It gave me great pleasure today, to watch President George W. Bush and his father former President George H.W. Bush, join together to Commission the aircraft carrier, U.S.S. George H.W. Bush. The U.S.S. George Bush, is the tenth and final aircraft carrier of the Nimtz Class carriers. Other carriers in this class that have been named after Presidents include the Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Washington, Truman, and Reagan. The first carrier of this class was named the U.S.S. Nimtz, in honor of Admiral Chester Nimtz, Commander, Pacific Fleet during World War II.

I will assume that the liberal news media will take advantage of this commissioning and indicate that the ship was named by President Bush to honor his father. However, the naming of this carrier is justified by history. Former President George Bush has dedicated his life to his country not only in a variety of government positions including Vice President and President. More importantly, he was the youngest pilot in the Navy when he joined the service after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He received his commission as an Ensign and his naval aviator wings at the age of 19. He flew torpedo bombers off the aircraft carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto. He was shot down on one bomber mission and rescued at sea by submarine. He later was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for his naval service in the Pacific theater.

The U.S.S. Bush will join the Navy Fleet in 2008 as the tenth carrier of the Nimtz Class, the largest warship in the world. She is 1,092 feet in length with a beam of 134 feet. Her flight deck width is 252 feet, her total displacement is 97,000 tons fully loaded. Although, her speed is classified, she is listed at +30 knots and is powered by two nuclear powered reactors and four shafts. Upon active status with the fleet, she will not need to re-fuel for +20 years. With the air wing onboard, she will have a complement of over 5,000 personnel. A ship of this size is hard to visualize just by numbers.
In comparison, I looked at the first aircraft carrier that I served on, the U.S.S. Shangri-La (CVA-38). She carried me around the world on several cruises, however, in size comparison to the U.S.S. Bush, the Shangri-La would sit on her flight deck. The Shangri-La was a toy in comparison to this new class of carriers. The length of the Shangri-La was 888 feet, a beam of 93 feet, and a flight deck width of 147 feet. Her displacement was 27,100 tons or 70,000 tons lighter than the Bush.

This is a picture of the U.S.S. Stennis, one of the ten Nimtz Class Aircraft Carriers. I would gladly accept a recall back onto active duty if I could be assigned to the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush and assured that the U.S.S. Bush and the U.S.S. Reagan and their escorts would steam side by side into the Gulf of Oman and then into the Persian Gulf. I am sure that just this sight alone, would give the leadership of Iran a moment of pause and reflect upon their desire to continue their nuclear power program and saber rattling.




To all men and women who man our ships at sea, "Fair Winds, Following Seas, and God Speed".