USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)

USS Theodore Roosevelt in March 2008.
History
United States
Namesake:	Theodore Roosevelt
Ordered:	30 September 1980
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding Co.
Cost:	US $4.5 billion in 2007 dollars.
Laid down:	31 October 1981
Launched:	27 October 1984
Commissioned:	25 October 1986
Homeport:	NAS North Island San Diego, CA
Motto:	Qui Plantavit Curabit (Latin: "He who has planted will preserve.")
Nickname(s):	TR, Big Stick
Status:	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt subclass
Displacement:	104,600 long tons (117,200 short tons)
Length:	Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m) Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m)
Beam:	Overall: 252 feet (76.8 m) Waterline: 134 feet (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 driving 4 × shafts 260,000 shp (194 MW)
Speed:	30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph)
Range:	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Endurance:	Limited only by food and supplies
Complement:	Ship's company: 3,200 Air wing: 2,480
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 × Sea Sparrow 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile 2 × PHALANX CIWS (Close-In Weapons System) Gatling guns
Armor:	63.5 mm Kevlar armor over vitals
Aircraft carried:	90 fixed wing and helicopters

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) (also known by crewmembers as "the Big Stick" or within the US Navy simply as TR) is the fourth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Her radio call sign is Rough Rider, the name of President Theodore Roosevelt's volunteer cavalry unit during the Spanish–American War. She was launched in 1984, saw her first action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Initially, U.S. President Gerald Ford cancelled the order for CVN-71 in 1976 and substituted two CVV-type medium-sized, conventional-powered carriers that were expected to operate V/STOL aircraft. The existing T-CBL design formed the basis for the new CVV, serving as a replacement for the aging Midway-class aircraft carrier, while capable of operating all existing conventional carrier aircraft. This capability to operate conventional aircraft proved important as the hoped-for supersonic V/STOL fighters did not come to fruition at the time. In any case, construction of the proposed CVV medium-sized carrier never took place.

Authorization for CVN-71 was further delayed when President Jimmy Carter vetoed the 1979 Fiscal Year Department of Defense authorization bill because of the inclusion of this Nimitz-class nuclear supercarrier in the U.S. Navy's shipbuilding program. Because of the international crisis that required the increased deployment of U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups to the Indian Ocean, President Carter reversed his stand on Nimitz-class nuclear supercarriers, and CVN-71 was subsequently authorized under the 1980 Fiscal Year authorization bill for the U.S. Department of Defense.