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Visiting good friends while I was in Virginia Beach for this year’s NAS Oceana Air Show, I received a surprising invitation. “What are you doing October 1st? Want to go out on the boat?” I was told that the U.S.S. George Washington (CVN-73) was hosting a “Friends and Family Cruise.” I was welcome to come onboard if I wanted. Without hesitation I accepted his invitation.
Early on the morning of October 1st we met up and headed to Naval Station Norfolk to meet up with the Washington at Pier 14.. Following a quick visit with security, we headed up the gangway and into the cavernous hangar bay of CVN-73. The hangar bay was set up with tables and chairs, buffet style breakfast area, a section where demonstrations about ship life were going on, and even a kid’s section which included miniature golf and a rock climbing wall.
The Washington is a massive ship. It is 1,092 feet long, which is 46 feet longer than the Chrysler Building in New York City is tall, including its basement levels. The flight deck is 4.5 acres, the George Washington typically has 70+ aircraft embarked, and can accommodate 6,250 crewmembers. I have seen aircraft carriers many times, but you forget the sheer scale of everything until you are standing in the middle of one.
At 6:30am the ship’s captain, Captain Timothy C. Kuehhas came over the speaker system and welcomed everyone aboard. He informed us that we would sail at 7:00am, and that we would be invited to go up to the flight deck to watch as we pull away from Norfolk Naval Station, and head out to the Atlantic Ocean. He told us what a beautiful view it is as the ship passes over the area’s bridge tunnels.
CVN-73's 'island.' In this image, you can see 2 people just to the left of the island - giving a sense of just how massive the ship is.