We had the opportunity to take a tour of the USS George Washington with the boy's cub scout troop while it was still in port. The GW (as it is called here at Yokosuka) has been in port since the earthquake getting some repairs and maintenance work done. Many of our church members are on duty aboard the GW. It was neat to see what it was like aboard this gigantic vessel. We got a tour of the Bridge and the kids got to sit in the Captian's Chair. Then we went into the aircraft command center where they explained to us how they deal with the storage and positioning of the aircrafts and how the process works. It was really fascinating. Next we headed down to the flight deck and got to walk across the entire deck (no working aircrafts are allowed on board while they are in port) and down into the anchor room. We were told that each link to the anchor weighed about 350 lbs. The kids loved being able to be on this big ship and we even learned some interesting facts about the USS George Washington (little Abby was not with us because no one under the age of 5 was allowed on the tour).
-the GW is a mobile airfield that is able to travel more than 500 miles a day and is also a completely self-contained city with aircraft repair centers, medical and dental facilities, gyms, stores and even its own television station.
-there are approx 70 aircraft aboard that provide the ship with tremendous striking power and tactical flexibility which makes this ship the most powerful weapons system in the world today.
-the ship was commissioned on July 4, 1992
-the GW is propelled by 2 nuclear reactors
-the ship can get up to speeds of more than 30 knots
-the flight deck is 257 ft long
-the height from keel to mast is 244 ft (equal to a 24 story building)
-there are 2 gigantic anchors each weighing 30 tons
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