USS George H.W. Bush

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)

USS George H.W. Bush in January 2011
History
United States of America
Name:	USS George H.W. Bush
Namesake:	George H. W. Bush
Ordered:	26 January 2001
Awarded:	26 January 2001
Builder:	Northrop Grumman Newport News
Cost:	$6.2 billion
Laid down:	6 September 2003
Sponsored by:	Dorothy Bush Koch
Christened:	7 October 2006
Launched:	9 October 2006
Commissioned:	10 January 2009
Homeport:	NS Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Motto:	Freedom at Work
Nickname(s):	Avenger
Status:	In active service, as of 2017
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan subclass
Displacement:	102,000 long tons (114,000 short tons)
Length:	Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m)
Beam:	Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m)
Draft:	Maximum navigational: 37 feet (11.3 m) Limit: 41 feet (12.5 m)
Propulsion:	2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors 4 × steam turbines 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW)
Speed:	30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph)
Range:	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Complement:	Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480
Sensors and processing systems:	SPS-48E 3-D air search radar SPS-49A(V)1 2-D air search radar SPQ-9B fire control radar 2 × SPN-46 air traffic control radars SPN-43C air traffic control radar SPN-41 instrument landing system radar 3 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems 3 × Mk 95 radars
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite SLQ-25A Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures
Armament:	2 × Mk 29 ESSM launcher 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile 3 (or 4?) × Phalanx CIWS
Armor:	2.5 in (64 mm) Kevlar over vital spaces
Aircraft carried:	90 fixed wing and helicopters

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and final Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy. She is named for the 41st President of the United States and former Director of Central Intelligence George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II. Bush's callsign is Avenger, after the TBM Avenger aircraft flown by then-Lieutenant George Bush in World War II. Construction began in 2003 at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard's Dry Dock 12, the largest in the western hemisphere. She was completed in 2009 at a cost of $6.2 billion and her home port is Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.

George H. W. Bush became the U.S. Navy's youngest pilot when he received his Naval Aviator wings and naval commission on 9 June 1943, three days before turning 19. He flew torpedo bombers off USS San Jacinto on active duty from August 1943 to September 1945 during World War II. On 2 September 1944, during a mission over the Pacific, Japanese anti-aircraft fire hit his plane. The Navy submarine USS Finback rescued him. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for courageous service in the Pacific Theater.