New Carrier Honors President Gerald R. Ford

Sea Classics, May 2007 by Bonner, Kit

The now-building Nimtz-class super-carrier USS Gerald R. Ford carries on the postwar tradition of naming new carriers after presidents and other Naval dignitaries

NAMING AMERICA'S MOST EXPENSIVE MILITARY ASSETS AFTER ITS PRESIDENTS

The policy of naming the United States Navy's super carriers in honor of past presidents has only been political and Navy Department policy since the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944 (CVB-42). Roosevelt had served the better part of four terms and had brought the nation through its worst nightmare of economics. This, plus being a principal architect of victory in WWII against the most evil of all military regimes in the history of modern mankind. Naming an aircraft carrier after an individual with such credentials is not only appropriate, but is a small tribute for his work.

Since that time, there have been eight other aircraft carriers named for living and deceased presidents as well as congressmen and others who have demonstrated an unabiding support for the nation's defense and in particular, its Navy. After all, Pres. John F. Kennedy was a staunch Navy supporter after having been an officer and captain of a PT boat in the dangerous waters of the South Pacific. Hence, the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) was commissioned on 7 September 1968. The Navy Department has now announced that CVN-78 or CVN-21 will be named the USS Gerald R. Ford for the 38th President, who recently passed away at age 93. There was some vocal support for naming this carrier the USS America in honor of the former USS America (CV-66) recently sunk as part of a number of vital tests to improve damage control aboard the US Navy's future aircraft carriers. However, sentiment and timing overruled this decision.

Interestingly, the predecessor to CVN-78 was named after Pres. George Herbert Walker Bush. Both presidents had something in common beyond the fact that they were politicians and presidents. Both were Naval officers aboard wartime CVLs or Independence-class high-speed light carriers.

LIGHT CRUISER TURNED INDEPENDENCE LIGHT AIRCRAFT CARRIER

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, land-based torpedo planes and bombers sank the British battlecruiser HMS Prince of Wales and battleship HMS Repulse on 11 December 1941 off Kuatan, Malaya. These ships were able to maneuver at high speed and were moderately well-armed with anti-aircraft weaponry. They also had destroyers as escorts. Despite these advantages, both ships were dispatched within an hour of the first sighting of enemy aircraft. This was just another episode in the Japanese reign of terror on surface warships and merchant vessels by carrier and land based aircraft in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It was patently obvious to even the least knowledgeable Naval strategist that Naval aviation had trumped the capital surface ships. The war that was rapidly unfolding between the Allies and Japan could only be won with air supremacy.

The United States Navy and its Allies needed fast carriers quickly to blunt the Japanese thrusts in the Pacific theater. Without carriers, the war could drag out for years and maybe not be winnable. Consequently, the Allied Navies began programs of building small, medium and large carriers.

Of course, the large carriers were based on the pre-WWII designed USS Enterprise and 24 out of 27 budgeted ships were built in the Essex/Ticonderoga-classes. The USS Essex (CV-9) was the lead ship and displaced 40,600-tons. The Essex was laid down on 4 April 1941 and commissioned on 31 December 1942. This class was 894-ft in length with a flight deck 148-ft in width. Like most big carriers, it was capable of carrying 80 to 100 aircraft of all types. Throughout the war, the Essex and then the improved Ticonderoga (long hull) came down the ways and out into the Pacific to fight the Imperial Japanese Navy.

However, the length of time between concept and completion of the Essex-class was too long. For a precarious period in 1942, the US Navy lost four fleet carriers and only the damaged USS Enterprise (CV-6) was operational in the Pacific. As an interim measure, shipyards were turning out 39 600-ft-long, 10,000-ton light cruisers in the Cleveland-class, and it was possible to convert some of these ships at a certain point to a light carrier. The independence-class, as they became known, had a steam turbine plant that developed 100,000-hp and was capable of 32-kts. In addition, nine hulls were at the point of conversion with a 525-ft by 73-ft wooden planked flight deck which could be fitted, and a 214-ft by 58-ft hanger, and these homely carriers could be commissioned rather quickly.

Because these vessels looked like aircraft carriers did not mean that they were spacious and better riding than most ships. On the contrary, the medium and small carriers were rough riding, cramped; aircraft repair and servicing shops were wholly deficient; and the crew accommodations were pre-WWI vintage at best. However, in a crucial time, these ships carried 45 combat aircraft (fighters, bombers and torpedo planes) and could keep up with the fast battleships, cruisers and destroyers. They were ideal, but not very comfortable.