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Naval Aviation and Navy Lakehurst
Facts and Figures
Aircraft Carriers
(Example)
Characteristics of the CVN 76 USS Ronald Reagan (A Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier) :
Capability
* Top speed exceeds 30 knots
* Powered by two nuclear reactors that can operate for more than 20 years without
refueling
* Expected to operate in the fleet for about 50 years
* Carries over 80 combat aircraft
* Three arresting cables can stop a 28-ton aircraft going 150 miles per hour in less than
400 feet
Size
* Towers 20 stories above the waterline
* 1092 feet long; nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall
* Flight deck covers 4.5 acres
* 4 bronze propellers, each 21 feet across and weighing 66,200 pounds
* 2 rudders, each 29 by 22 feet and weighing 50 tons
* 4 high speed aircraft elevators, each over 4,000 square feet
Capacity
* Home to about 6,000 Navy personnel
* Carries enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days
* 18,150 meals served daily
* Distillation plants provide 400,000 gallons of fresh water from sea water daily,
enough for 2000 homes
* Nearly 30,000 light fixtures and 1,325 miles of cable and wiring
* 1,400 telephones, 14,000 pillowcases and 28,000 sheets
From: http://www.reagan.navy.mil/facts.htm
A nuclear-powered carrier can go without refueling for as long as 25 years. It has an operational service life of an estimated 50 years. During that period a single carrier can be expected to:
* Respond to approximately 20 major crises and possibly three major conflicts.
* Conduct more than 500,000 aircraft launches and recoveries.
* Spend approximately 6,000 days - more than 16 years - at sea.
* Steam a total of 3 million nautical miles, more than 10 times the distance
from the Earth to the moon.
* House, during a half-century, more than 100,000 men and women.
(From National Defense Magazine)
For more on aircraft carriers and carrier operations go to http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/cv.htm
For a listing of all U.S. carriers go to http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/us_index.htm
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