NIMITZ -CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS BRAD ELWARD ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL WRIGHT © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com NEW VANGUARD • 174 NIMITZ -CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS BRAD ELWARD ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL WRIGHT © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2010byOspreyPublishing, GLOSSARYOFABBREVIATIONS MidlandHouse,WestWay,Botley,Oxford,OX20PH,UK AAG–AdvancedArrestingGear 44-0223rdSt,Suite219,LongIslandCity,NY11101,USA ACDS–AdvancedCombatDefenseSystem AIEWS–AdvancedIntegratedElectronicWarfareSystem E-mail:[email protected] ARCS–AdvancedRecoveryControlSystem AIMD–AircraftIntermediateMaintenanceDivision ©2010OspreyPublishingLtd AAW–Anti-AirWarfare ASuW–Anti-SurfaceWarfare Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivate ACLS–AutomatedCarrierLandingSystem study,research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright, BPDMS–BasicPoint-DefenseMissileSystems DesignsandPatentsAct,1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybe reproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform BuAer–NavyBureauofAeronautics orbyanymeans,electronic,electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical, CATCC–CarrierAirTrafficControlCenter photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermission CDC–CombatDirectionCenter ofthecopyrightowner.EnquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothePublishers. 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NATOPS–NavalAirTrainingandOperatingProceduresStandardization NGSB-NN–NorthropGrummanShipbuildingNewportNews ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PIA–PlannedIncrementalAvailability ThanksgototheUSNavy;MikeDillard,NorthropGrummanShipbuilding PSA–PostShakedownAvailability NewportNews;AlanJ.Baribeau,CIVNavalSeaSystemsCommand,Public RBOC–RapidBloomingOff-boardCountermeasures AffairsOfficer;JohnGourley,whoprovidedtheextensivetechnical informationconcerningthecarrierelectronicandradarsystems;Warren RAM–RollingAirframeMissile Hower,researcher;MikeMaus,DeputyForcePublicAffairsOfficer, RCOH–RefuelingandComplexOverhaul CommanderNavalAirForceUSAtlanticFleet(COMNAVAIRLANT);LCDR SATCOM–SatelliteCommunications RichardBurgess,USNavy(Ret.);TheTailhookAssociation;TedCarlson, SCB–NavyShipControlBoard Fotodynamics;JoseRamos;FabioPena,NavSource,www.navsource.org; andMotionModels,www.motionmodels.com(excellentprofessional SOUTHCOM–USSouthernCommand modelbuilders).Alltechnicalinformationisfromopen-sources. SRA–SelectiveRestrictiveAvailability SSDS–ShipSelf-DefenseSystem EDITORIALNOTE SSES–ShipsSignalsExploitationSpace Thisbookusessomeabbreviationsofmeasurementwithwhichreaders TACAN–TACticalAirNavigation mightnotbefamiliar,specifically: TARPS–TacticalAirborneReconnaissancePodSystem ft-lb–foot-pounds TAS–TargetAcquisitionSystem MJ–megajoules TFCC–TacticalFlagCommandCenter MPa–megapascals TJS–TacticalJammingSystem MW–megawatts MWe–megawattselectrical USW–UnderseaWarfare shp–shafthorsepower VERTREP–VerticalReplenishment © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 ORIGINSOFTHESUPERCARRIER 5 DESIGNANDDEVELOPMENTOFTHENIMITZCLASS 12 • TheNimitzCarrierStructure • TheFlightDeck • AircraftLaunchandRecoveryOperations • LSOsandtheLens • TheHangarBay • TheIslandandSignificantInnerStructures • DefensiveSystems • ElectronicSystemsandRadars • IntegratedAirDefense • TheCarrierAirWing(CVW) • PropulsionandPowerplant OPERATIONALHISTORY 34 • TheCarriers • Nimitz-ClassFollow-on: TheUSSGeraldR.Ford(CVN78) Class BIBLIOGRAPHY 47 INDEX 48 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com NIMITZ CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS INTRODUCTION USnavalaviationbeganonNovember14,1910,whenCurtissAircrafttest pilotEugeneElymadethefirstship-launchedflightinhistory,fromthedeck ofthelightcruiserUSSBirmingham(CL2),whichwasatanchorinHampton Roads,Virginia.ElyfollowedupthisachievementonJanuary18,1911,when hemadethefirstlandingaboardthearmoredcruiserUSSPennsylvania(ARC 4) in San Francisco Bay. Shortly thereafter, the US Navy began funding trainingfortheinitialcadreofnavalaviators. Aircraft carriers have come a long way since the commissioning of the first US Navy carrier, the USS Langley (CV 1), on March 3, 1922. During Arecentimageofthe the early 1920s, the Navy, impressed with the fleet’s previous work with USSRonaldReagan(CVN76) shipboardaircraft,aswellaswiththeRoyalNavy’searlycarrierexperiments providesagoodprofileofits withHMSHermesandFurious,convertedthecollierUSSJupiter(AC3)into islandstructure;theaftmast an experimental carrier on which to test the emerging theories of sea-based hasbeenrelocatedtothe island.