N E W S
Lifefocus
Saturday August 13, 2005
Calling on the USS Nimitz
By LIZ PRICE
PICTURES BY K.K. SHAM & AFP PHOTO
Luck was on my side when I was invited to tour the USS Nimitz, thanks to a friend named Dave, who is a crew member. The Nimitz is reputedly the world’s largest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and it berthed at Port Klang recently.
The ship can best be described as HUGE. The ship itself stands as tall as an 18-storey building from keel to tip of mast. We had to go through a series of security checks, but it was a small price to pay for the privilege of seeing the ship.
It’s 1,092ft (333m) long, 252ft (77m) wide, and displaces 95,000 tons with a flight deck area of 4.5 acres (2ha).
The USS Nimitz was commissioned in May 1975 and this was its maiden call to Malaysia.
Nimitz commanding officer Captain T.N. Branch said the ship’s nuclear power plants posed no radiation threat and there has never been any such incident in its 30-year service.
The Nimitz was the first of nine nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. There are two nuclear power plants on board, and the reactors power the turbines, resulting in a top speed of more than 30 knots. Some nuclear powered ships can operate for 15 years before refuelling.
Having oohed and aahed sufficiently, we went on board. A metal gangplank led into a small security check area, then I stepped through a hatchway into the main hangar.
Wow! I couldn’t believe the size. It was an enormous open hangar, like that of an airport. This is where the jetplanes are stored, and if necessary, repaired. There were small trucks for towing the planes, pallets, engines, machinery etc. The avionics workshop, storeroom and freezers are at the aft, or stern.
The Nimitz is manned by a crew of 3,200 plus 2,480 for the air wing. However, on this cruise there were just 3,000 personnel, 10% of whom were women. Huge rubber fenders held the ship off the pier. We left the hangar deck via another hatchway and navigated a maze of narrow corridors and hatchways. All the hatchways below the waterline are, of course, watertight.
The USS Nimitz called at Port Klang for five days.
We went to the decks where the residents of this floating city live, work and sleep. To me, all the narrow corridors looked identical, but I was shown the ship equivalent of “street names” where each compartment has a series of numbers followed by a letter, e.g. 03-178-4L. This tells you if the deck is above or below the waterline, and whether it is port or starboard.
Because most of the crew were on shore, the ship was comparatively quiet. But I was told that when the ship is sailing, it is incredibly noisy, with the sound of aircraft taking off and landing. It was also warm in the bowels of the ship. I was able to see an officer’s stateroom. This is his private compartment - a compact bedroom combined with washroom and work area. The heads or ship’s latrines are located elsewhere in the corridors. The officers have individual staterooms, whereas the enlisted crew have dormitory-styled accommodation.
I also saw the various mess halls for meals or recreation. The mess for the enlisted crew reminded me of a cafeteria on a cross channel ferry. It offers a wider range of food than the officers’ mess. I was able to peek into the admiral’s mess as the door was open, and that was very smart.
We headed for the work areas. I saw some offices and computer rooms, and then was shown the storeroom for the flight crew. To my surprise it was hardly larger than a cupboard, crammed with flying suits and other equipment. The suit alone weighs 40lbs (18kg).
From the maze of small corridors, we headed up to the island, the highest part of the carrier, very much like an airport control tower. This is where the ship’s radar and air traffic control instruments are located. The commander sits on an elevated chair known as the barber’s chair at the navigating bridge. From here, he can see the movement all around the ship as well as the activities on the flight deck below.
Aircraft carriers are called flat tops because of the flight deck. The flight decks are constructed in pieces to allow flexibility in times of bad weather and rough seas.
From the island, we descended numerous small staircases again for the flight deck. This is where the real action takes place. An aircraft carrier is basically a floating air base. Planes on an aircraft carrier are called airwing. The Nimitz carries over 50 aircraft – 45 jet fighters, 12 supporting aircraft and six helicopters. From this flat deck, the planes take off and land. The runways are slightly angled, to allow planes to take off and land at the same time.
Unlike airports which a have long runway to enable the planes to take off, the carriers only have short runways. This means the planes are launched by means of a catapult, a device that propels the plane forward.
Catapults consist of 200ft (61m) long tubes set in the deck. Pistons push a shuttle which thrusts the aircraft off the flat deck. It all happens so fast the pilots’ eyes can be affected by the momentum. The planes can go from 0-160mph in three seconds. Nimitz has four catapults.
The pilot doesn’t land the plane. Instead, he lines his plane at a spot on the flight deck, then allows the carrier to catch the plane. A series of four steel wires are laid every couple of hundred feet across the runway. A tail hook at the back of the plane catches the steel wire and brings the plane to a halt. If the pilot does miss, he goes full throttle and up in the air again for another round. The landing runway is aligned away from the island for safety.
The Nimitz carries a series of squadrons. A squadron is a unit of 12 fighter jets. There is one squadron of F-14 Tomcats, and three squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets, which are the strike fighters. Both jets are more than 60ft (18m) long and have a wingspan of around 64ft (19m).
The USS Nimitz ‘operates’ 70 aircrafts.
The F-14 is twin-engined and a two-seater. My friend flies in one of the four-seater F/A-18. Rear Admiral Peter H. Daly is the commander of the Nimitz’s Strike Group Eleven. I was surprised to learn that the jets fly every day during a cruise.
The flight deck is the noisiest and most dangerous part of the carrier. The floor is covered by a non-slip mat, but this is covered with oil and grease. There are so many hazards to avoid, such as numerous metal bits sticking up from the surface, wires and cables, low wings on the planes. I was told that the noise is incredible when the flight deck is in action, and I can believe it.
There are also surveillance planes and helicopters.
As we negotiated our way back down through the ship, I noticed there were TVs everywhere. There are a few sundry shops, a laundry, a post office, barber shop, gyms, an inter-denominational chapel as well as full medical and dental facilities. The ship is so large that some of the crew have not even been to parts of it.
Four distilling units enable Nimitz engineers to make over 400,000 gallons of fresh water a day, for use by the propulsion plants, catapults and crew.
The Food Services Department provides 18,000-20,000 meals a day. Nimitz can stock at least 70 days of refrigerated and dry storage goods. Literally, tons of wash are done every day by the laundry personnel.
The Nimitz, CVN 68 (hull number 68), is San Diego-based, and is part of the US Navy Pacific Fleet. She is named after Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz (1885-1966), who was Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean in the 1940s. Post-war, he was Chief of Naval Operations.
During the 30 years of service, the Nimitz has travelled 132 million miles, equivalent to 5,000 times around the earth, called at 150 countries and has served in the Gulf War. On this cruise, she was accompanied by an escort carrier, the USS Princeton. They left San Diego on May 7 on a routine deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Nimitz has made port visits to Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Guam and now Malaysia. The Nimitz was here for a five-day, goodwill visit.
I was sorry when my visit was over as it had been a wonderful opportunity to see how people lived and worked aboard such an incredible ship. W
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