Nearly 28 years ago to the day, the carrier Carl Vinson had a visitor whose death is one of the biggest news stories of the week. Elizabeth Taylor, who died Wednesday, attended the ship’s christening (or maybe commissioning) with her husband, former Navy Secretary and then Virginia Sen. John Warner. The two are shown together in a photo posted on the carrier’s Facebook page, which described her as a “friend” of the ship. The photo’s origins are unclear. The caption says it’s from the christening March 13, 1982. The ship, however, was christened March 15, 1980. The picture is probably…
Author Joshua Stewart
Naval Air Forces is using this bracket to determine the best aircraft carrier in the history of the Navy. // Naval Air Forces The month wouldn’t be complete without tournament brackets. And not to be outdone by the NCAA’s basketball showdown, Naval Air Forces has created a competition of its own. But instead of matching up the best basketball teams in the country, this bracket pits aircraft carriers against each other in a Facebook-based competition designed to determine the best aircraft carrier in U.S. Navy history. Every week is a new round, until the April 5 championship game (or contest…
The Ronald Reagan has its own cafe. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Trevor Welsh On Jan. 31 a new coffee shop opened up on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan. Apparently Hellcat Café, as it’s called, is popular enough to draw lines several sailors deep. Cafés on other carriers have also been notably successful. However, there’s just one problem: the name. Granted, Hellcat Café has a nice ring to it, and it’s a clever reference to the 1957 submarine flick “Hellcats of the Navy” which starred Reagan. There are, however, other monikers that could have worked.…
Twenty years ago this week the Iraqi army was leaving Kuwait. On Saturday, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined 22 presidents, 64 heads of state and other government officials at a commemorative parade and ceremony in Subiya, outside of Kuwait City. Pomp aside, here’s a re-cap of what the Navy said worked (and what didn’t) in Operation Desert Storm/ Shield and what future operations may look like, plus some interesting numbers courtesy of a Naval Historical Center report. Desert Storm and Desert Shield had a mix of factors that made operations easier than other…
