The USS Gerald R. Ford and USS John F. Kennedy are two new super aircraft carriers of the Gerald R. Ford-class that are set to be equipped by the United States Navy. In March, USS Gerald R. Ford (hull number CVN-78) will officially be commissioned, replacing the legendary USS Enterprise (CVN-65), which has served for over 51 years. Meanwhile, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is still under construction and is expected to enter service in 2020.
According to the naming convention for naval vessels established by former President Theodore Roosevelt, aircraft carriers (hull numbers CV and CVN) are named after naval admirals and politicians (typically presidents) to honor them posthumously. Except for the USS Enterprise, all other aircraft carriers are named after U.S. presidents, starting with USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67).
In the case of CVN-78, the decision to name it in honor of the 38th President of the United States was proposed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. At that time, Gerald Ford was still alive, and in January 2007, after Ford’s passing (December 26, 2006), U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter officially announced that CVN-78 would be named USS Gerald R. Ford, adhering to the naming convention.
Meanwhile, CVN-79 is the third warship named after a deceased member of the Kennedy family and is the second aircraft carrier to bear the name John F. Kennedy (the previous USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), also known as “Big John,” was a Nimitz-class carrier that has since been retired).
The USS Gerald R. Ford has a construction cost of approximately $17 to $18 billion, of which $12.8 billion is allocated for materials and labor, and $4.7 billion is designated for research and development under a contract signed between the U.S. Navy and the shipbuilding division of military contractor Northrop Grumman. This division was later acquired by Huntington Ingalls Industries in 2011.
The above image demonstrates the enormity of the USS Gerald R. Ford while the ship was still in Dry Dock 12 at Newport News Shipbuilding.
Shipbuilding operations occur around the clock. The USS Gerald R. Ford features many significant upgrades compared to the Nimitz-class, especially improved living conditions for sailors with quieter sleeping quarters, more recreational areas, fitness facilities, and better air conditioning systems.
The complete ship measures 337 meters in length, 76 meters in height, with a beam of 78 meters and a full-load displacement of 100,000 tons.
USS Gerald R. Ford has a flight deck measuring 333 x 78 meters, capable of carrying over 75 aircraft and housing 4,660 sailors.
Each component manufactured for the Gerald R. Ford-class ships is designed using the Rapid Operational Virtual Reality (ROVR) system from Huntington Ingalls. USS Gerald R. Ford is the first aircraft carrier designed using this technology.
On February 25, 2011, Newport News Shipbuilding held a steel cutting ceremony for the USS John F. Kennedy.
According to estimates from Newport News Shipbuilding, it requires 2,000 tons of metal just to weld the ship’s components together.
Workers are tightening bolts on one of the propellers of the USS Gerald R. Ford using a torque wrench. The ship is equipped with four propellers, powered by two A1B nuclear reactors. These propellers will help the Gerald R. Ford-class ship achieve a speed of 35 knots (56 km/h), an impressive speed for a vessel weighing up to 10,205 tons.
Newport News Shipbuilding operates its own steel foundry, where workers are casting anchor tubes for the USS John F. Kennedy.
In the picture, pipe installer Trevin Wilson is working on the USS John F. Kennedy. The Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers are designed with significantly reduced amounts of welded piping. Compared to Nimitz-class ships, the USS John F. Kennedy has fewer than one-third of the piping valves.
An essential component on the aircraft carrier deck is the catapult system. The image shows the testing of the new electromagnetic catapult system by the U.S. Navy. On the deck of USS Gerald R. Ford, they tested a sled weighted similarly to a fighter jet down the James River.
The successful launch demonstrated that the electromagnetic catapult system can accelerate an object weighing over 45 tons to a speed of 201 km/h over a distance of less than 91 meters.
The Big Blue crane at Newport News Shipbuilding is seen lifting the air traffic control tower onto the USS Gerald R. Ford in January 2013.
This is a compartment weighing 1,026 tons—the heaviest component among the structures of the USS Gerald R. Ford. This compartment measures 38 meters long and 38 meters wide, positioned below the ship’s deck, and it houses various systems including fire-fighting systems, jet fuel, and the aircraft launch system.
In the past, warships were typically built from the bottom up. Nowadays, ships are constructed in modular sections. In the image, engineers are lowering the final structural piece of the USS Gerald R. Ford.
This is the bow section of the USS Gerald R. Ford, weighing around 680 tons, being lowered by a crane to be fitted onto the hull.
The crane at Newport News Shipbuilding is assembling the upper bow section, weighing 787 tons. This process requires a very high level of precision.
Susan Ford, daughter of Gerald R. Ford and honorary sponsor, visited the ship named after her father in 2011. She closely followed many construction stages of the USS Gerald R. Ford, and in the image above, she is assisting an engineer in tightening a component on the main deck of the ship.
An aerial view shows the USS Gerald R. Ford during its completion process. The ship has been in Dry Dock 12 for approximately seven years, and after 25 years of service, it will return to this dry dock.
Painting is a crucial step in the completion of all ships, and Newport News Shipbuilding estimates that nearly 760,000 liters of paint and 170 workers were used to paint the entire USS Gerald R. Ford. Additionally, this ship is coated with a self-healing paint that can withstand heat and ultraviolet rays.
The naming ceremony for CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford took place on November 9, 2013. In the image, Susan Ford is smashing a bottle of premium Portuguese wine against the bow of the ship.
USS Gerald R. Ford will join the United States Navy fleet on March 16 this year. At the naming ceremony, the president of Newport News Shipbuilding, Matt Mulherin, announced: “The ship will be the queen of the seas for 50 years and will serve as a symbol of America’s supremacy wherever it goes. At the same time, the ship will represent Gerald R. Ford, a man who embodied integrity, honor, and courage.”
Timelapse video of the construction process of the super aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78):
