USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)
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USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), the ninth and penultimate Nimitz-class supercarrier, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for former President Ronald Reagan.
Very few ships of the United States Navy have been named for a person who was alive at the time of the christening; the list includes Carl Vinson (CVN-70), Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-709), Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), John C. Stennis (CVN-74), Bob Hope (T-AKR-300), Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), Nitze (DDG-94), Jimmy Carter (SSN-23), and George H. W. Bush (CVN-77).
The contract to build Reagan was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 8 December 1994 and her keel was laid down on 12 February 1998. She was launched on 10 March 2001 sponsored by Ronald Reagan's wife Nancy, and commissioned on 12 July 2003, with Captain J. W. Goodwin in command. At the commissioning ceremony, Mrs. Reagan gave the ship's crew the traditional first order as an active unit of the Navy: "Man the ship and bring her to life."
President Reagan died eleven months later. At the end of the graveside services, the ship's commanding officer, Navy Captain James Symonds, presented the flag that draped the former president's casket to Mrs. Reagan at her request. This was also the flag that had flown over Capitol Hill on January 20, 1981, when the president was inaugurated. Captain Symonds also presented Mrs. Reagan the flag that had been flying over the Ronald Reagan when the former president died.
Ronald Reagan displaces approximately 95,000 tons of water fully loaded and has a top speed of over 30 knots, powered by two nuclear reactors driving four screws, and can sail for 20 years before refueling. She is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall at 1,092 feet (333 m) and is 134 feet (41 m) wide at the beam and has a flight deck 252 feet (77 m) wide. The flight deck covers over 4.5 acres (18,000 m²). She carries more than 5,500 sailors and over 80 aircraft.
During her transfer from the Atlantic to the Pacific, she transitted the Straits of Magellan. Her homeport is San Diego, California.
Missing image USS_Ronald_Reagan_Bulbous_Bow.jpg The USS Ronald Reagan in drydock. Missing image USS_Ronald_Reagan_christening.jpg Former First lady Nancy Reagan christens the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan as President George W. Bush, left and Newport News Shipbuilding CEO William Frick look on. Missing image USSRonaldReaganCVN-76Crest.jpg Crest of USS Ronald Reagan Missing image USSRonaldReaganCommandingOfficer.jpg Navy Captain James Symonds, commanding officer of the USS Ronald Reagan, presents Nancy Reagan the flag that draped the casket of her husband, the ship's namesake, former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, after the graveside services for the former president. Standing next to Mrs. Reagan is Army Major General Galen Jackman, commanding general of the Military District of Washington |
External link
- The official Ronald Reagan web site (http://www.reagan.navy.mil/)
- An unofficial USS Ronald Reagan webpage (http://www.navysite.de/cvn/cvn76.html)
- Maritimequest USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76 photo gallery (http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/aircraft_carriers/pages/uss_ronald_reagan_cvn_76.htm)
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