Question about the MIGHTY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA aircraft carrier that PWNAGES!

[ElFenix]

So the carrier can store ALL the places below deck?

if a full wing is embarked and on board, no.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/aircraft-carrier6.htm

 

[Bignate603]

Do they provide music as the planes are raised/lowered?

They blast "Danger Zone" from Top Gun.

I heard there are side cranes to lift the planes that fell off back onto the deck?

I sincerely hope you are not being serious.

 

[Patranus]

This isn't even an aircraft carrier and it can house a bunch of aircraft.

 

[Kadarin]

Why am I picturing that the OP is the guy who's actually in charge of making sure this doesn't happen on the new Chinese aircraft carrier?

 

[marvdmartian]

Okay, this here is real experience talking, since I served 4-1/2 years, and did 3 deployments on the Big E, USS Enterprise (CVN-65). So listen up!

1. aircraft are normally parked on the flight deck, and are chained down and their wheels chocked. The only time you have aircraft down on the hangar deck level is if they're not being used (i.e.-larger aircraft, like the E-2 Hawkeye radar dome aircraft, which we carried 3 on board, usually had one down on the hangar deck, and two rotating in flight service), if they're being repaired, or if they're being maintained. With all the aircraft that a modern day super carrier has on board, you will NOT be able to park them all on the hangar deck.

2. normally, the captain steers the ship around bad weather, whenever possible. This isn't because the carrier can't handle the inclement weather, it's because we normally don't fly during really bad weather (much more dangerous to land on the flight deck during a storm), and because our attendant "small boy" ships (cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and supply ships) don't handle as well as the carrier, so we try to make their life a little bit easier. You will NOT see an aircraft carrier, let alone a carrier battle group, intentionally sailing into a hurricane or typhoon!

3. believe it or not, an 1100 foot sailing vessel, which weighs in excess of 90,000 tons, handles really well. On every deployment I made, back in the 80's, we sailed into the north Pacific, usually in the wintertime, to make a show of force off the coast of the Soviet Union. We did, occasionally, have to put up with more strenuous weather than we might have liked, but really, only the small boy ships felt it. On the carrier, with 30 foot seas (that's 30' from tip to trough on the waves), we'd normally feel a really slow side to side roll......maybe 2-3 times a minute, tops. I know we occasionally had seas higher than that, but it really didn't make any difference. Was sort of like being rocked to sleep, if you were snoozing in your bunk! :awe:

In fact, the only two incidents that I'm aware of, where we had to slow down at all in those high seas, was when the weather plug around one of our anchor chains, that they put in the hole (up in the forecastle, pronounced "foc'sle") where the chain goes outside the hull, blew out.....and the boatswains ("bosun's") mates couldn't put it back in unless we slowed down, because there was too much water coming in through the hole! If you take a look at the bow-on picture on this page, you'll see where I'm talking about. The flight deck is ~75-80 feet off the water line, so those holes are at least 40 feet off the water. We slowed down for ~5 minutes, they replaced the plug, we went back to our 20 knot speed.

The other time was one time when we had to launch and recover the "plane guard" helicopter (which flies off to the side of the carrier, and whose mission is to rescue anyone who ends up in the water.....like pilots, if they screw up, or their aircraft does, and they end up in the drink). We were doing 30 knots for flight ops (normal), and had a 50 knot headwind, giving us a combined 80 knots across the deck (and can you imagine working on that flight deck??). However, Navy regs say that you're not supposed to launch or recover helicopters in winds over 75 knots! We slowed down, the replacement helo took off, the one that had been on patrol landed, we sped back up again.

Hopefully you all enjoyed your history lesson. :biggrin:

 

[Qianglong]

THANKS for taking the time to write this! Greatly appreciated! What is the policy of dealing with civilian ships (fishing boats etc) that stray too close to the carrier group and you can't contact them on the radio?
Does the captain eat together with the rest of the crew and are you allowed to visit the bridge?

Okay, this here is real experience talking, since I served 4-1/2 years, and did 3 deployments on the Big E, USS Enterprise (CVN-65). So listen up!

