NAVY NAMES GERALD R. FORD CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AFTER PRESIDENTS BUSH & CLINTON
The nation's next two aircraft carriers will bear the names of former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, according to an announcement by President Joe Biden. Bush, who is one of the many presidents who served in the military, and Clinton personally heard the announcement from Biden himself.
According to Biden's announcement, two Gerald R. Ford Class Aircraft carriers (ships that enable aircraft to land and take off at sea) will be built in the coming years and will eventually join the Navy. Biden claimed that Bush and Clinton were deeply humbled by the gesture, and they were honored to be amongst the group of presidents who got a ship named after them.
Honoring the Presidential Legacies of Bush and Clinton
In his White House remarks, Biden emphasized that the designation of the warships reflects the namesakes’ personal experience of “the weight of the responsibilities” while serving as the Nation’s Commander-in-Chief.
Biden shared that the construction will start in the coming years on the future USS George W. Bush (CVN 83) and the future USS William J. Clinton (CVN 82). He added that the two carriers will become part of the most professional, adaptable, and capable Navy ever to set sail.
U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro acknowledged the milestone, pointing out that the future ships will be the first to have the names of America's 42nd and 43rd presidents on their hulls.
According to Del Toro, Clinton and Bush guided the United States through some of the most trying times in U.S. history. He believes that these aircraft carriers, which can be used to defend this Nation, will carry on their legacies while they were the sitting president of the country.
The principal contractor for the development is HII Newport News Shipbuilding, and the production of CVN 82 and CVN 83 is anticipated to continue until the 2030s. The Virginia-based business plans to deliver the second Ford-class carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), to the U.S. Navy in July 2025.
The U.S. Navy Ford Aircraft Carrier
The two names follow the tradition for namesakes of the Navy's newest and largest aircraft carriers, the USS Ford-class ships. Four of the six Ford-class ships that are currently being built or announced have been named after prior presidents.
Eleven nuclear carriers make up the Navy's current aircraft carrier fleet, which includes the Gerald R. Ford, which was put into service on July 22, 2017, and ten Nimitz-class aircraft that went into service between 1975 and 2009.
The USS George Washington, USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Harry S. Truman, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Ronald Reagan, and USS George H.W. Bush are the seven Nimitz-class ships that bear the names of former presidents.
With air wings that can accommodate up to 90 aircraft, Ford-class carriers resemble Nimitz carriers, albeit slightly bigger. Each American ship eclipses almost every type of carrier built elsewhere, making the U.S. carrier fleet by far the largest in the world. But in 2022, the Chinese Navy launched the Fujian, a vessel around the size of a Ford-class carrier.
Gerald R. Ford Class Aircraft Carriers Continue the Legacy
The Nimitz-class fleet and the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which have been in service since the late 1950s, will be replaced by the Gerald R. Ford system.
Early in the new millennium, the Ford carrier program was conceptualized. The endeavor ultimately resulted in the purchase of ten ships during the ensuing decades, each of which was equipped with more sophisticated electrical power generation, overall design, and stability-supporting technologies than its predecessors.
A Ford carrier can accommodate over 4,500 soldiers, has 25 decks, is around 1,100 feet (335 meters) long overall, and can accommodate over 75 aircraft. It can reach speeds of up to 30 knots (35 miles/56 kilometers per hour) using a twin Bechtel pressurized water reactor powered by enriched uranium and four propeller shafts.
The ship is equipped with surface-to-air missiles, 12.7-millimeter machine guns, 25-millimeter shipboard gun systems, and automated close-in weapon systems.
Other Ships Named After the Presidents
Two other Ford carriers with non-presidential names are now being built. The first one is the USS Enterprise, a name with strong ties in the U.S. Navy's history. The second is the USS Doris Miller. Miller is known in the Navy for his heroic deeds. He is a Black sailor who received the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
With the addition of the two Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carriers, every president from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama (aside from Richard Nixon) now has a Navy ship named after them. Aircraft carriers make up all but two. The USS Jimmy Carter is a Seawolf-class submarine that was launched in 2005 as a tribute to Carter's Navy submariner career. The USS Lyndon B. Johnson is a destroyer of the Zumwalt class.
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