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USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77)
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| Career |
 |
| Ordered: |
26 January 2001 |
| Laid down: |
6 September 2003 |
| Christened: |
7 October 2006 |
| Launched: |
9 October 2006 |
| Commissioned: |
Expected January 2009 |
| Motto: |
Freedom at Work |
| Status: |
Sea trials |
| General characteristics |
| Class and type: |
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: |
Approximately 97,000 short tons (88,000 MT) full load |
| Length: |
Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m)
Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m) |
| Beam: |
Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m)
Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m) |
| Draft: |
Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m)
Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors
4 × steam turbines
4 × shafts
260,000 shp (194 MW) |
| Speed: |
30+ knots (56+ km/h) |
| Range: |
Essentially unlimited |
| Complement: |
Ship's company: 3,200
Air wing: 2,480 |
Sensors and
processing systems: |
SPS-48E 3-D air search radar
SPS-49A(V)1 2-D air search radar
Mk 23 target acquisition radar
2 × SPN-46 air traffic control radars
SPN-43B air traffic control radar
SPN-44 landing aid radars
3 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems
3 × Mk 95 radars |
Electronic warfare
and decoys: |
SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite
SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures |
| Armament: |
2 × Mk 29 ESSM launcher
2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile |
| Armor: |
Unknown |
| Aircraft carried: |
90 fixed wing and helicopters |
USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and last Nimitz class supercarrier of the United States Navy. She is named for former President George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II. George H. W. Bush is to be the final Nimitz class aircraft carrier constructed; the next carrier built will be Gerald R. Ford, the first of a new class.
She is the second United States aircraft carrier to be named after a naval aviator (Forrestal was the first). Other naval vessels named for aviators include frigates McClusky and Thach, and destroyer Massey, all named for aviators who commanded formations in the Battle of Midway. George H.W. Bush is also the second aircraft carrier, following Reagan, to be named after a living former President. While still a Nimitz class ship, George H. W. Bush differs significantly from her predecessors, even more so than the differences between CVN 68–70 and CVN 71–76.
Construction began in 2001 by the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard, at a cost of $4.5 billion.citation needed The aircraft carrier was christened on 7 October 2006, and delivery is set for 2008. She is scheduled to be commissioned in 2009.
Features of CVN-77
Several features differentiate CVN-77 from other ships in the Nimitz class. These include:
- Bulbous bow design: Improves hull efficiency and reduces drag.
- Passive jet blast deflector: Redesigns and new materials mean reduced maintenance costs.
- Island designs: Improve flight deck access and reduce signature and electronic self-interference.
- Aircraft pit stop: Semi-automated refueling and servicing in a new configuration and deck location provides faster, more efficient air wing pit stops and requires fewer people.
- Hangar bay: New designs reduce clutter.
- Manpower reductions: Technology, space rearrangement, operational procedure changes, advanced sensor technologies and condition-based maintenance systems all allow for a smaller, specially-trained crew.
- Reconfigurable spaces: Life-of-the-ship modular construction designs provide flexibility and reduce cost.
- Expanded bandwidth: More onboard and offboard capability improves the ship's communications.
- Zonal electrical distribution systems: Isolate the potential for problems and minimizes the effect on the rest of the ship.
- Automation insertion: Material movement devices, semi-autonomous, gravity compensated weapons handling devices, damage control automation systems and components will reduce the ship's crew and costs.
- Vacuum Collection / Marine Sanitation Device (VC/MSD): Most ships in the U.S. Navy utilize a Collection Holding and Transfer (CHT) system to handle sewage waste. Several ships add a Vacuum collection capacity or VCHT. Septic systems, when used aboard ships are referred to as Marine Sanitation Devices, often used in U.S. Coast Guard ships. Bush is the first and only Carrier in the U.S. Navy to combine the two technologies. The "VC\MSD" system onboard CVN 77 is one-of-a-kind. The next class of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers will likely use a Plasma arc waste disposal system.
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