Flattop Collection
NORFOLK (Dec. 19, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) arrives at Naval Station Norfolk after a six-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kevin J. Steinberg/Released).
I always had a soft spot for the Ike and featured her in a cameo in my zombie novels Last Stand on Zombie Island and the upcoming Pirates of the Zombie Coast.
Whats massively impressive about this picture is all the flatops tied up waiting for Ike. From left to right you see a unidentified Nimitz class (possibly the Theodore Roosevelt or the George Bush), then the recently decommisoned USS Enterprise CVN-65 with her stern facing the camera. On the pier opposite of The Big E is the USS Bataan (LHD-5). At the far right are the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) bow on and the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) stern on.
That’s six flat-tops weighing in at about 550,000 tons of warships. This is likely more than the entire rest of the world’s carriers combined. Granted the Big E is decommed and pending scrapping, and the Bataan is a gator rather than a ‘real’ aircraft carrier, but still..impressive.
Looks like Pearl Harbor on December 6, 1941 (except those are flattops instead of dreadnaughts). What genius decided to put close to half of our carrier battle groups in the same port at the same time? And during the predicted Mayan Apocalypse to boot? LOL. Let’s hope our luck holds.