USS George Washington (CVN-73)

|Ship table purchased=no
|Ship table commissioned=yes
|Ship table decommissioned=no
|Ship table in service=no
|Ship table out of service=no
|Ship table captured=no
|Ship table struck=no
|Ship table reinstated=no
|Ship table homeport=yes
|Ship table range=yes
|Ship table endurance=no
|Ship table test depth=no
|Ship table capacity=no
|Ship table time to activate=no
|Ship table sensors=yes
|Ship table EW=yes
|Ship table armament=yes
|Ship table armour=yes
|Ship table aircraft=yes

|Ship table fate=status
|Draught=us

|Ship image=
|Ship caption=USS George Washington passing through the Straits of Gibraltar
|Ship country=(US)
|Ship flag=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship laid down=25 August 1986
|Ship launched=21 July 1990
|Ship purchased=
|Ship commissioned=4 July 1992
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=active in service
|Individual ship 1=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=Naval Station Norfolk
|Ship displacement=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 2=
|Ship length=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 3=
|Ship beam=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 4=
|Ship draught=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 5=
|Ship propulsion=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 6=
|Ship speed=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 7=
|Ship range=nuclear
|Individual ship 8=
|Ship endurance=none
|Ship test depth=none
|Ship capacity=none
|Individual ship 9=
|Ship complement=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 10=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 11=
|Ship EW=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 12=
|Ship armament=Nimitz class aircraft carrier III
|Individual ship 13=
|Ship armour=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 14=
|Ship aircraft=Nimitz class aircraft carrier
|Individual ship 15=
|Ship motto=Spirit of Freedom
|Ship nickname=GW
|}}

USS George Washington (CVN 73) is the sixth ship in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered supercarriers, and the third United States Navy warship to be named after George Washington, first President of the United States. She was built by Newport News Shipbuilding. The keel was laid on 25 August 1986 and the ship was commissioned on 4 July 1992.

Two nuclear reactors are used for propulsion (the ship is capable of steaming more than one million miles before refueling) turning 4 five-bladed screws that weigh 66,220 pounds (30 t) each driving the ship at speeds over 30 knots (56 km/h).

George Washington (commonly known as GW) is 1,094 ft (333 m) long, 257 ft (78 m) wide and is as high as a twenty-four-story building, at 244 feet (74 m). The super carrier can accommodate approximately 80 aircraft and has a flight deck 4.5 acres (18,000 m²) in size, using four elevators that are 3,880 ft² (360 m²) each to move planes between the flight deck and the hangar bay. With a combat load, GW displaces almost 97,000 tons and carries over 6,000 crewmembers. She can distill 400,000 U.S. gallons (1,500 m³) of water and serves 18,000 meals per day. There are over 2,500 compartments on board requiring 2,520 tons (2.1 MW) of air conditioning capacity (enough to cool over 2,000 homes). The warship uses two anchors that weigh 30 tons each, with each link of the anchor chain weighing 360 pounds (160 kg).

As of 2004, George Washington is home ported at NS Norfolk, Virginia.

External Links