Is this a great Country or what?

A fishing buddy of mine is a retired Colonel and sends me interesting military stuff from time to time. Thought I would share this one, pretty amazing really.

>USS Reagan Passing The Arizona Memorial
>
>
> USS REAGAN
>
>Seeing it next to the Arizona Memorial really puts its size into
perspective. ENORMOUS
>Here's what it takes to run a ship this size.
>Also notice the respect that they give the Arizona Memorial when passing
it.
>
>This is absolutely beautiful!
>USS REAGAN PASSING THE ARIZONA MEMORIAL
>
>
>BEAUTIFUL!
>When the Bridge pipes "Man the Rail" there is a lot of rail to man on this
monster. Shoulder to shoulder around 4= acres. This doesn't give her
displacement but it's about 100,000 tons with full complements.
>Capability
>
>Top speed exceeds 30 knots
>
>Powered by two nuclear reactors that can operate for more than 20 years
without refueling
>
>Expected to operate in the fleet for about 50 years
>
>Carries over 80 combat aircraft
>Three arresting cables can stop a 28-ton aircraft going 150 miles per hour
in less than 400 feet
>
>
>Size
>Towers 20 stories above the waterline
>
>1092 feet long; nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall
>
>Flight deck covers 4.5 acres
>
>4 bronze propellers, each 21 feet across, weighing 66,200 pounds
>
>2 rudders, each 29 by 22 feet and weighing 50 tons
>
>4 high speed aircraft elevators, each over 4,000 square feet
>
>Dates
>
>Dec. 8, 1994 Contract awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding
>
>Feb 12, 1998 Keel laid
>
>Oct 1, 2000 Pre-commissioning Unit established
>
>March 4, 2001 Christened by Mrs. Nancy Reagan
>
>May 5, 2003 First underway
>
>July 12, 2003 Commissioned
>July 23, 2004 Arrived at homeport in San Diego, CA
>
>Capacity
>
>Home to about 6,000 Navy personnel
>Carries enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days
>
>18,150 meals served daily
>Distillation plants provide 400,000 gallons of fresh water from sea water
daily, enough for 2000 homes
>
>Nearly 30,000 light fixtures and 1,325 miles of cable and wiring 1,400
telephones, 14,000 pillowcases and 28,000 sheets
>
>Costs the Navy approximately $250,000 per day for pier side operation
>
>Costs the Navy approximately $2.5 million per day for underway operations
(Sailor's salaries included

 

Totally!!! I love 'my' country(ies).

That's a little more souped up than my drift boat then

 

Awsome,I love watching the Doco's on how these are constructed and the stats,one I heard if you aim the launch catapult at 45degrees and fix a voltzwagon beetle to it,it would fire it 15 miles

 

Top speed exceeds 30 knots, so, it can go faster.

 

Awsome - state of the art Navy muscle. I talked to a carrier sailor a while back, and he said it's like taking an entire city to sea.

Thanks for the pic, Matacumbie