Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt anchors off Hampshire coast after arriving into UK

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USS Theodore Roosevelt too big to dock at Portsmouth in UK for five-day visit | Daily Mail Online

• USS Theodore Roosevelt anchored off coast of Hampshire because it was 'too big' to dock at Portsmouth dockyard
• Giant U.S. aircraft carrier, which measures 1,092ft in length, docked off Stokes Bay in Gosport for five-day UK vist
• Thousands of spectators lined banks of River Solent to welcome the aircraft carrier before it heads to Middle East

By Tom Payne For The Daily Mail

Published: 21:19 GMT, 22 March 2015 | Updated: 10:14 GMT, 23 March 2015

She weighs in at an impressive 100,000 tons and is longer than The Shard is tall.

And today the mammoth USS Theodore Roosevelt was anchored just off the coast of Hampshire because she was simply 'too big' to sail into the Royal Navy's historic Portsmouth dockyard.

Thousands of stunned spectators jammed roads and lined the banks of the River Solent to welcome the 1,092ft-long floating city as it arrived for a five-day visit to the UK on the first stop of a global deployment.

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Thousands of spectators lined the banks of the River Solent in Hampshire today to welcome the 1,092ft-long USS Theodore Roosevelt as it arrived for a five-day visit to the UK. The U.S. aircraft carrier, which measures 1,092ft in length, docked off Stokes Bay in Gosport, Hampshire

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The 100,000-tonne U.S. aircraft carrier was forced to anchor off Stokes Bay in Gosport because it was 'too big' to sail into the Royal Navy's historic Portsmouth dockyard. More than 5,000 sailors are set to swamp Portsmouth during the five-day visit, giving a boost to the economy

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The carrier measures 1,092ft in length, which is the equivalent to 30 London buses, and displaces up to 100,000 tons of water at full load

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The mighty ship, which is making its first port of call during a round-the-world deployment, is much larger than the Royal Navy's next generation of carriers, The Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth, which weigh in at 65,000 tonnes when they finally become operational

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Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: 'The USS Theodore Roosevelt's visit shows yet again that UK/U.S. relations are as close as ever'

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The Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir George Zambellas, said today: ‘It is excellent to see US Navy carrier steel in Portsmouth'

While a debate rages in the UK over the Government's failure to commit to the Nato target of spending two per cent of GPD on defence, the Roosevelt is a potent symbol of American military might.

With 90 aircraft on board, the ship can operate for up to 25 years at over unlimited distances, projecting US air power around the globe.

She can go three months without resupply and her two giant nuclear reactor generate enough power for a small city.

One social media user wrote: 'Most ships get measures in metres, this one comes in acres!'

 

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Anchored off the Hampshire coast, it is an awesome show of US naval power - and a timely reminder of what the Royal Navy lacks.

Towering 20 stories above the waterline with a 4.5 acre flight deck serving its 60 war planes, the USS Theodore Roosevelt made for a menacing sight today even though it is only here on a shore visit.

In a few weeks it is expected to join the air war against IS in Syria and Rear Admiral Andrew ‘Woody’ Lewis, the strike group commander on board, made clear the unshakeable faith he has in the giant U.S. aircraft carrier.

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The menacing USS Theodore Roosevelt towers 20 stories above the waterline and features a 4.5 acre flight deck serving its 60 war planes

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The aircraft and ordnance in a hangar aboard the giant aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, currently at anchor off the UK's south coast

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The warship, named after former US President Theodore Roosevelt, in office from 1901 to 1909, features his bust in an onboard museum

‘We’re not in the business of going looking for a fight, but when it is time to fight we are going to go out there and win,’ he said.

The 1,092 ft long warship, named after the former US President from 1901 to 1909, will be joined on its mission by our HMS Duncan, the latest Type 45 destroyer. But the Royal Navy, of course, currently lacks any aircraft carriers, let alone one the size of USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Asked if there is a capability gap in the Royal Navy, Rear Admiral Lewis tactfully replied: ‘There certainly is in naval aviation.’

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The 1,092 ft long warship, will be joined on its mission by our HMS Duncan, the latest Type 45 destroyer. Pictured: U.S. naval personnel work onboard the aircraft carrier

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A gun belonging to President Roosevelt is on display in the museum on board the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt

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Planes parked on the flight deck of the US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of ten Nimitz class aircraft carriers in the U.S. fleet

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The USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently at anchor off the UK's south coast as it is too big to enter one of the Royal Navy's major bases

It left Norfolk, Virginia, two weeks ago and this is its first stop on what will ultimately be an eight month mission. Yesterday the media were invited to tour the vast ship as crew members made the most of their chance to visit dry land.

A 45 minute ferry trip took us out to the Roosevelt - and brought some of the crew back. Around 800 of them were said to have headed for Portsmouth’s pubs and clubs on Sunday night.

Unlike in the Royal Navy, US ships are ‘dry’ and no alcohol is available on board. A few of those returning to the ship yesterday morning looked a little bleary eyed, some having spent the night on dry land, in some cases up to half a dozen of them sharing single hotel rooms on their shore leave.

For those crew in search of more cultural activities, there is a civilian worker on board known as the ‘Fun Boss’. She has organised 12 different outings during the five days they are here, including coach trips to Stonehenge, Bath and London, and an outing to the D-Day beaches at Normandy.

Thousands have signed up for the excursions, said our guide for the day Lieutenant Courtney Callaghan, 26, a US Navy public affairs officer, whose husband is also in the navy but on another ship.