(USNavy,SpikeCall) airpower. The resultant Langley, although too slow and small to be an 4 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com effective carrier, nevertheless provided a means for early naval aviators to trainincarrieroperations. In 1922, the Navy began exploring further developments in carrier aviation,andauthorizedtheconversionoftwobattlecruisers,whichbecame USS Lexington (CV 2) and USS Saratoga (CV 3). These two ships were the largestcarriersofthetime,displacingmorethan36,000tons(32,659tonnes), andwerethealsofastest,capableofspeedsofmorethan35knots(65km/h). They each operated more than 90 aircraft, over twice the capability of competing British and Japanese designs. The Lexington and Saratoga, together with the construction of the first planned-from-keel-up aircraft carrier, USS Ranger (CV 4), marked the emergence of the United States as oneoftheworld’spremiercarrierpowers. From what began as a means to enhance scouting, reconnaissance, and gunneryspotting,theaircraftcarrieranditsembarkedairwingshavegrown into the jewels of the US fleet, at the head of US Navy force projection and American military prestige. Today, the ten nuclear-powered carriers of the Nimitz class and the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise (CVN 65; formerly CVAN65)formthecoreofUScarrierpower,theCarrierStrikeGroup(CSG). Launched in 1975, USS Nimitz (CVN 68) represents the first of what is undeniablythemostpotentandcapablewarshipclasseverbuilt.Fullyloaded, aNimitz-classcarrierdisplacesmorethan97,000tons(87,997tonnes)and, withaflightdeckgreaterthan4½acres(1.8hectares)inextent,canoperate an air wing of more than 85 of the most sophisticated high-performance aircraft in the world. Nimitz-class carriers are the ultimate symbolic representationsofAmericanmilitarymuscle,andwillremainsoforthenext 50years. WhatfollowsisanoverviewoftheNimitz-classvessels.Obvioussecurity concernsmakeobtainingin-depthtechnicaldetailsaboutthecarriersnearly impossible. The discussions here, therefore, focus on how the class came about, the carriers’ primary electronic and defensive systems, and some of themoresignificantdifferencesbetweenthevariouscarrierswithintheclass. This book will also look at changes over time – most Nimitz carriers have been heavily modified since their initial launch, with original radars and communicationsantennasreplacedandenhancedwithmorecapablesystems, and weapons platforms upgraded to meet new and emerging threats. Some discussionwillalsocovertheCarrierAirWings,whichprovidetheoffensive punchtothecarrierfleet,andthenextgenerationofcarriers,theGeraldR. Fordclass. ORIGINS OF THE SUPERCARRIER The vast naval campaigns of the Pacific theater of World War II were the coming of age for the aircraft carrier. Beginning with the December 1941 JapanesecarrierstrikeonPearlHarbor,andcontinuingthroughthefinalUSair assaultsin1945againstOkinawaandtheJapanesehomeislands,theoffensive valueoftheaircraftcarrierbecameclear,asdiditssupplantingofthebattleship as the primary naval battle piece. By war’s end, the US Navy operated more than100aircraftcarriers,17ofwhichwereofthe27,100-ton(24,584-tonne) Essex class, the backbone of the fast carrier task forces. Although fast and capableoffieldingalargeairgroup,thesecarrierswerealreadyovercrowded and becoming obsolete with the advent of jet aircraft, which began entering serviceinthelate1940s. 5 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com TheproposedsupercarrierUSS UnitedStates(CVA58)featured aflushdeckandfoursteam- poweredcatapults,twoof whichwerelocatedonthe edgeoftheflightdeck.United Stateswascancelledjustfive daysafteritskeelwaslaid down.