The U.S.S. Eisenhower

As promised, here are some pictures of the U.S.S. Eisenhower, the aircraft carrier Michael deploys on. While Michael was making final preparations for the rest of his squadron to arrive and complete their last work-up, Nikki went out to visit Norfolk and take a tour of the boat.

This is the back of the boat, which is closest to the pier at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.
Each Service Member must salute the flag when getting on or off of the boat.

This is the door to the Patriot's Ready Room.

This is the interior of the ready room. Here, the air crew will plan flights, have meetings, etc. It is mostly set up like a classroom with seats all facing the front, where there is a large board. The room has computers, it's own drinking fountain, a TV that can broadcast what's happening on the flight deck and other cool stuff.

This is where Michael is served expensive, half-rotten and poorly prepared food for months at a time. I'm sure all of you will hear about it when he returns.

This is a view of the flight deck from the tower of the boat. The framing you see is for a tent. While we were there, crews were replacing the non-skid surface of the flight deck, and used giant tents to keep moisture away while it dried.

Michael on the flight deck. He is wearing his "dessert" flight suit, which is supposed to match the color of sand.

This is the hangar, right below the flight deck. The airplanes are placed on a giant elevator to go up and down between the flightdeck and hangars.

This is the tower and flight deck. This picture is taken from the left-front of the boat.

This is a picture of an arresting cable. When an airplane lands on a carrier, it is going much too fast to stop in time and not go flying off the other end of the ship. There are four arresting cables at the back of the boat, and airplanes try to catch one of the four with a hook attached to the back of the plane. The cables pull out slightly, and then stop the airplane from moving forward. (You can see how big the cable is compared to Nikki's Size 9 foot.)

These are anchor chains. They are attached to the anchors that hold the ship in place when it is not moving. They are about a foot in diameter.

This is a staircase on an aircraft carrier, basically a ladder. These are all over the ship. We must have gone up or down a ladder 30 times in an hour just while Michael was showing Nikki around the ship. In the areas where the Commanding Officer of the boat and other important people are walking around, they put shiny wood over the ladder handles. (Because, you know, that makes it so much nicer.)

Near where the U.S.S. Eisenhower was docked was this ship, the U.S.S. New York. The steel from the World Trade Center was used in making this ship.

After a few days in Norfolk, we drove up to Washington D.C. to spend a few days and see friends. Special thanks to Jaeger for being an excellent hostess!