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Original scheme? Turn the clock back to the birth of carrier aviation. Look at these named for people:I really don't like the naming of carriers after people.
I would like to see the navy going back to the original scheme -- famous sailing ships and famous battles.
Ok, you are correct, 8 carriers out of the first 49 fleet carriers were named after people.Original scheme? Turn the clock back to the birth of carrier aviation. Look at these named for people:
CV-1 Langley (for Samuel Pierpont Langley scientist and aviation pioneer - the very first carrier. Her name was changed when she was converted)
Then from the first group of 11 Essex class orders placed in 1940 after Founding Fathers
CV-13 Franklin (for Benjamin Franklin and not the Civil War battle)
CV-19 Hancock (for John Hancock)
CV-15 Randolph (for Peyton Randolph)
CVL-27 Langley (as per CV-1)
CVL-28 Cabot (after John Cabot the explorer)
CVB-42 originally launched Coral Sea but renamed Franklin D Roosevelt in May 1945 on orders President Truman.
CVL-49 Wright (named for the Wright Brothers)
Correct, and there were I believe 124 of them so IMO a whole different naming scheme is appropriate because of the sheer number.All before the policy changed in the 1960s with CV-67 JFK.
Most of the CVE were named for bodies of water rather than battles.
FWIW I agree with you as to carrier names.Ok, you are correct, 8 carriers out of the first 49 fleet carriers were named after people.
And CVB-42 was commissioned after the end of WW II.
I probably should have limited my statement to naming after presidents. I don't like that for any president. Congressmen included (Carl Vinson and John C. Stennis).
Nimitz was a worthy name being directly connected to USN aviation.
Correct, and there were I believe 124 of them so IMO a whole different naming scheme is appropriate because of the sheer number.
I should have limited my statement to fleet carriers (CV, CVL, CVB and CVN).
While the USN currently has 11 nuclear powered super carriers (10 Nimitz class and 1 Ford class) at any one time there is usually at least 1 undergoing Refuelling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), a process that takes them out of service for at least 4 years at a time.
The George Washington CVN-73 started her RCOH in Aug 2017, and has only returned to sea again last month to run post refit trials. She is expected to become fully operational again in 2024.
The John C Stennis CVN-74 began her RCOH in May 2021 and will not be back in service until at least 2025, and probably later, given delays in earlier ships.
Given the regular round of refits and work ups and the number of available air wings (see below) there are never 11 or even 10 available at one time. One ship, currently the CVN-76 Ronald Reagan, has its Home Port at Yokosuka, Japan. 4 are based on the US west coast and 4 on the east coast.
Getting CVN-78 Gerald R Ford operational has proved a lengthy task. First of a new class, Ford commissioned in July 2017, and was packed with new technology - new EMALS catapults, new arrester gear, new weapon elevators as well as new radars, which have provided many headaches. She has only begun her first fully operational deployment in 2023.
As for the new Ford class the completion dates are currently expected to be:-
CVN-79 John F Kennedy - as of March 2023 her delivery date has been pushed back from 2024 to 2025.
CVN-80 Enterprise - expected completion 2028Ford Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy to Deliver a Year Later - USNI News
The next Ford-class aircraft carrier will now deliver to the Navy in 2025, one year later than the service’s most recent projection, according to Fiscal Year 2024 budget documents released this week. The Navy delayed future carrier John F. Kennedy’s (CVN-79) delivery date from June 2024 so the...news.usni.org
CVN-81 Doris Miller - expected completion 2032.
Meanwhile CVN-68 Nimitz is scheduled to be taken out of service in FY25 I.e. between 1 Oct 2024 and 30 Sept 2025, just as the Kennedy enters service.
More importantly, there are currently only 9 Carrier Air Wings (5 in the Pacific and 4 in the Atlantic) plus what is known as a Tactical Support Wing (previously a Reserve Carrier Air Wing) which is responsible for operational and training support of the main CVW. Only 2 of its 5 squadrons fly carrier capable aircraft unlike in the old days when the Reserve Wings could be carrier deployed in an emergency. CVW-5 is based at MCAS Iwakuni in Japan for the Ronald Reagan.
So the number of US carriers will never rise above 9 in service at one time.
You can follow their movements here.
Edit:- Nimitz first commissioned in May 1975 and had her RCOH between 1998 and 2001. So she will be 50 by the time she leaves service, with John F Kennedy as her replacement.
Eisenhower first commissioned in Oct 1977 and had her RCOH between 1995 and 1998. Her replacement will be the Enterprise around 2028/29, when she will be 50+ years old.
Vinson first commissioned in March 1982 and had her RCOH between 2005 and 2009. She will be 50 in 2032 just as the Doris Miller is scheduled to join the fleet.
The next oldest is the Theodore Roosevelt first commissioned in Oct 1986 and given her RCOH between 2009 and 2013.
An RCOH just isn't like the annual service on your car. It is more akin to an engine out, body repair, repaint and rebuild from the ground up while installing the latest tech. They are basically going through each and every compartment (there are hundreds) and piece of equipment on the ship, repairing and replacing as necessary. Then there are the equipment upgrades for new better tech after about 25 years of service. Some articles here about the work carried out.I don't understand why the refits etc. seem so hard and so inefficient given how much $$$ they spend, it seems like the Defense Industry really needs some reform.
yeah looks like we may find out somewhere near Taiwan fairly soon.
But i don't mean smaller carriers. I mean something much more futuristic. Yes multiple vessels, some working as launchers, some as detectors, some as control / communicators, some as defenders. More of a swarm approach than something based on conventional aircraft.
The military calls this "distributed warfighting" or "distributed lethality" or "Distributed Maritime Operations"
Distribute DMO to Tactical Commanders
Nature offers a way to visualize tactical distributed maritime operations.www.usni.org
View attachment 724238
The newest USN fighter already has some VTOL capability, we may see more radical moves in that direction in the future. In theory you could have quite small vessels launching a few aircraft at a time. Just a lot of these working together.
USS Connecticut is said to be out of service for years due to lack of shipyard capacity. Would a damaged carrier be out of service for years waiting for space?It would depend on the level of damage and desired/required repairs, and the threat level. There are around 23 shipyards in the forward areas that could 'easily' handle temporary repairs on a US CVN, and about 12 shipyards that could handle more serious damage.
I count at least 55 USN attack subs in service. 19 are Virginias and 3 are Seawolfs. Three more Virginias that are launched.USS Connecticut is said to be out of service for years due to lack of shipyard capacity. Would a damaged carrier be out of service for years waiting for space?
US Submarine Damaged in South China Sea Won’t Return Until 2026 as Shipyards Are Clogged - BNN Bloomberg
The USS Connecticut, a premier submarine that struck an underwater mountain in the South China Sea 19 months ago, won’t be back in service until early 2026 at the soonest, according to the US Navy, adding to a backlog of maintenance overhauls as the US faces a growing Chinese fleet.www.bnnbloomberg.ca
Good point, and France having a single carrier, and a maintenance hog CVN/L at that does not follow such thinking. The British have two CVs, though only about two dozen aircraft to fly off them combined. Not a lot of redundancy in the Euro navies.One of the reasons we have 11x CVNs is due to the possibility/probability of 1 or more being put out of service in a war.