USS George Washington (CVN-73)

USS George Washington during a photo exercise with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships.
History
United States
Name:	USS George Washington
Namesake:	George Washington
Ordered:	27 December 1982
Builder:	Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News
Laid down:	25 August 1986
Sponsored by:	Barbara Bush
Christened:	21 July 1990
Commissioned:	4 July 1992
Homeport:	NS Norfolk, Virginia
Motto:	Spirit of Freedom
Nickname(s):	GW
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt subclass
Displacement:	104,200 long tons (116,700 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
Crew:	6102
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-48E 3-D air search radar AN/SPS-49(V)5 2-D air search radar AN/SPQ-9B target acquisition radar AN/SPN-46 air traffic control radars AN/SPN-43C air traffic control radar AN/SPN-41 landing aid radars 4 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems 4 × Mk 95 radars
Electronic warfare & decoys:	SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures
Armament:	2 × Mk 57 Mod3 Sea Sparrow 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile 3 × Phalanx CIWS
Armor:	Unknown
Aircraft carried:	90 fixed wing and helicopters

USS George Washington (CVN-73) is a United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the sixth carrier in the Nimitz class and the fourth US Navy ship named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. She was built by Newport News Shipbuilding and was commissioned on 4 July 1992.

George Washington (commonly known as GW) is 1,092 ft (333 m) long, 257 ft (78 m) wide and 244 feet (74 m) high. The super carrier can accommodate approximately 90 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 long tons (99,000 t) and can accommodate 6,250 crewmembers. Her four distilling units can make 400,000 U.S. gallons (1,500,000 L) of potable water a day; the food service divisions serve 18,000 meals per day. There are over 2,500 compartments on board requiring 2,520 refrigeration tons (8.6 MW) of air conditioning capacity (enough to cool over 2,000 homes). The warship uses two Mark II that weigh 30 tons each, with each link of the anchor chain weighing 360 pounds (160 kg). It is currently equipped with two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts and two Sea Sparrow SAM launchers. One CIWS and one Sea Sparrow mount were removed to make way for two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, installed during the 2005 Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA).

Traditionally, U.S. Navy aircraft carrier hangar bays were painted Navy Gray; George Washington was commissioned with the hangar bay bulkheads and overhead painted white, to make the hangar bay appear larger and brighter. Since then, all U.S. carriers have followed suit.

General Washington had long been a proponent of a strong Navy. On 15 November 1781 he wrote, "Without a decisive Naval force, we can do nothing decisive. And with it, everything honourable and decisive." These words are engraved on a plaque on the ship's quarterdeck.