USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is a "supercarrier" and the lead ship in her class. Ordered for the US Navy, the vessel is currently under construction and is scheduled for commissioning in 2015. She will replace the half-century-old USS Enterprise.
Construction
The keel of the Gerald R. Ford was laid at the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Company in Newport News, Virginia in November of 2009. When completed, she will displace approximately 100,000 tons and measure 1,092 feet in length with a beam of 134 feet. Carrying in excess of 75 planes, she will have a crew compliment of 4,660 officers and seamen.
Propulsion will be provided by a pair of A1B nuclear reactors produced buy the Bechtel Corporation, which should be able to keep the vessel going for a minimum of twenty years. This new type of reactor was designed specifically for the needs of the Gerald R. Ford and other carriers of this class.
Repairs and Upgrades
One of the drawbacks of the current Nimitz-class carrier is the limited ability to integrate new technology into the current design. One of the reasons has to do with limitations of the nuclear reactors, which can only generate so much in the way of power. An additional problem occurs with a vessel's stability; each time systems are upgraded, it adds to the top weight and changes the ship's center of gravity. These issues have been addressed in the design for the Gerald R. Ford-class.
The command center island is located much further back, closer to the port side stern than previous carrier designs. This allows for a much larger, more open flight deck as well as space for a centralized and more automated aircraft servicing and preparation. Such design features require fewer actual crewmen, speeds up the rate of rearmament and will make it possible to launch more missions in a shorter amount of time.
Wartime Service
Although the role of the new Gerald R. Ford-class in future conflicts cannot be predicted (and one always hopes unnecessary), it is considered to be the culmination of the US strategy of power projection that began with the construction of the Nimitz-class in the 1970s.
Asbestos Risk on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
The use of asbestos aboard new US naval vessels was been eliminated in the 1980s and remaining asbestos on older vessels was removed in the 1990s. New fireproofing materials are being used aboard the Gerald R. Ford and its successors.
The use of asbestos insulation in the construction of all vessels was mandated by Congress in the 1930s, after a deadly fire on the SS Morro Castle caused the deaths of more than 100 passengers and crew. As science proved conclusively that asbestos insulation was a major health risk for anyone working with it, the Navy began finding substitutes for the installation of asbestos in ships as well as dockyards, and by beginning of the 1980s asbestos was not commonly in use.
When asbestos is worn or damaged it can become friable, meaning that individual fibers can be broken off and escape into the surrounding air, and then are breathed in by sailors and repair workers, increasing the odds of developing mesothelioma. When asbestos enters the body, microscopic fibers lodge in the mesothelial layer, a thin body of cells which wraps around and buffers the interior organs, and can eventually cause malignant mesothelioma. Unfortunately, a mesothelioma prognosis is not usually optimistic - most mesothelioma patients survive for around a year once they are diagnosed. With current medical technology there is no mesothelioma cure, however, there are many palliative approaches that may enhance survival time and make sufferers more comfortable, such as mesothelioma chemotherapy.
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Sources
Northrop-Grumman Corporate Website. "Shipbuilding: Gerald R. Ford Class Aircraft Carriers"
http://www.sb.northropgrumman.com/products/geraldrfordclass/cvn78/index.html Retrieved 15 December 2010.
Shank, John. "Modernizing the US Aircraft Carrier Fleet: Accelerating CNV 21 Production vs. Midlife Refueling." (Santa Monica: Rand Corporation, 2005).
