USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is the lead ship of her class of United States Navy aircraft carriers. The ship is named after the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, whose World War II naval service included combat duty aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey in the Pacific Theater.
Construction began on 11 August 2005, when Northrop Grumman held a ceremonial steel cut for a 15-ton plate that forms part of a side shell unit of the carrier. The keel of Gerald R. Ford was laid down on 13 November 2009. She was christened on 9 November 2013. Gerald R. Ford entered the fleet replacing the decommissioned USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which ended her 51 years of active service in December 2012. Originally scheduled for delivery in 2015, Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the Navy on 31 May 2017 and formally commissioned by President Donald Trump on 22 July 2017. The Navy announced that the carrier sailed on her first deployment during 2022. She is the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and the largest warship ever constructed in terms of displacement.
Seen here anchored off the south coast of England, USS Gerald R. Ford was a sight to behold. With the tag line of ‘the world’s largest warship’ it was unsurprising the aircraft carrier gained so much attention since docking in the waters of the Solent.
The impressive vessel arrived in Hampshire on Monday (November 14), anchoring just off Stokes Bay, Gosport. USS Gerald R. Ford, the first in the US Navy’s next generation of warships, the Ford Class, was greeted by enthusiastic crowds eager to see the 337 metre-long vessel. USS Gerald R Ford can carry up to 75 aircrafts and is so big that it cannot even enter Portsmouth harbour, where UK vessels like HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are regularly seen.
The warship, which cost almost £8.1bn, had been carrying out Nato exercises in the North Atlantic. She could be seen from Gosport and the Isle of Wight.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gerald_R._Ford
www.hampshirelive.news/news/hampshire-news/worlds-largest…
Posted by Beardy Vulcan II on 2022-12-25 19:28:49
Tagged: , England , Hampshire , Autumn , Fall , November , 2022 , USS Gerald R Ford , Isle of Wight , ship , aircraft carrier , plane , boat , watercraft , tree , palm tree , sea , Solent , Stokes Bay , Gosport
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