Friendly invasion: USS Nimitz stops in Phuket
An F/A 18 jet fighter parked in front of the Nimitz's "island".
The nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Nimitz, with close to 6,000 crew on board, dropped anchor off Phuket yesterday (January 31) for a few days of R&R. It was accompanied by the guided missile frigate USS Rentz and the destroyer USS Pinckney.
Phuket is a change of scenery for the crew, who have spent seven months involved in Operation Enduring Freedom, providing air support for troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and flying more than 1,450 sorties over that benighted country – an average of 12 sorties a day.
The Nimitz is big – 333 metres long, with a fight deck covering 1.8 hectares – and goes up ten decks above the waterline and the same below. It needs to be big – it carries 62 aircraft: F/A 18 jet fighters, EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, E-2C Hawkeye command-and-control and early warning aircraft, plus a bunch of helicopters used for everything from transport to clobbering submarines. Parking space on the flight deck is at a premium.
Commanding the ship is Capt Paul Monger, and the Nimitz also carries his boss, Rear Admiral John “Fozzie” Miller, who is in charge of Carrier Strike Group 11, which includes another four warships. Both are former pilots who still enjoy a spin from time to time.
Movie buffs may recall the Nimitz starring in the the 1980 sci-fi movie The Final Countdown, alongside Kirk Douglas, James Farentino and Martin Sheen. More recently, in 2005, the US TV channel PBS aired a 10-part miniseries called Carrier, documenting naval life aboard the Nimitz.
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