USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) Commissioned
11,000 tons gross displacement. 622.5 ft long. 45 aircraft – that was the USS San Jacinto (CVL 30). Sixty-five years ago, on a September morning, a young naval aviator launched his Grumman TBF Avenger from her deck on a mission to strike facilities at Chi Chi Jima. Forty-five years later he was raising his hand, taking the oath of office as the 41st President of the United States – and today, he was witness to the commissioning 0 of the 77th carrier and last of the Nimitz-class carriers:
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God bless all those who sail in her…
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Um, no matter how you add it up, it ain’t the 77th carrier. It ain’t even the 77th fleet carrier.
Well…like many things these days it all depends on what and how you count:
CV-1: Langley
CV-2: Lexington
CV-3: Saratoga
CV-4: Ranger
CV-5: Yorktown
CV-6: Enterprise
CV-7: Wasp
CV-8: Hornet
CV-9: Essex
CV-10: Yorktown
CV-11: Intrepid
CV-12: Hornet
CV-13: Franklin
CV-14: Ticonderoga
CV-15: Randolph
CV-16: Lexington
CV-17: Bunker Hill
CV-18: Wasp
CV-19: Hancock
CV-20: Bennington
CV-21: Boxer
CV-22: Independence
CV-23: Princeton
CV-24: Belleau Wood
CV-25: Cowpens
CV-26: Monterey
CVL-27: Langley
CVL-28: Cabot
CVL-29: Bataan
CVL-30 San Jacinto
CV-31: Bonnie Dick
CV-32: Leyte
CV-33: Kearsarge
CV-34: Oriskany
CV-35: Reprisal (cnx 12 Aug 45)
CV-36: Antietam
CV-37: Princeton
CV-38: Shangri-la
CV-39: Lake Champlain
CV-40: Tarawa
(continued)
(continued from above)
CV-41: Midway
CV-42: FDR
CV-43: Coal Sea
CVB-44: Unnamed – construction cnx’d 11 Jan 43
CV-45: Valley Forge
CV-46: Iwo Jima
CV-47: Philippine Sea
CVL-48: Saipan
CVL-49: Wright
CV-50 through 55: Construction cnx’d 27 Mar 45
CVB-56 & 57: Construction cnx’d 28 Mar 45
CV-58: United States (cnx’d 23 April 49)
CVA-59: Forrestal
CVA-60 Saratoga
CVA-61: Ranger
CVA-62: Independence
CVA-63: Kitty Hawk
CVA-64: Constellation
CVA(N)-65: Enterprise
CVA-66: America
CVA-67: JFK
CVA(N)-68: Nimitz
CVA(N)-69: Ike
CVA(N)-70: Vinson
CVN-71: TR
CVN-72: Lincoln
CVN-73: Washington
CVN-74: Stennis
CVN-75: Truman
CVN-76: Reagan
CVN-77: GWHB
CVN-78: Ford
May GOD bless her and her crew