On board the gargantuan behemoths of the sea: The USS George Washington

Being on a ship like that, it was easy to take for granted how big those things are. I stopped thinking about it, but I remember coming back on a liberty launch once and having to go all the way around it. I remember thinking “Holy crap. This thing is frikking big.”

I had a dream one night the ship got sunk. I was treading water at night, in the water with a lot of other bobbing heads, and the ship was going down. I was directly astern of her.

As I watched, the ship started to go down by the stern, and the bow begin to rise into the night sky. Higher and higher it went, blotting out the stars, and I could faintly see the hull number painted on the bow portion of the flight deck.

When the ship was nearly vertical, the bow looked like it was five hundred feet in the air, then slowly and ponderously, gaining speed, began to fall backwards right on top of me.

I woke up, it scared the crap out of me. In retrospect, I know a ship wouldn’t go down like that, tipping over on top of me in the water. Having thought and read about it a good deal since then, I feel pretty confident even if she did go down by the stern, a large vessel like that would never get vertical in that fashion, much less tip the other way.

Anyway, a bit off topic, but I can say, in my heart (because of that nightmare) I almost DO grasp the concept of just how big they really are. Even though it was only a dream, I sure felt the immensity of the vessel in a visceral way you can’t get by walking around on her or seeing her tied p somewhere.

Great ship, but, I do dislike the trend of naming carriers after Presidents. Has a political tinge to it and seems lazy.

For the days of Hornet, Ranger, Midway, Cowpens, Independence, Intrepid, Saratoga, Constellation, etc.

A new carrier named Glory or Benjamin Franklin or Concord or some such would be fantastic to hear.

Nice pic, but it dosn’t look anything like a US CVA or CVN that I’ve seen. ....Must be the Aussie carrier.

I did serve on a CVA in the catapults (V-2) division when on active duty in the US Navy. The pic’s flight deck doesn’t look anything like a US carrier; nor do the markings on the aircraft. ...The carrier looks much too short and does not have two bow catapults with ‘horns’ to catch the bridles.

To your #25 and #26.....

I appreciate your reply. I went to Google images and found nothing that looked like that. If your pic in #26 was accurate, then why does it look like the aircraft all facing aft and no indication of catapults?

Not pickin’ an argument with you... and I’ve been up waaaay too long. Just doesn’t look like the flight deck I lived on when in the Navy, as the catapults aren’t right and there’s no LSO station on the port side.

My ship was small compared to the huge CVNs of today, but we had three operating catapults and normally had about 80-100 aircraft on board. The aircraft were NOT parked on the catapults or JBDs, but were positioned to allow launches and traps.

Have a good Sunday!

I rather doubt that the carrier in question is Australian, as (from Wiki, I know...)the 1983 election of the Australian Labor Party led to the cancellation of plans to replace Melbourne.[50][51][53] With no aircraft carrier, carrier-borne fixed-wing aviation in the RAN ended on 30 June 1983 with the decommissioning of several squadrons, and many RAN pilots joined the Army and RAAF, or transferred to the aviation branches of other nations' navies.

If you look at the larger shot, there is an E-2c lined up on the port cat. The reason for the F-18's facing aft on the other cat is beyond me, unless they are just showing off how huge the deck is.

In the first shot, you can see two swabbies standing on the port cat near the hook-up zone. There appear to be a couple of cats that sort of cross paths on the bow end of the capture deck as well. What they are doing there is beyond me.

I rather doubt that the carrier in question is Australian, as (from Wiki, I know...)

Wiki is correct in this instance. I was in the RAN at the time, and the decision hit us very hard - especially those of us who had hoped to spend our careers serving on carriers.

Our new Canberra class Landing ships (Landing Helicopter Docks) may eventually give us some limited carrier capacity again - the design allows for something like the STOVL F35 when it becomes available, although initial plans don't call for fixed wing aircraft.

The future HMAS Canberra nearing completion, at Williamstown, Victoria, Australia.

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