Largest Warships in Service, the Nimitz-class

The Nimitz-class are the largest warships currently in service. The class comprises ten supercarrier. The largest warships are in service with the US Navy.

The class' lead ship, USS Nimitz, was commissioned on May 3, 1975. The name is given after Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. He is the last fleet admiral of the United States Navy.

The last vessel from the largest warships class is USS George H.W. Bush, commissioned on January 10, 2009. Their hull numbers are numbered consecutively from CVN-68 to CVN-77 and they are nuclear-powered supercarriers.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers took part in many operations and conflicts across the world.

List of the Largest Warships in Service

According to the United States Navy, the Nimitz-class vessel are ten.

Name	Hull Number	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Homeport
USS Nimitz	CVN-68	June 22, 1968	May 13, 1972	May 3, 1975	Naval Air Station North Island (San Diego, California) 2011: Naval Station Everett (Everett, Washington)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower	CVN-69	August 15, 1970	October 11, 1975	October 18, 1977	Naval Station Norfolk (Norfolk, Virginia)
USS Carl Vinson	CVN-70	October 11, 1975	March 15, 1980	March 13, 1982	Naval Air Station North Island (San Diego, California)
USS Theodore Roosevelt	CVN-71	October 31, 1981	October 27, 1984	October 25, 1986	Naval Station Norfolk (Norfolk, Virginia)
USS Abraham Lincoln	CVN-72	November 3, 1984	February 13, 1988	November 11, 1989	Naval Station Everett (Everett, Washington) 2011: Naval Station Norfolk (Norfolk, Virginia)
USS George Washington	CVN-73	August 25, 1986	July 21, 1990	July 4, 1992	Yokosuka Naval Base (Yokosuka, Japan)
USS John C. Stennis	CVN-74	March 13, 1991	November 11, 1993	December 9, 1995	Naval Base Kitsap (Bremerton, Washington)
USS Harry S. Truman	CVN-75	November 29, 1993	September 7, 1996	July 25, 1998	Naval Station Norfolk (Norfolk, Virginia)
USS Ronald Reagan	CVN-76	February 12, 1998	March 4, 2001	July 12, 2003	Naval Air Station North Island (San Diego, California)
USS George H.W. Bush	CVN-77	September 6, 2003	October 9, 2006	January 10, 2009	Naval Station Norfolk (Norfolk, Virginia)

Design of the Largest Warships

The largest warships were order to maintain the US Navy strength as supplementary of the Enterprise class and the Kitty Hawk class. The design of the Nimitz-class is relative to the Kitty Hawk class' and improved compared to Forrestal class and Enterprise class. Main differences are the reactors. Enterprise class has eight. The largest warship in service – two. They take less space. Compared to Forrestal class, the Nimitz-class carry aviation fuel up with 90 % and the ordnance is 50 % more.

USS Nimitz was constructed around the Vietnam War time and that influenced the design. The largest warship had bigger magazines and bigger aviation fuel stores.

The first three vessel (USS Nimitz, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Carl Vinson) had small differences compared to the final seven. The equipment of the largest warships, after USS Theodore Roosevelt, includes better SH-60F Seahawk helicopters and S-3 Viking ASW patrol planes support and newer radar systems. The structural differences are slight.

The coast of each one of the largest warships is estimated to be nearly $4.5 billion, only USS George H.W. Bush's cost was around $6.2 billion. They were built by Newport News Shipbuilding Company.

General Characteristics

Displacement:	100,000–106,300 t (100,000 - 104,600 long tons)
Length:	Overall: 332.8 m (1,092 ft) Waterline: 317.0 m (1,040 feet)
Beam:	Overall: 76.8 m (252 ft) Waterline: 40.8 m (134 ft)
Draft:	Maximum navigational: 11.3 m (37 ft) Limit: 12.5 m (41 ft)
Propulsion:	Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors (2) steam turbines (4) shafts (4) 260,000 shp; 194 MW
Speed:	Over 30 knots (35 mph ; 56 km/h)
Range:	Unlimited distance (20-25 years)
Complement:	Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480
Sensors, processing systems:	AN/SPS-49(V)5 2-D air search radar AN/SPS-48E 3-D air search radar AN/SPN-46 air traffic control radars AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar AN/SPN-41 landing aid radars AN/SPN-43C air traffic control radar Mk 95 radars (4) Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems (4)
Electronic warfare&decoys:	SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite
Armament:	NATO Sea Sparrow missiles or RIM-7 Sea Sparrow(between 16 and 24) RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles or Phalanx CIWSs (3 or 4)
Armor:	2.5 in (64 mm) Kevlar over vital spaces
Aircraft carried:	fixed wing and helicopters: 85–90

Service of the Nimitz-class

Operation Eagle Claw, in 1980, was among the first major operations of the largest warships class. USS Nimitz was deployed to the Indian Ocean. There were hostages in the American embassy in Teheran.

The Nimitz-class were involved in the Gulf War, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield. They took part also in humanitarian mission like Operation Fiery Vigil, Operation Restore Hope and Operation Vigilant Sentinel.

Part of the service of the largest warships is to provide aid in case of natural disaster. They supported Indonesia after the tsunami in December 2004, the Hurricane Katrina (2005) rescue operations, assisted after the Typhoon Fengshen (June 2008) in the Philippines and provided aid to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010.

The carriers from the Nimitz-class are designed with 50-year life in service. The first ship to be decommissioned is USS Nimitz. The cost will be $750 - $900 million. Their status of "largest warships in the US Navy" gives them a symbolic role.

The largest warships will be replaced by the Gerald R. Ford class. The class is expected to have ten vessels and their design will be similar to USS George H.W. Bush. The first will replace USS Enterprise in 2016, the rest will replace the oldest of the Nimitz-class.