Nimitz-class

In the United States Navy, the ten ships of the Nimitz-class are its major aircraft carriers. The Gerald R. Ford-class carriers, entering construction, will supplement them. They followed the one-of-a-kind USS Enterprise (CVN-65), although some conventionally powered carriers were built after the 1961 Enterprise.

Ships

• USS Nimitz (CVN 68)
• USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)
• USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)
• USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)
• USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
• USS George Washington (CVN 73)
• USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
• USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)
• USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)
• USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)

Characteristics

• Builder: Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding., Newport News, VA.
• First Date Deployed: May 3, 1975 (USS Nimitz)
• Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts
• Length: 1,092 feet (332.85 meters)
• Beam: 134 feet (40.84 meters)
• Flight Deck Width: 252 feet (76.8 meters)
• Displacement: Approximately 97,000 tons (87,996.9 metric tons) full load
• Speed: 30+ knots (34.5+ miles per hour)
• Crew:
  • Ship's Company: 3,200
  • Air Wing: 2,480.
• Armament: Multiple NATO Sea Sparrow, Phalanx close-in weapons system, and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) mounts.
• Aircraft: Approximately 60+.

Typical air wing

• 4 squadrons of F-18 Hornet and F-18 Super Hornet; some to be replaced by F-35C Lighting II
• Airborne early warning squadron flying E-2 Hawkeye
• Helicopter squadron
• Electronic warfare detachment flying EA-6B Prowlers; to be replaced by EF-18 Growler