Funny, I began to think back on where I've been. Aside from shore stations (Great Lakes, Millington, Miramar, Norfolk, North Island) there were these:
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USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)

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USS Nimitz CVN-68 (Looking kind of rough, after a long sea period)

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USS John C. Stennis CVN-74, shown here passing the Arizona Memorial

Of them all, I think the "BIG JOHN" was the best
Strange to think now that I spent more than seven years on those things.

Floating cities, with an airport on the roof


And you can't really imagine the size of them until you walk up onto the pier next to them and can not see the far end...
Those airplanes on the flight deck are each almost the length of a semi truck -
But they look like toys, don't they?

In the last picture, the custom of "Manning the Rails" is being performed. The figures you see around the edge of the deck are sailors wearing their dress white uniforms. How small they seem; but they better have their very best uniform and ribbons on - or their chief will have their ass for breakfast! US Marines are at the bow.

~Those were some times, GOOD times

I have been a part of something much bigger than myself, and it was glorious.

 

I spent one day on the constellation that thing is huge!

 

Pretty boats.

 

My ex wife's new hubby was stationed on the Nimitz

Too bad that little prick didn't fall over board

 

Based on what the crew told me last time I saw the Nimitz, being stationed on it was punishment enough.

Here's another shot of the Stennis from a different source, maybe that will work.

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Transiting the San Diego Channel, returning to North Island after a 7 1/2 month deployment.
The two aircraft on deck are probably broke...

 

Nuts. Well I'm burnt out from today, and I don't really want to rob the image wholesale.
Maybe later on I'll just post the link to it. Hmm...

Come to think of it:

http://media.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/SHIP_CVN-74_USS_John_C_Stennis_Into_Pearl_lg.jpg

http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/027473a.jpg

That should do it.

 

I know it. Even after being around them for years I would still just stop and stare at them from the pier from time to time. It's like seeing a skyscraper built sideways instead of vertically.

 

As a kid in NYC I used to visit all the Navy ships when they were in port . One sad and sobering visit was , as a Cub Scout , to the Benjamin Franklin .Still battered from the war we were told the whole story of her fight and was lucky to survive !!

Another fine ship was the SS United States .Her secret hull was the model for future big Navy ships !! Had I been a few years older I think I could have weaseled on board while she was being built .I had a very good connection !

 

One major investor for the rebuilding of the SS United States has just pulled out . She may now be doomed !

 

Rebuilding ? a nearby bridge will finally be rebuilt. A single lane , 100 year old bridge of unique design . Crossing the Delaware River at Pond Eddy NY/PA.
It has started so today I started to photograph it . Not just a few snapshots but a complete set to document the whole project . I did the same for the next bridge up river -hundreds of photos. It started with me doing the same of the Verrezano Bridge in Brookyn !!! Also in this area is the restored aquaduct for the D&H Canal ,now a vehicle bridge ,made by John Roebling [ as in Brooklyn Bridge ] !
I have to do something with my retirement time ,not being a mechanic. Document a real project !!

 

Here's some perspective. Carrier next to a destroyer. Keep in mind, the destroyer (guided missile destroyer) is some 515' (L) by 50' (W).

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Hey! That's the "RON BOAT" (USS Ronald Reagan)

I saw it in Newport News when the Nimitz pulled into the shipyard for it's refit in 2000. At the time - the hull didn't even have it's upper decks installed, there was a backlog on the electric drive motors for the prop shafts, so they had to wait until GE delivered them to finish it up.

*See if you can spot the EA6B in the deck load...

There are 33 Lawn Darts, a pair of Hawkeyes, an H-60 between cat 3 & 4, and a lone Prowler in the mix.

~ Looks like another pair of H60's next to the island with their rotors folded.

I see they put the satcom dome back near the LSO platform

PS: A quarter mile is 1320 feet, carriers are said to be a quarter mile long.