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The 100,000-tonne ship, nicknamed Big Stick, will remain off Stokes Bay in Gosport for the duration of its first port of call in its round-the-world deployment. Pictured: U.S. naval personnel work onboard the US aircraft carrier

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Unlike in the Royal Navy, US ships are ‘dry’ and no alcohol is available on board, so around 800 crew members were said to have headed for Portsmouth’s pubs and clubs on Sunday night

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Up on the flight deck, air crew were maintaining the aerial firepower, consisting mainly of F18 fighter jets of different types including Hornets, Superhornets and radar jammers nicknamed ‘Growlers’

She welcomed us aboard in her Texan drawl with the words: ‘This is my big beautiful girl.’ On the way up to the flight a small sign on the wall reminded us that the Roosevelt may be ‘beautiful’ but it is not to be messed with – it showed a skull with two crossed anchors and two stars and stripes flags with the words: ‘We own the sea’ beneath.

Up on the flight deck, air crew were maintaining the aerial firepower: mainly F18 fighter jets of different types including Hornets, Superhornets and radar jammers nicknamed ‘Growlers’, but also E2 Delta Hawkeyes with their eye-catching circular radar on top and Seahawk helicopters. There is a 3.5 acre hangar bay beneath and they are lifted on to the flight deck by four aircraft elevators.

Lieutenant Christ Tate, 32, the pilot of a P3 four-engine patrol plane, from Los Angeles, described life at sea on the supercarrier. ‘You could say it’s like going to work in your office block and not leaving,’ he said. ‘It’s a love-hate relationship. You get used to it, but one big thing is all the narrow corridors.’

Others put it more bluntly. ‘It feels living in warehouse if you don’t get a chance to get off,’ said one. Despite the 100,000 ton ship’s massive dimensions, it does feel claustrophobic as you walk through its maze of narrow corridors and steel ladders that lead from level to level. But as Lieutenant Callaghan explains, it is not meant to be a pleasure cruiser for the crew, around 16 per cent of whom are women.

Nevertheless, her colleague ‘Fun Boss’ also organises bingo, karaoke, movie nights, and even a knitting circle. The ship also has seven gyms and a collapsible basketball court, and wrestling competitions are also arranged.

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A layout of the ship's aircraft, including mainly F18 fighter jets and E2 Delta Hawkeyes, in the Flight Operations room on board the carrier

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The ship carries enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days and serves 18,150 meals a day. Pictured: Captain William Paxton in the Flight Operations room

Meals are served four times a day to cater for the round-clock shifts worked on board. The ship carries enough food and supplies to operate for 90 days and serves 18,150 meals a day. Distillation plants provide 400,000 gallons of fresh water from sea water daily - enough for 2,000 homes.

Men and women have separate quarters and ‘restrooms’, as the Americans call lavatories. Overall there are 14,000 pillowcases on board and 28,000 sheets. There are also 30,000 light fixtures, 1,600 miles of cable and wiring, and 1,400 telephones.

Moe obviously, there is a large stuffed Moose’s head mascot nicknamed ‘Bully’ in a nod to former US President Roosevelt’s love of nature, and a Roosevelt-themed on-board museum with exhibits including his pearl-handled Colt 44 pistol.

The ship is steered from a room high in the ‘island’, the 10-level tower rising from the starboard side of the flight deck. A team of 15 to 18 man the controls.

Asked how it was docking here, one of them, Quartermaster Efrain Torres, 34, said: ‘A little bit challenging.’ Despite a plethora of high-tech navigation equipment, paper charts were also laid out yesterday.

In similarly surprising low-tech fashion, a few floors down in a flight deck control room two crew run what they call the ‘ouija board’– a Perspex-topped table where exact 1/16th scale flat cut out models of all the aircraft are positioned to show exactly where they are on the flight deck at any given time. Different coloured nuts are placed on them to show their status; for example, a purple nut means ‘needs fuel’.

But as we left after three hours on board, there was stark reminder of the ruthless efficiency of the Roosevelt’s crew in the form of an all girl machine gun crew looking down over us as we boarded the ferry back to shore.

 

[Hindustani78]

Haglund’s visit to U.S. aircraft carrier raises controversy | national | Finland Times

A high-profile visit by Finnish Defence Minister Carl Haglund to a U.S. aircraft carrier in the English Channel over the weekend has aroused political controversy in Finland, media reports said on Monday.
The Finnish Speaker of Parliament, Eero Heinäluoma, has expressed surprise with the visit and wondered what kind of message the visit was intended to send.

Interviewed on a commercial TV network, Heinäluoma said the defence minister was "at the wrong place at the wrong time".

Haglund visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt along with Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist and British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Haglund dismissed that his visit was in any way connected with the Finnish debate about a NATO membership.

The commander of the U.S. naval forces in Europe, admiral Mark Ferguson, told a Finnish national radio reporter on the carrier that the United States wants to show military preparedness.

"Decision on joining NATO is totally in the hands of the Finns," he was quoted as saying.

The visit by Haglund preceded joint maneuvres launched by the U.S., Finnish and Swedish air forces beginning on Tuesday.

Commenting on the criticism by Heinäluoma, Haglund said it would have looked odd that a Finnish minister cannot visit a U.S. air craft carrier if Finnish forces can exercise together with the USAF.

Haglund also pointed out the fact that Finnish jet fighters are F18 Hornets. "It is a U.S. naval airplane, not from the air force," he said.

The joint exercises take place mainly over international waters between Finland and Sweden. The aircraft carrier was sailing in the English Channel, far from the Baltic Sea.


Is Finland going to join NATO ?