The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered USS Gerald R Ford, arrived in the Solent this morning (Monday).
On her maiden deployment, some 17 years after development began, the gigantic vessel is anchored down in Stokes Bay off Gosport for the next 5 days as she is too big to enter Portsmouth Harbour.
The lead ship of her class made the journey past the coast of the East Wight at about 11:00, passing Ryde Pier Head at around 11:30.
Unmissable due to her sheer size, the $12.8billion, 100,000-tonne Ford-class naval vessel has travelled to English shores complete with a full compliment of jets and fighter planes aboard.
Named after the 38th President of the United States of America, Gerald R Ford the boat sits at an enormous 333m long.
Anyone wanting to grab any pictures of the warship is best advised to head up Ryde Pier where you can get a clear – mostly unobstructed – view.
Alternatively, anyone travelling on the Wightlink vehicle ferry between Fishbourne and Portsmouth is also in for a treat.
Don’t try and get closer in the water though. A 150-metre exclusion zone has been erected around the vessel deterring anyone wishing to get up close.
Whoopee – a giant killing machine…..
Would you prefer it to be a Chinese or Russian carrier sat in our waters?
Gandalf clearly doesn’t understand that russian and chinese societies live under a jack boot of control – this messaging platform would either be shut down or gandalf would have had a knock on the front door by now, from the authorities for anti establishment views, then dragged off to a “re-education centre” somewhere, if this country were under the same totalitarian dictatorships that they are – individual rights mean nothing to those people, only loyalty to state and party
The 150m is very generously and assiduously guarded; even if your boat shows sign of heading in their direction (eg while tacking) a busyboat comes screaming over. “America rules the waves” – even ours.
this isn’t about ruling waves – this is about ensuring that they can respond appropriately if someone is stupid enough to have ill intentions towards a nuclear powered warship, that is armed to the teeth.
Well, maybe the yachtie types should go and sail across the bows of a far less intimidating container ship, get their badge of honour to brag about in the squadron over a g&t?
Badge of honour being the highly prized 5 short blasts of the ships fog horn, idiots.