Posted on 02/04/2007 11:41:11 PM PST by freedomdefender
The ocean liner Queen Mary 2 got a reception fit for royalty when it sailed through San Francisco's Golden Gate on Sunday.
The rails of the Golden Gate Gate bridge were lined with people, and the bay was crowded with vessels large and small, sailboats, tour boats, a fireboat, the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien, and many smaller craft, even a rowboat or two that were there to welcome the ship.
The Queen Mary 2 stopped traffic on the bridge cold; and no wonder. It is the largest ship ever to sail into San Francisco since the first European vessel 233 years ago.
"It was spectacular, marvelous,'' said Perry Lloyd, an Englishman who sailed on the QM2 13,880 nautical miles around South America from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I agree. A glorious sight.
Ah, yes, the QM2...one of the few queens on earth bigger and deeper-voiced than Harvey Fierstein.
So enormous to us, and yet a mere speck in the vastness of the ocean. Nothing man makes can impress the ocean.
Except global warming... [/sarcasm]
Not only is it not a military vessel, it's a Queen!
< }B^)
QM2 = 151,000 tons and 1,131 feet long
CVN77 USS RONALD REAGAN = 97,000 tons 1092 feet long
If I recall correctly, the way you measure tonnage is different for naval vessels than for civilian vessels. But I cannot remember what the difference is.
CVN77 has a Displacement of 97,000 tons.
I have no idea how to reconcile those two measurements.
QM2 is longer than CVN77 (assuming that the measurement is at the same place (however that might be defined), but CVN77 is much wider (252feet, flight deck) than QM2 (147.5 feet, bridge wings). However, QM2's hull is wider (135 feet) than CVN77's (134 feet). Depending on where the length is measured, and the shape of the hull, that may add up to a much larger displacement. I think it safe to say that they are comparably sized ships (more so than I originally thought). Both are utterly dwarfed by the Knock Nevis, a monstrous supertanker. Length = 1504ft, beam=226ft, summer displacement = 647,955 t. I note that the Knock Nevis is not used as a ship, in the usual sense of the word.
CVN 77 is the George H. W. Bush not the USS RONALD REAGAN which is the CVN 76
U.S. Navy - Carriers: List of carriers
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/cv-list1.html
Naaaw...they lowered the bay for a few hours...(low tide helped I think!)...;)
D'oh!!!
Numbers are the same, though.
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