NIMITZ (CVN-68) class Weapon Systems // Ships // Aircraft Carriers

These are the largest warships ever built. Construction of this class covered 32 years, a record for a single class in the steam and steel age. A program to construct the first three carriers of this class was approved by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara during the Vietnam War initially as replacements for the three MIDWAY-class carriers in order to maintain a force of 13 large carriers (i.e., CV-41, 59-64, -66, -67, and CVN-65, 68-70). The first three ships were delayed during...