1. aircraft are normally parked on the flight deck, and are chained down and their wheels chocked. The only time you have aircraft down on the hangar deck level is if they're not being used (i.e.-larger aircraft, like the E-2 Hawkeye radar dome aircraft, which we carried 3 on board, usually had one down on the hangar deck, and two rotating in flight service), if they're being repaired, or if they're being maintained. With all the aircraft that a modern day super carrier has on board, you will NOT be able to park them all on the hangar deck.

2. normally, the captain steers the ship around bad weather, whenever possible. This isn't because the carrier can't handle the inclement weather, it's because we normally don't fly during really bad weather (much more dangerous to land on the flight deck during a storm), and because our attendant "small boy" ships (cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and supply ships) don't handle as well as the carrier, so we try to make their life a little bit easier. You will NOT see an aircraft carrier, let alone a carrier battle group, intentionally sailing into a hurricane or typhoon!

3. believe it or not, an 1100 foot sailing vessel, which weighs in excess of 90,000 tons, handles really well. On every deployment I made, back in the 80's, we sailed into the north Pacific, usually in the wintertime, to make a show of force off the coast of the Soviet Union. We did, occasionally, have to put up with more strenuous weather than we might have liked, but really, only the small boy ships felt it. On the carrier, with 30 foot seas (that's 30' from tip to trough on the waves), we'd normally feel a really slow side to side roll......maybe 2-3 times a minute, tops. I know we occasionally had seas higher than that, but it really didn't make any difference. Was sort of like being rocked to sleep, if you were snoozing in your bunk! :awe:

In fact, the only two incidents that I'm aware of, where we had to slow down at all in those high seas, was when the weather plug around one of our anchor chains, that they put in the hole (up in the forecastle, pronounced "foc'sle") where the chain goes outside the hull, blew out.....and the boatswains ("bosun's") mates couldn't put it back in unless we slowed down, because there was too much water coming in through the hole! If you take a look at the bow-on picture on this page, you'll see where I'm talking about. The flight deck is ~75-80 feet off the water line, so those holes are at least 40 feet off the water. We slowed down for ~5 minutes, they replaced the plug, we went back to our 20 knot speed.

The other time was one time when we had to launch and recover the "plane guard" helicopter (which flies off to the side of the carrier, and whose mission is to rescue anyone who ends up in the water.....like pilots, if they screw up, or their aircraft does, and they end up in the drink). We were doing 30 knots for flight ops (normal), and had a 50 knot headwind, giving us a combined 80 knots across the deck (and can you imagine working on that flight deck??). However, Navy regs say that you're not supposed to launch or recover helicopters in winds over 75 knots! We slowed down, the replacement helo took off, the one that had been on patrol landed, we sped back up again.

Hopefully you all enjoyed your history lesson. :biggrin:

 

[IronWing]

This isn't even an aircraft carrier and it can house a bunch of aircraft.

Are those white pods the lifeboats arrayed on racks just below deck level?

 

[gorobei]

Are those white pods the lifeboats arrayed on racks just below deck level?

clearly keggers for all the chili in the straits of hormel.

 

[darkxshade]

But if all the planes are stored below deck, won't it then weigh the carrier down and sink it?


/moron rebuttal

 

[glenn1]

I always wondered how are the planes parked on the Aircraft carrier deck... I mean what happens if the ship are caught in a big storm with huge waves and the rocking of the boat causes some of the planes to fall off into the sea?

Airplanes actually have fallen off carriers, including one carrying a nuclear weapon once:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ticonderoga_(CV-14)#1965.E2.80.9366_deployment

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.

Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95.

Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED By THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY AGAIN, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTERMEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

 

[glenn1]

This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.

http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp

 

[KLin]

http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp

Owned

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp

actually
http://www.sickipedia.org/search/1/?q=aircraft+carrier

 

[Gibsons]

But if all the planes are stored below deck, won't it then weigh the carrier down and sink it?

