Pretoria News September 29, 2008
Giant warship makes waves in SA's seas
By Graeme Hosken
Bigger than a rural South African "dorp", the USS Theodore Roosevelt is the epitome of military might and will be sailing into our coastal waters this week.
With more than 18 000 meals prepared everyday for its nearly 6 000 sailors, air and ground crew, radar and weapons operators, technicians, electricians, doctors, nurses, dentists, barbers and captain, this giant warship is one of the reasons why the US is a superpower at sea.
With 1,8ha of open space in the form of its flight deck, this floating city, which is three times the length of a rugby field and has over 1 600km of electric cables running though its hull, is one of the world's most formidable warships.
Nicknamed the "Big Stick", USS Theodore Roosevelt, is one of 10 Nimitz-class super aircraft carriers.
Her sister ships in the Nimitz's Theodore Roosevelt subclass include the USS Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, John C Stennis and the Harry S Truman.
Other Nimitz class carriers include the USS Nimitz, Dwight D Eisenhower, Carl Vinson, Ronald Regan and George H W Bush.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt - whose radio call sign is "Rough Rider" after its namesake volunteer unit in the American Spanish Civil War - has been deployed in flight battle support operations in support of operations Deny Flight and Sharp Guard over the skies of Bosnia. After the events of 9/11 she began her seventh deployment, launching initial strikes of Operation Enduring Freedom against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The 97 000-ton vessel along with her task force, which includes submarines, missile cruisers and missile destroyers with an additional 3 000 sailors, will stop outside Cape Town as part of her expected week-long goodwill visit to South Africa before continuing to her classified mission area.
The visit, which has sparked an outcry from environmentalist group, Earthlife Africa, because the vessel, which is nuclear powered, will be the first of its kind in South African waters.
Three years ago, the USS Theodore Roosevelt's sister ship, USS Harry S Truman, was turned away because she failed to secure a licence from South Africa's National Nuclear Regulator.
Any nuclear-powered vessel entering South Africa's waters must apply for a licence from the Nuclear Regulator (NR), which involves safety reports, environmental impact reports and public comment.
The Big Stick, whose range is limited only by food, has 3 200 naval personnel, which is nearly half the size of the South African Navy, and 2 480 air wing personnel onboard along with 90 aircraft and helicopters which is almost the size of the South African Air Force.
These aircraft range from the F/A-18C Hornet strike fighter, HH-60H/SH-60F Seahawk anti-submarine helicopter and the S-3A Viking anti-submarine aircraft as well as the EA-6B Prowler electronic countermeasures aircraft and E-2C Hawkeye early warning and control aircraft.
As a super carrier, The Big Stick, powered by its two nuclear reactors, can travel anywhere anytime on the orders of the US president at speeds of more than 50km/h to catapult a 35-ton aircraft from 0-241km/h in two seconds from a landing and take-off area of less than 250m.
Aircraft landing on the vessel can be brought to a dead stop with one of its four arresting wires, which have a diameter of no more than 3.5cm, in two seconds and within 96m. It has a landing area of 229m compared to a 3km runway at commercial airports.
As well as fighter aircraft and helicopters for self defence, the USS Theodore Roosevelt carries 24 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles, four Phalanx Close-In Weapons System Gatling guns, 10.50 calibre mounted machine guns.
In addition, this giant of the sea, which has a double hull specially designed to reduce damage from torpedoes instead of armour, boasts anti-torpedo countermeasures and electronic warfare suites.
According to the website Globalsecurity.org, the US Navy refers to its Nimitz class carriers as "4.5 acres of sovereign and mobile American territory". The website states that combined, all 24 US carriers of all classes add up to more than 75 acres of deck space, which is a measure of combat power. The rest of the world's carriers combined have about 15 acres of deck space, one fifth that of America's.
Defence analyst, Helmoed Heitman, said the visit which was diplomatic in nature was important not only for South Africa, but Africa as a whole. "Sending a carrier task force to a region is done for one of two reasons and that is either to cement relationships or to warn you of the impeding danger that you are facing. In this case it is to cement our friendship and our reasonably cordial relations," he said.
Heitman said the visit highlighted the importance of Africa to the US.
"They could have travelled to their mission area through the Suez Canal, but instead they have chosen to come around South Africa and this shows their interest in South Africa and the region as a whole.
"The stop off here shows that they take our navy and its capabilities seriously and view us as worthy role players in the naval world," he said adding that he hoped such visits would continue.
South African Navy flag officer fleet, Admiral Rusty Higgs agreed and said that such a visit was of major importance to both the navy and the country as a whole.
"This is the first time ever that a vessel of such capabilities is coming to SA and shows that the US recognises and respects our navy and the role we play among the world's navies," he said.
© Copyright 2008, Pretoria News
