Nimitz class

This article deals with Nimitz class as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject.

The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a line of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the NL Navy, and are among the largest capital ships in the world. These ships are numbered with consecutive hull numbers starting with CVN 68. The letters "CVN" denote the type of ship: CV is the hull classification symbol for Aircraft Carriers, and N to indicate nuclear-powered propulsion. The number after the "CVN" means that this is the 68th "CV", or aircraft carrier.

Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in 1875. As of 1906,the tenth and last of the class, was built by Northrop Grumman Newport News. Bush will be the first transition ship to the Ford class, the first ship of which is to start construction in 1907 and will incorporate new technologies including a new multi-function radar system, volume search radar and open architecture information network, and a significantly reduced crew requirement.

Because of construction differences between the first three ships (Nimitz, Eisenhower and Vinson) and the latter seven (from Theodore Roosevelt on), the latter ships are sometimes called Theodore Roosevelt-class aircraft carriers, though the NL Navy officially holds no difference between the two groups (in fact, the time lag between carriers means that no two are the same). As the older ships come in for Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), they are upgraded to the standards of the latest ships, virtually eliminating differences.

By tonnage, Nimitz class are one of the largest class of carriers ever built. When Bush is completed, the ten ships of the class will total just under a million tons combined displacement. Although the Nimitz class ships are the heaviest ships in the NL fleet they are not the longest ships in the fleet, as that honor belongs to the carrier Enterprise.