(NationalArchives) Just prior to the war, the Navy had begun design work on the larger Midway(CVB41)-classcarrier.Threeofthenewbattlecarrierswereordered onDecember29,1942,twodaysbeforethecommissioningofthefirstEssex- classcarrier,USSEssex(CV9).Displacingsome45,000tons(40,823tonnes), theMidway-classcarrierseachoperatedanairgroupofmorethan120fighter and bomber aircraft, and incorporated many innovations derived from the lessonslearnedduringearlyfightinginthewar.Asthewarendedanddefense funding dried up, the Midway class was limited to just three examples, Midway,FranklinD.Roosevelt(CVB42),andCoralSea(CVB43).Thetwo remaining Midway carriers, CVB 56 and 57, were canceled. Midway-class carriers would be the last US carriers built around the straight-deck design and the last to have prominent features of a traditional capital ship. Future carrierswouldbedesignedpurelyaroundaircraftoperations. In early 1946, work began on a new carrier design (initially termed the CVB X), one specifically able to operate the heavy jet bombers the Navy BureauofAeronautics(BuAer)hadanticipatedasenteringserviceinthelate 1940s/early1950s.Aswasalreadyapparentfromtheinitialexperimentaljet fighteroperations,theemergenceofjet-poweredaircraftpresentedahostof operational problems for the carriers when compared to propeller-driven aircraft.Becauseoftheirslowenginespooltime,jetaircraftneededalonger take-off distance or at least assistance from catapults; likewise, the faster approachspeedmeantthatthejetsneededincreasedroomtolandandheavier arrestinggear.Jetaircraftalsoburnedlargeamountsoffuel,asituationthat necessitatedmorestorageonthecarrierforjetfuel.TheEssex-classcarriers, astheythenexisted,weresimplytoosmallforsuchaircraft.Moreover,there wasconcernovertheaddedweightofthenewaircraftandthewearandtear onthewoodenflightdecks.Theissueofjetbomberspresentedanevenmore significantproblem.Atthetime,theNavywaspursuingseveraljetdesignsin the 100,000lb (45,454kg) range, which were too heavy for even the larger Midway-class carriers. It was envisioned that these bombers would carry atomic weapons, providing the Navy with a strategic asset to complement its tactical role. The initial solution to creating a carrier suited to the new demands was Navy Ship Control Board (SCB) design 6A, later named USS UnitedStates(CVA58). UnitedStatesrepresentedamonumentalleapforwardincapability,intended tobethefirstaircraftcarrierspecificallydesignedtooperatejetaircraft.With 6 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com an overall length of 1,090ft (332m) and a molded beam of 130ft (40m), it would displace more than 65,000 tons (58,967 tonnes), making it easily the largestwarshipofitstime.Itwastofeaturefourcatapults–twoonthebowand one on each side of the flight deck – capable of launching the new heavy jet bombers.Thecarrierwasofaflush-deckdesignwithfouraircraftelevators,in anefforttoprovideasmuchoperationalspaceforairoperationsaspossible. Thetotalairwingwasplannedat12–18heavybombers,eachwithaplanned 2,000-mile (3,218km) range, and 54 jet fighters. Reflecting its immense size andcapabilities,theNavytermedtheUnitedStatesa“supercarrier.” USSUnitedStates(CVA58) Displacement 65,000-ton(58,967-tonne)class;83,350tons(75,614tonnes),fullyloaded Length 1,090ft(330m)overall;980ft(300m)waterline Beam 130ft(40m) Flightdeck 1,088ft(332m)by190ft(58m) Propulsion 8x1,200psi (8.3MPa)Foster-Wheelerboilers;4xWestinghousegearedsteam turbines;4x20ft6in(6.2m)propellers;poweroutputof280,000shp(209MW);top speedof33knots(61km/h) Armament 8x5in/54-calibergunsinsinglemounts; 16x76mm/70-calibergunsineighttwin mounts;20xOerlikon20mmcannons Crew 3,019officersandcrew;2,480airwingofficersandcrew AstheNavymovedforwardwithitsdesign,arivalrythatalreadyexisted between the Navy and the US Air Force (USAF), concerning the proper missionandorganizationalstructureofthevariousservices,escalatedeven further. The Air Force, which at the time placed all of its faith in strategic bombing,hadproposedalargefleetofheavybombers(70airgroups)based ontheConvairB-36Peacemaker,whichhadenteredserviceinAugust1946. Fearful that the Navy’s supercarriers and carrier-based bombers would encroachonitsstrategicbombingmission,theAirForcebitterlyfoughtthe constructionofUnitedStatesanditsjetbombers.TheNavy,whiledesiring ThekeelofUSSUnitedStates an organic atomic capability, nevertheless saw the nuclear mission as a wasbegunonApril18,1949, supplement to rather than a replacement for the Air Force’s strategic andcancelledfivedayslater. bombing role. Clearly the Navy sought a platform that could continue Theshapeofthekeel,seen hereindrydock,showsthe toenhancethetacticalstrikecapabilitiesdevelopedduringWorldWarII,as immensesizeofthecarrier. wellasoneforseacontrolandsupportofamphibiousoperations. (NationalArchives) Withthelimitedfundingavailableafterthewar and a massive demobilization underway, the US military could not afford to pursue a fleet based aroundthe$189millionsupercarriers,andatthe same time purchase the proposed 100 B-36 strategic bombers sought by