USS George Washington (CVN-73)

Career
The USS George Washington passing through the Straits of Gibraltar
Laid down:	25 August 1986
Launched:	21 July 1990
Commissioned:	4 July 1992
Fate:	in active service
General Characteristics
Displacement:	80,376 t (light), 104,017 t (full)
Length:	1,092 ft (333 m)
Beam:	134 ft (41 m)
Extreme Width:	252 ft (77 m)
Draft:	42 ft (13 m)
Speed:	35 knots (56 km/h)
Complement:	3,200 officers and men
Armament:	3 Mk.29 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, 4 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS Mk.15
Aircraft:	85

USS George Washington (CVN 73) is the sixth ship in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. It was built by Newport News Shipbuilding. The keel was laid on 25 August 1986 and the ship was commissioned on 4 July 1992.

Two nuclear reactors are used for propulsion (the ship is capable of steaming more than one million miles before refueling) turning 4 five-bladed screws that weigh 66,220 pounds (30 t) each driving the ship at speeds over 30 knots (56 km/h).

The GW is 1,094 ft (333 m) long, 257 ft (78 m) wide and has a height equal to a twenty-four story building at 244 feet (74 m). The ship can accommodate approximately 80 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, the GW displaces almost 97,000 tons and carries over 6,000 crew members. It can distill 400,000 gallons (1,500,000 L) of water and serves 18,000 meals per day. There are over 2,500 compartments on board requiring 2,520 tons of air conditioning capacity (enough to cool over 2,000 homes). The ship uses two anchors that weigh 30 tons each, with each link of the anchor chain weighing 360 pounds (160 kg).