They would, but the airplanes below deck are on treadmills. They run the engines at full speed so that provide lift to the carrier and keep it afloat.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Owned

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp

says something about those who want to believe such things

 

[Fenixgoon]

They're stored below deck and are brought up/down by huge elevators.

this. there are also bolt-down points on deck.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

says something about those who want to believe such things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvjQPHDu5xE&feature=player_embedded

Actualy no one believes in it. The navy got a whole dedicated to it saying its not true.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy.asp?id=174

It just shows some believe will take almost everything to head they read on the internet. Even websites that debunk stuff. They could just linked the navys homepage instead of writing crap from books that was published in 1988 lol :biggrin:

 

[LTC8K6]

Even back in WW2, the planes had folding wings.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Even back in WW2, the planes had folding wings.

A good chunk of them still do.

 

[ichy]

This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.

Please stop spreading these stupid myths.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Please stop spreading these stupid myths.

It was printed in a American newspaper in 1997. Please tell it to them not me please


An aircraft carrier comprises several different sections, as do all warships. The lower decks of a carrier are similar to those on other ships. They house the engine rooms and compartments for either oil-fired boilers or nuclear reactors, depending on the type of propulsion being used. (Newer carriers are all nuclear powered. The United States has not built an oil-powered carrier since 1968.) A carrier is driven by four massive propellers, and the ship’s engines can generate over 280,000 horsepower to accelerate the carrier to a speed of just over 56 km/h (35 mph).

The upper areas of an aircraft carrier differ from those of conventional warships. An enormous hangar bay runs the length and width of the ship and is referred to as the first deck, or hangar deck. Planes can be serviced on the hangar deck, safe from the effects of wind and weather. Massive elevators, each the size of a typical home, move aircraft between the hangar deck and the flight deck on top, where the planes take off and land. In the area between the hangar deck and flight deck, called the gallery, the ship’s pilots live, work, and prepare for flights.

The flight deck may look quite large, but it is actually small for all the activities that take place on it. Because the runway is so short, planes must be flung into the air by steam catapults that are built into the flight deck. These catapults are 90 m (300 ft) long and draw their power directly from the ship’s engines; they can accelerate a plane from 0 to 240 km/h (150 mph) in three seconds. Each carrier has four catapults: two on the forward area, or bow, and two in the center area, referred to as amidships. The bow area is only used for launching planes because it is too short for landings. The amidships area and the deck behind it can be used for launching and landing planes. It is angled slightly from the centerline of the ship so that landing planes do not interfere with planes taking off from the bow. All four catapults can be used to launch airplanes in a hurry, but during continuous exercises, planes need to land in order to refuel and reload ammunition. When landings are taking place, planes are launched only off the bow catapults so that other jets can land on the angled area. The bow area can also serve as a parking area, out of the way of landings, when launches are not taking place.

Overlooking the flight deck area on the right, or starboard, side is the carrier’s command and control tower, referred to as the island. The island is small, so as not to encroach on valuable flight deck space. The seven-story structure is covered with antennas and radar scanners. The top level of the island is like the control tower at an airport. Here, the ship’s air boss, or controller, controls the movement of planes on the flight deck and those flying near the ship. The next level below the controller is the carrier’s pilothouse, also referred to as the bridge. On the bridge, the captain and other members of the crew control the ship’s speed and direction.

Unlike other warships such as cruisers and destroyers, a carrier has very few weapons built directly onto the ship itself. The aircraft on board the ship serve as its primary weapon. American carriers have the widest variety of aircraft. The typical 86-plane air wing of an American carrier is composed of several types of offensive aircraft. Fighter aircraft include F-14 Tomcat fighters (to shoot down enemy planes that may try to attack the carrier) and F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters (a type of plane that can both drop bombs and shoot down enemy planes). Support aircraft on board include the E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft (the only plane on the ship still flown by propellers). It carries a large radar and transmits information back to the carrier, so the ship knows what is going on up to 480 km (300 mi) away. The EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare airplane jams enemy radar, and the S-3B Viking antisubmarine airplane hunts for enemy subs and sinks them if they get too close to the carrier. A carrier also carries about a half dozen SH-60F Ocean Hawk helicopters, which can also hunt submarines, as well as rescue any pilots who suffer an accident. See also Military Aviation.

