USS George Washington

In October James and I toured the USS George Washington. The American supercarrier was anchored in Manila Bay for a 5 day goodwill visit. Not too many Embassy employees received tickets to tour the aircraft carrier, and we were very grateful for the awesome opportunity!

USS George Washington (CVN-73) is an American nuclear-powered supercarrier, the sixth ship in the Nimitz class, and the fourth United States Navy ship to be named after George Washington. It was built by Newport News Shipbuilding and was commissioned on July 4, 1992.

The super carrier can accommodate approximately 80 aircraft and 6,250 crewmen.

The flight deck is 4 1/2 acres in size, using four elevators that are 3,880 square feet each to move the planes between the flight deck and hangar bay.

The George Washington is the 14th busiest airport in the world.

With its two nuclear reactors, the George Washington only has to be refueled every 20-25 years.

At full operational capacity, all the aircraft can be launched in under 30 minutes.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the George Washington was operating off the coast of Virginia when the World Trade center was attacked. The carrier was diverted north and arrived in New York City within a few hours. General Washington had long been a proponent of a strong Navy. On 15 November 1781 he wrote, "Without a decisive Naval force, we can do nothing decisive. And with it, everything honourable and decisive." These words are engraved on a plaque on the ship's quarterdeck. (Info from Wikipedia)

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