USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER CVN69
Class……………………………Nimitz class nuclear powered AircraftCarrier
Builder………………………..Newport News Ship Builder
Yard number……………….599
Laid down..………………….15 August 1970
Launched….…………………11 October 1975
Completed.………………….18 October 1977
Propulsion.…………………..4 shafts : 4 sets Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 2 Westinghouse A4W/A1G reactors
Speed..……………… …………31.5 knots
Range………………………….. Practically unlimited
[u]Fate[/u]…………………………….2021: Still in service
DESIGN GENESIS
With these ships the US Navy returned to building nuclear carriers of Enterprise size. They incorporate a new two-reactor power plant, developed from a project for a single reactor destroyer/frigate plant, and so have even more internal space than the huge Enterprise, in addition they incorporate the more economical (in terms of space) torpedo protection system of the Kennedy. Their general arrangement and electronic suit also duplicate those of Kennedy, and they were armed with 3 Sea Sparrow launchers for self-defence.
The first three ships (CVN68-70) are a separate sub-class. They can be distinguished further by the presence of only a single bridle-catching boom in CVN69 and 70. Current carrier aircraft employ a catapult attachment built into their landing gear, and so do not use the wire bridles of the past.
The Navy claims that these ships can take three times the damage which Essex class carriers survived in 1944-45. They are described as carrying 90% more aviation fuel and 50% more aviation ordnance than a Forrestal. All were completed with ASCAC (ASW Classification and Analysis Center), permitting data to be shared between the carrier, ASW aircraft, and escorting ships.
USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER CVN69
Class……………………………Nimitz class nuclear powered AircraftCarrier
Builder………………………..Newport News Ship Builder
Yard number……………….599
Laid down..………………….15 August 1970
Launched….…………………11 October 1975
Completed.………………….18 October 1977
Propulsion.…………………..4 shafts : 4 sets Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 2 Westinghouse A4W/A1G reactors
Speed..……………… …………31.5 knots
Range………………………….. Practically unlimited
[u]Fate[/u]…………………………….2021: Still in service
DESIGN GENESIS
With these ships the US Navy returned to building nuclear carriers of Enterprise size. They incorporate a new two-reactor power plant, developed from a project for a single reactor destroyer/frigate plant, and so have even more internal space than the huge Enterprise, in addition they incorporate the more economical (in terms of space) torpedo protection system of the Kennedy. Their general arrangement and electronic suit also duplicate those of Kennedy, and they were armed with 3 Sea Sparrow launchers for self-defence.
The first three ships (CVN68-70) are a separate sub-class. They can be distinguished further by the presence of only a single bridle-catching boom in CVN69 and 70. Current carrier aircraft employ a catapult attachment built into their landing gear, and so do not use the wire bridles of the past.
The Navy claims that these ships can take three times the damage which Essex class carriers survived in 1944-45. They are described as carrying 90% more aviation fuel and 50% more aviation ordnance than a Forrestal. All were completed with ASCAC (ASW Classification and Analysis Center), permitting data to be shared between the carrier, ASW aircraft, and escorting ships.