Landing a plane on a carrier is a complicated procedure that requires tremendous skill on the part of the pilot. When planes are cleared to land, pilots come in behind the ship, lower the landing gear and tailhook, and line up with a series of lights and lenses on the carrier commonly called the meatball. The meatball tells pilots if they are too high or too low as they are coming in to land. Their goal is to keep the light centered in the middle of the set of lenses. Navy pilots refer to this procedure as “calling the ball.” As the plane crosses over the carrier deck, the tailhook snags one of four heavy steel cables stretched across the deck, bringing the plane to a stop in about 90 m (300 ft) of deck space.

When carrier pilots land (or trap, as Navy pilots like to call it), they apply full power to their engines so that if the cables break (which happens rarely) they will have enough power to fly off and try to land again. Landings are made both day and night in clear and bad weather. Pilots prefer to land on large carriers, not because of the larger landing area, but because a large carrier is steadier since it weighs more, and therefore does not pitch as much in heavy seas.

There are two main types of aircraft carriers: those that operate conventional aircraft, such as the large U.S. ships, and smaller, light carriers that operate helicopters and vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The main difference is in size and firepower. A conventional carrier is quite large, and bears the designation CV or CVN. The C stands for carrier; V is the military designation for aircraft (it originally stood for heaVier-than-air craft, as opposed to lighter-than-air craft such as blimps); and the N signifies a carrier with nuclear propulsion. The American Nimitz class nuclear powered carrier is 335 m (1100 ft) long, 77 m (252 ft) wide, weighs 83,000 metric tons, and has a crew of 6000 men and women. They can handle over 80 high-performance aircraft. While these ships are immensely valuable to a nation’s defense, not all nations can afford such a vessel to operate aircraft at sea. Instead, many countries use much smaller “light” carriers, which range from 150 to 210 m (500 to 700 ft) long, weigh 10,000 to 15,400 metric tons, and handle about 15 to 25 aircraft. Of the aircraft on light carriers, most are helicopters engaged in the hunting of submarines, while about six to ten planes are so-called jump jets such as the AV-8B Harrier, which can take off and land vertically.

The United States is the largest aircraft carrier operator. The American fleet includes 12 ships, each with an 86-plane air wing. Additionally, the United States operates 12 smaller carriers, referred to as amphibious assault ships. These ships are larger than light carriers, with a length of 257 m (844 ft), weight of 36,000 metric tons, and a crew of 900. Unlike the large conventional carriers, amphibious assault ships can also land troops (up to 1800 marines are usually embarked) and carry 25 helicopters and 15 Harrier jump jets. See also Amphibious Warfare.

The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) operated four light carriers and one conventional ship. The light carriers are no longer in service, but the single Soviet conventional carrier, the Kuznetsov, is still operating as part of the Russian navy. The Kuznetsov is 300 m (1000 ft) long, weighs 59,000 metric tons, and carries about 50 aircraft. Unlike American ships, the Kuznetsov is armed with a dozen powerful cruise missiles to attack other ships. China has no aircraft carriers. Reports that it intends to build one by 2010 remain unsubstantiated. India operates two small carriers purchased from Britain in the 1980s. They are old, but still provide adequate air support to the small Indian navy.

In Europe, France operates a medium-sized nuclear-powered carrier, the Charles De Gaulle, Europe’s largest warship, which went into service in 2001. Britain operates three light carriers of the Invincible class and is planning on constructing several more in the early 21st century. Italy and Spain each operate one light carrier, the smallest in any nation’s fleet with a length of just over 150 m (500 ft) and weight of 10,000 metric tons.

Source: Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Please do yourself a favor and get Encarta Student. Lots of info in there to use

 

[MotF Bane]

Please do yourself a favor and get Encarta Student. Lots of info in there to use

Or you can use Wikipedia. It's free, needs no installation, and is available everywhere.

 

[MotF Bane]

http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp

#winning