STOSC::TCOMEAU@SCIVAX.STSCI.EDU (Tom Comeau @ Space Telescope Science Institute) (01/23/91)
From: "STOSC::TCOMEAU"@SCIVAX.STSCI.EDU (Tom Comeau @ Space Telescope Science Institute) >From: dps@otter.hpl.hp.com (Duncan Smith) > >I noticed something about the carriers listed as deployed: > >America >Midway >Forrestal The last information I saw indicated that _America_ and _Midway_ were in the "Arabian Gulf" (Persian Gulf to the rest of us). _Forrestal_ deploys (possibly today) for carrier qualifications and training in the Jacksonville, FL, area. There is a *_rumor_*, very explicitly not confirmed by Pete Williams (Undersecretary of Defense for Public Affairs) that _Forrestal_ will then deploy the "Kuwaiti theater of Operations", which includes the Red Sea. Carrier quals will take several weeks (typically 3-6 weeks) and the Pentagon explicity did not want to discuss where it would go (if anywhere) when its training cruise was completed. >Ranger >John F. Kennedy >Theodore Roosevelt Missing from this list is _Saratoga_, which is operating from the northern Red Sea. >Aren't all except the last two conventionally powered? And all >except the last one, which is brand spanking new (CVN-71?), in >the region of twenty-plus years old? Only _TR_ is nuclear powered. _Big John_ (JFK) is oil-fired, though it was built after _Enterprise_. > >Perhaps this is an accident of rotation, but it looks to me >as if a decision has been taken to husband the CVNs. Using CVs, rather than CVNs, makes a lot of sense. All of these carriers will be doing (presumably are doing) almost constant flight ops, which means they will have to replenish their jet fuel bunkers nearly daily. Given that the oilers must be present, they may as well refuel the oil bunkers. Also, one significant feature of the CVNs is the ability to go long ranges at speed, which is not required of the carriers deployed to the Mid-east, but may well be required of a CVN that goes to a hotspot elsewhere in the world. I would not be suprised to see _Forrestal_ replace _TR_, leaving only conventionally powered carriers in this area. However, _Forrestal_ was supposed to become the training carrier (and _Midway_ is supposed to be retired) this fiscal year. If the demand keeps up, _Kitty_Hawk_ is either out of SLEP (Service Life Extension Program) or will be shortly. >Otherwise, where are Enterprise, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nimitz and >Carl Vinsen? I believe _Enterprise_ is in refit. This refit is supposed to be the equivalent of SLEP which includes refueling, but is being called something else. The others are out defending the rest of the free world. >Is there going to be a CVN-72(?), maybe named Paul Revere? CVN-72 is the _Abraham_Lincoln_, which I believe is on trials, and is for the moment without an air wing. There is a _Paul_Revere_ in reserve, an APA (troop carrier). tc> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tom Comeau | tcomeau@stsci.edu (Internet) Senior System Manager, ops support | tcomeau@stsci (BITNet) Space Telescope Science Institute | scivax::tcomeau (SPAN) 3700 San Martin Drive | Baltimore, MD 21218 | (301) 338-4749 (Ma)^G ------------------------------------------------------------------------