Sam Spade's San Francisco

Update: Update Wednesday, January 13, 2010 -

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is moving to California, but has just been given emergency deployment orders to Haiti.

The Nimitz-class supercarrier left Norfolk yesterday morning and is headed to her new homeport at San Diego where Vinson will become flagship for a carrier strike group under the Pacific Fleet.

This morning USS Vinson has been ordered to deploy at high speed to Haiti to aid and assist in earthquake recovery and security. A third of the nation - three million people - have been impacted by the earthquake. The Vinson will continue on to California when no longer need on station at Haiti. Vinson's considerable resources will be used to help Haitians for the foreseeable immediate future.

Follow this link for an incredible online resource list for Haiti relief, news, U.S. military aid news, Twitter and Facebook links and more.

Vinson will bring more than 6,000 crew members and their families to San Diego. It's as if a small U.S. city up-rooted and moved in mass from one coast to the other.

USS Carl Vinson is huge. The aircraft carrier is 1,092 feet long, 257 feet wide and is as high as a 24-story Financial District office building.

To put the sheer size of the Vinson into perspective, think about this: Like most ships and boats, Vinson has two anchors. Each one weighs 30 tons. A single link in the anchor chain weighs 360 pounds.

It's all about size and power. As Wikipedia so aptly phrased it, "Two Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors are used for propulsion (the ship is capable of steaming more than three million miles before refueling) turning 4 five-bladed screws that weigh 66,220 pounds (30 t) each driving the ship at speeds over 30 knots (56 km/h)."

But if you think those twin reactors are powerful, get a look at Carrier Wing Nine (CVW-9). CVW-9 is the force behind all those warbirds on that big bird farm. CVW-9 has evolved into the most lethal carrier-borne strike force in the world. The Air Wing is comprised of the Navy’s most modern aircraft, consisting of F-14A Tomcats, FA-18C Hornets, EA-6B Prowlers, S-3B Vikings, E-2C Hawkeyes, SH-60F/H Sea Hawks, and C-2A Greyhounds. The unique features of each type of aircraft in the air wing provide an arsenal of offensive firepower against air, surface, and subsurface threats. (more from GlobalSecurity.org and follow on Twitter)

Vinson will head Carrier Strike Group One which will include Destroyer Squadron One (DESRON), USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) and USS Lake Champlain (CG 57). Carrier Strike Groups also often include attack submarines although specific information about submarine deployment is not openly announced by the Navy.

January 13, 2010

Resources:
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) - official U.S. Navy website
Wikipedia article on USS Carl Vinson - very good information!
USS Carl Vinson Strike Group - from GolbalSecurity.org (very good info)
CVW-9 - official U.S. Navy website
CVW-9 - from GlobalSecurity.org
USS Carl Vinson photo archive - from NavSource Online
Navy Base San Diego - official U.S. Navy website
On Twitter follow USS Carl Vinson at
USS Bunker Hill - official U.S. Navy website
USS Lake Champlain - official U.S. Navy website
DESRON ONE (Destroyer Squadron One) - U.S. Navy website
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