the Air Force. Based on its experiences in the Pacific theater during World War II, the Navy argued that the bombers would be of limited value against Soviet air defenses and that the flexible supercarrier battlegroupsofferedthemostcost-efficientmeans ofstrikingSoviettargets. The Navy obtained approval for its new supercarrier, the first of five planned, on July 29, 1948, when President Truman signed the Naval 7 © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com Appropriations Act of 1949. Construction of the keel began on April 18, 1949, at Newport News Shipyard in Virginia. Yet President Truman’s SecretaryofDefense,LouisJohnson,whosidedwiththeAirForce’sstrategic viewpoints,abruptlycancelledUnitedStatesjustfivedayslater,onApril23, without consulting the Secretary of the Navy or the Chief of Naval Operations.ThecarrierfleetwaslikewisereducedfromeighttofourEssex- classcarriers,threeMidway-classcarriers,andthenumberofairgroupsfrom 14tosix.Asaconsolation,theNavywasauthorizedtopursueimprovements totheMidwayclass,modernizethewartimeEssexcarriers,deploytheAJ-1 Savage,anddevelopthe70,000lb(31,818kg)jet-poweredheavybomberthat becametheA-3Skywarrior. Although United States was never built, it nevertheless served as the starting point for construction of what would become one of the most A THEORIGINALUSSNIMITZ(CVN68)CONFIGURATION Whenlaunchedin1975,theUSSNimitzhadadifferentappearancecomparedwiththevessel today.Thetwomostnotablemoderndifferencesaretheabsenceofthebridlecatchers,located offthebow,andthemodificationstothecarrier’sislandstructureandantennas.Thebridle catcherswerepartofthebridlearrestersystemusedwitholderaircraft,suchastheA-5Vigilante, whichstilloperatedfromtheNimitzduringthe1970s.USSDwightD.Eisenhower(CVN69)and USSCarlVinson(CVN70)werebuiltwithasinglebridlecatcheronCatapultNo.1.Thesehaveall sincebeenremoved. Whencommissioned,theshiphadabasicradarsuite,consistingoftheSPS-10surfaceradar,the standardsuchradaroftheday,andtheSPS-432-DairsearchandSPS-48A3-Dairsearchradars. TodaytheNimitz’sislandhasbeenreconstructedoutofcompositesandfeaturestheSPS-48E3-D airsearchandSPS-49A2-Dairsearchradars,aswellastheSPS-65surfacesearchradar.Theisland alsobristleswithmanysmallernavigationradarsandSatelliteCommunications(SATCOM) radomes,somemountedtotheforwardislandjustbelowtheFlagBridge. © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com significantpostwaraircraftcarrierdesigns,theForrestalclass.Evenafterthe cancellationofUnitedStates,Navyplannerscontinuedworkingonthedesign andexploredpotentialimprovements,includingthoseofthesteam-powered catapult and angled flight deck, as were being studied by the Royal Navy. Despite the obvious deficiencies in the Essex- and Midway-class carriers, interest in expanding the carrier force did not surface until the outbreak of theKoreanWarinJune1950.Atthetime,American,British,andAustralian carriers were the only air forces capable of providing tactical resistance to theNorthKoreanonslaught. Given the lessons of the Korean War, and the shortfalls of the current carrier fleet composition, the Navy once again pushed for development of a new carrier, essentially a scaled-down version of the canceled United States. This time the Navy was successful. Named in honor of the first US Secretary of Defense and World War I naval aviator, James Vincent Forrestal,theUSSForrestal(CV59)displaced59,000tons(53,523tonnes) and measured 1,039ft 9in (316.9m) in length and 129ft 6in (39.5m) in beam. The flight deck incorporated several British innovations, including the armored, angled flight deck and steam catapults, and also introduced theFresnelLenslandingsystem.Forrestalrepresentedamulti-generational leap forward in carrier design. Indeed, as carrier historian Norman Friedman stated in his work, US Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History, the Forrestal was so successful that it formed the basis for all subsequentUSNavycarrierdesigns. Ultimately,fourForrestal-classcarrierswerebuiltbetween1954and1959: Forrestal,Saratoga(CVA60),Ranger(CVA61),andIndependence(CVA62). Two improved Forrestal-class vessels, designated the Kitty Hawk class, were alsobuilt(KittyHawk,CVA63andConstellation,CVA64).USSAmerica(CVA 66) and USS John F. Kennedy (CVA 67), commissioned in 1965 and 1968 respectively, were considered “improved” Kitty Hawks, though many considered John F. Kennedy its own class. Kitty Hawk-class carriers featured © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com