRIERS!

Islamic Murderers normally don't target the military, they attack civilians. They can't beat the military. They can beat public opinion.

[leda]

thats bound to be quite a sudden boom in population for them too...

[DYngbld]

No kidding, it is a zoo there with only one carrier. I Can't imagine what it will be like. Glad I don't have to deal with that mess.

[cva66snipe]

Just a few miles down river they can dock 4 of them at once. I've got a copy of a picture of 4 carriers at NOB Norfolk docked in numerical order. But you're right far too many Naval assets are parked in Norfolk at once. I wonder why Newport News Ship Yards across the river wasn't used for one of them? It is the builder of these ships.

On the plus side maybe and hopefully the Navy learned from past mistakes for not having needed yard times during the first Gulf War. The only other permanent carrier port on the east coast is Mayport, Florida and I think it is a one carrier pier from what I remember.

These sound like the needed three month down times between deployments ships require. A carrier maintenance cycle is a one year overhaul every 5 years plus a three month yard period after each 6 month cruise. It takes from the yard to a deployment about 6 months of work ups for training before the six month deployment.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

USSWashington ping

[DYngbld]

We had four in port here around Christmas time. It is cool to look across the water and see them all sitting there.