USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy (USN), and the lead ship of
her class. She is one of the largest warships and the oldest serving aircraft carrier in the world.
She was laid down, launched, and commissioned as CVAN-68 "aircraft carrier, attack,
nuclear powered", but she was later redesignated as CVN-68 "aircraft carrier, multi-mission,
nuclear-powered" on 30 June 1975, as part of a fleet-wide realignment that year.
Historically, the ship was named after USN third fleet admiral Chester W. Nimitz,
who led the Pacific Force during World War II. In the beginning, Nimitz aircraft carrier was
stationed at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, which then was transferred to Naval Station
Bremerton, Washington. Nevertheless, after her Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2001,
her home port was transferred to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego County, California.
Nimitz's home port then was re-located again to Naval Station Everett in Washington in 2012.
It was returned to Naval Base Kitsap in January 2015 after relocating from Everett.
However, the USS Nimitz will soon be retired from active USN service.
The USN confirmed plans on 13 April 2022 to retire the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz by the middle of
this decade. The information came to light via a report from Jane’s. The USN officials stated
that “USS Nimitz is intended to be removed from the battle force in fiscal year 2025,
when the ship's Terminal Off-load Program begins, with inactivation scheduled to begin in 2027.”
Moreover, in December 2021, the USN unveiled its 30-year shipbuilding plan, with an ambitious
goal of building a 546-ship fleet by 2050. The plan asks for the construction of 404 new ships
and the retirement of 304 old ones, including Nimitz along with 13 nuclear-powered submarines.
The carrier could be decommissioned by the end of this year, and start the recycling
process in 2025. The process involves at least three phases: inactivation,
reactor-compartment disposal, and recycling. However, it won’t be a quick process, since it
will entail defueling her two nuclear reactors and moving the fuel to a shielded transfer container,
which will then be sent to the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho in a specially-designed
container. The reactors will be properly cleaned, sealed, and removed before being shipped to a
Department of Energy site in eastern Washington. Initially, the USN had considered extending the
carrier’s service life in order to maintain the Navy’s carrier fleet while the new Gerald R.
Ford-class carriers, the Nimitz-class’ successor, enter service. However, America’s sailing service
backtracked when the costs of extending the USS Nimitz’s service life became clear.
The carrier has been in service since the mid-1970s and will be one of the oldest carriers
in USN service when it is decommissioned. The USN officials also stated “Upon decommissioning,
Nimitz will have served its country for 50 years spanning from Operation ‘Earnest Will' in the
Arabian Gulf to its 11-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East regions in 2020–2021,
as the navy continues to accept Gerald R Ford-class carriers, we will remain a ready,
agile force to compete and win around the world at any time.” Moreover, the latest information
reveals that the USS Gerald R Ford CVN 78 supercarriers are slowly coming online,
and its first operational deployment is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2022.
Moving on to the next scene, let’s take a look at some notable facts of Nimitz
Until the construction of the USS Gerald R. Ford,
the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarriers were still the largest ships in the world. Each
of the carriers is immediately recognizable with its angled flight deck that is 780 feet in length,
and each carrier is equipped with three arrester cables and an arrester net for aircraft recovery.
The carriers are constructed with four deck-edge aircraft elevators,
including two forward, one aft of the island on the starboard side
and one on the port side. Furthermore, the hanger is 25 feet seven inches tall,
although it can accommodate at most only forty to fifty percent of the aircraft embarked
at any one time, and the rest of the aircraft are kept on the flight deck in aircraft parks.
In addition, to the protection provided by the aircraft and accompanying carrier strike group,
USS Nimitz and her sister ships are armed with two 21-cell Sea RAM and two MK29 Sea Sparrow
missiles, as well as two PHALANX CIWS (Close-In Weapons System) Gatling guns,
four MK 38 25mm autocannon turrets and ten .50 cal turret emplacements. The warships also have
a powerful nuclear strike capability, with each magazine holding over 100 nuclear missiles for
duties ranging from anti-submarine warfare to area assaults on an adversary's cities.
Interestingly, the ships have a complement of 3,200 sailors with an additional 2.480
personnel in the airwing, making each of these supercarriers the size of a small American town,
and also powered by two Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors and four steam turbines,
which generate 194 megawatts which enough to power a small American town. Morever,
the warships carry at least 70 days of supplies including refrigerated and dry storage goods,
with the ships’ Food Services Departments can provide 18,000 to 20,000 meals each day.
So, what are the difference between the Nimitz-class and the Ford-class ?
Compared to the older Nimitz-class ships, the Ford-class ships offer several operational
advantages. Outfitted with a pair of newer and higher-output reactors, the carriers can
generate more electricity than the Nimitz-class is capable of. Additionally, the Fords also require
more electricity for its electromagnetic aircraft launch system to provide a better sortie rate,
which need a greater amount of electricity than the Nimitz-class steam powered catapults.
Extra electricity generation will also allow the Ford-class to incorporate some of the USN’s
most cutting-edge weapon systems in the future, including laser weapon systems.
Moreover, nuclear reactors provide lasers a virtually endless magazine depth
and a very low cost per shot, despite the fact that laser weapon technology
is highly energy-intensive. And though initially designed as a defensive weapon,
lasers might theoritically be used as an attacking weapon on carriers.
Lastly, for your information, the Navy anticipates the USS Gerald R. Ford’s first operational
deployment in late 2022, with the USS John F. Kennedy, the second ship in the class, already
launched. Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding, which is building the carriers,
is also building two other Ford-class carriers, the USS Enterprise and the USS Doris Miller.
That’s all for today, thank you for watching, and i’ll see you in the next video!