S&S - Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush joins the fleet

Stars and Stripes



Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush joins the fleet

By Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes


Mideast edition, Sunday, January 11, 2009

Kevin Baron / S&S

Command Master Chief J.D. Port said that with sea trials for the USS George H.W. Bush just a few weeks away, the thing he is most looking forward to is “The look on everyone’s face when they see what it’s like when a crew comes to life.” Here, Port stands in front of a scupture of the former president and ship's namesake as a naval aviator during World War II.

See more photos here.

USS George H.W. Bush, by the numbers

2 nuclear reactors

4 bronze propellers

4 high-speed 4,000-sq foot aircraft elevators

4.5 acres of flight deck

20 stories tall above the waterline

20 years of life expectancy before the reactors needing refueling

21 foot diameter of each propeller

30 knots top speed

30 tons, weight of each propeller

80 combat aircraft capacity

90 days of food and supplies to last at sea

246 miles of pipe

325 feet, the distance in which two 3-in. wide arresting wires can stop an airplane flying 155 mph.

360 lbs, weight of each link of anchor chain

500 tons of aluminum

1,092 feet in length, nearly as long as the Empire State Building is high

1,400 telephones

1,600 miles of cable and wiring

14,000 pillowcases

25,000 steel plates, each 30x10 ft.

28,000 sheets

30,000 light fixtures

47,000 tons of structural steel

97,000 tons of displacement, when loaded

400,000 gallons of sea water converted to fresh water daily (enough for 2,000 homes)

700,000 metal pieces form its base

Photo gallery

RELATED STORY: President lands on carrier named after his father

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. – More than five years after the keel was laid, a rainbow of signal pennants, huge American flags and patriotic bunting adorned the fully-dressed and nearly-completed aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on Friday, as thousands of crewmembers busily prepared the ship and its pier for Saturday’s commissioning ceremony featuring its namesake and his son, President George W. Bush.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"On display are a flag from the vessel that pulled Bush from the Pacific Ocean during World War II, a marble ornament from Saddam Hussein’s palace, and the letter awarding Bush the Distinguished Flying Cross that was signed by Vice Adm. John S. McCain Jr., the father of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

As the Bush closes out the Nimitz-class era, the room fittingly includes a World War II-era letter to home that the naval aviator wrote to his parents. It is symbolic of how daily life has changed in the Navy. On this ship, Petty Officer Amber Kitchens manages the computer network that allows more than 5,000 people to send emails home from the ship’s library, around the clock."