A interesting photo series which shows the past and the future of US Naval Warfare on one photograph. Visible are the aircraft carriers USS "Nimitz" (CVN-68) and the USS "John F. Kennedy" (CV-67) (The latter one is visible on just one of the photos together with the "Nimitz") during Operations in the Mediterranean in early 1987. At that time, the USS "Nimitz" and the other carriers of it`s class were the non plus ultra of US Naval Warfare. Gigantic, nuclear powered vessels, fully packed with state of the art technology and a air group which consisted over 70 aircraft. Just one of these ships was a powerful and strong signal of force and much more as a "just" a Naval asset. It was a political tool. Every aggressor knew pretty well what it meant if a US carrier appeared off coast of their country.
The "John F. Kennedy", which was the one and only vessel of its class, was of course not less powerful and still a large vessel. But its capabilties were limited. The carrier was in fact nothing more as a heavily modified conventional powered "Kitty Hawk" class vessel and even with constant modernization efforts less powerful as the modern and nuclear powered "Nimitz" class carriers. Which not made it less useful of course. It even remained in active service until 2007, nearly 40 years of US Navy service, which is pretty impressive. But the future were nuclear powered carriers.
At the time the photos were made, the USS "Nimitz" was part of Carrier Group 8, which operated in January and February 1987 in the Mediterranean also as part of several NATO exercises in the region. The core of each Carrier Group were of course the carriers, but much more important were all the escort ships. No matter if replenishment vessels, guided missile cruisers, submarines or destroyers. Some of these assets are also visible on the photos.
All of the photos show a replenishment oiler on the right side of the "Nimitz", the USS "Kalamazoo", a tanker of the "Wichtia" class. And yes, if you ask yourself now why a nuclear powered carrier like the "Nimitz" needed a tanker, well such vessels also carried fuel for aircraft or ammunition. Both essential for carrier operations.
On nearly all photos the guided missile cruiser USS "Josephus Daniels" (CG-27 - You can recognize it on the photos as the vessel with the hull number 27) also accompanied the "Nimitz" on it`s deployment in early 1987. The "Josephus Daniels" was mainly responsible for air defense duties among the Carrier Group and armed with RIM-2 "Terrier" SAM systems.
One photo shows also the guided missile destroyer USS "Richard E. Byrd" (DDG-23 - You can recognize it as the vessel with the hull number 23) nearby the "Nimitz". Similar to the "Josephus Daniels", also the "Richard E. Byrd" was mainly responsible for air defense, armed with a variety of naval SAM systems like the RIM-24 and RIM-66 , but also the capability to launch anti ship missiles like the RGM-84 "Harpoon".
"Nimitz" class carriers are still the backbone of the US Navy carrier fleet and some were recently also part of US Operations against Iran.
