USS George H.W. Bush in January 2011
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History | |
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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: |
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Displacement: | 102,000 long tons (114,000 short tons) |
Length: |
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Beam: |
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Draft: |
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Propulsion: |
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Speed: | 30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph) |
Range: | Unlimited distance; 20–25 years |
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Sensors and processing systems: |
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Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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Armament: |
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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.