V.F.M.D.: The USS Nimitz!

"Brian, The Life of" (familycar)
05/01/2014 at 13:10 • Filed to: Shiplopnik V.F.M.D.

The Nimitz here has always been one of my favorite navy ships, primarily because I'm a big fan of her namesake. My father-n-law, who served in Navy during WWII, has a great story from back in the day. He was out on a "afternoon date" with a girl and they decided to extend things and do dinner as well. She was cold, so she asked him to swing her by her "Uncle Chester's house" to pick up a sweater. My pops-in-law, an Ensign in his Navy uniform, nearly fainted when his date introduced him to her Uncle, none other than Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz himself!

Anywho, "Old Salt" is visiting San Diego, sort of a homecoming as she was once home-ported here, from Naval Station Everett in Washington. The Nimitz is the Lead Ship of its class that includes 10 sister ships, including the Theodore Roosevelt and Reagan subclasses. These carriers are built for a 50-year service life and are going to be replaced by the upcoming Gerald Ford-class carriers starting in 2025. Some wiki deets:

Length: 1092 ft (332.8m), Beam: 252 ft (!)
Complement: 3200 sailors + 2480 air wing
Motto: Teamwork, a Tradition

Here's a neat shot of the Pasha Hawaii's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! going out as the Nimitz rolls in ... with a P-3 Orion passing above for the perfect "Fuck yeah!" factor.

DISCUSSION (31)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:14

Were I on the flight deck, an asshole, and not in mortal fear of demotion, I'd be very tempted to hit golf balls toward the marina.

For Sweden > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:14

I read this as "...I'm a big fan of her namesake, my father-n-law..."

Brian, The Life of > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
05/01/2014 at 13:15

I think it'd almost be worth it. Almost.

cazzyodo > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:21

I can't find the gif or video from Down Periscope but pretend I placed it...

__________ <—there.

pauljones > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:23

It's very weird to think that the USS Nimitz is entering the twilight of her career. Initially, she was scheduled to retire in 2018, which is right around the corner. She got a 7-year reprieve due to the delays with the Ford-class, but that's still not a whole hell of a lot.

With the Nimitz gone, it's just going to be strange. I grew up studying and visiting Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Los Angeles-class attack submarines, Spruance-class destroyers, Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, Hamilton-class cutters, F-14s, F-15s, A-10s, A-6s... and now they're either gone or starting to go.

The Sprucans are all gone, F-14s are gone, A-6s are gone, A-10s don't have long for this world, many 0f the 688s are gone, half of the Hamiltons are gone, the few Oliver Hazard Perry frigates that are left have been utterly emasculated, and now the Nimitz herself is in her twilight.

I feel old now.

William Byrd > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:24

Incredible Nimitz story, that's awesome.

A friend of mine has a similar story where John Brennan checked his trunk for booze when he showed up to take his daughter out.

Brian, The Life of > cazzyodo
05/01/2014 at 13:27

LOL! I loved that movie! I guess this one will have to do ...

pauljones > William Byrd
05/01/2014 at 13:28

Wait, you mean John Brennan, the current director of the CIA?

ncasolowork2 > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:29

I would have crapped my pants if my date turned out to be the fleet admiral's niece. That's freaking hollywood shit.

cazzyodo > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:30

"That's a cool nickname...what's your real name?"

"Nitro."

::stares::

"But I've been working on a nickname...how's this? Mike."

^ from memory so may not be exact haha

Brian, The Life of > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 13:31

I know exactly how you feel, Paul. Time is a vicious bitch, indeed. The first time I heard '80s music from my high schools days on an "oldies" channel I very suddenly felt ancient.

cazzyodo > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:31

I was a little off.

Brian, The Life of > William Byrd
05/01/2014 at 13:32

"Oh shiii ... !"

ncasolowork2 > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:36

I have decided you have probably one of the most ideal living locations in the entire country. A very temperate climate in a relatively clean large city with a lot of stuff to do and to top it all off you're less than 2 hours away from LA. Oh and you've obviously got a nice view of the harbor and Coranado island. I take it you're in an apartment probably in the lantern district?

William Byrd > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 13:37

Yep. Although at the time he was just the President's Counterterrorism Adviser.

Brian, The Life of > ncasolowork2
05/01/2014 at 13:40

He very nearly did. He immediately snapped into what was probably the fastest, most ramrod-straight salute of his Navy career. Nimitz then said something to the effect of "Relax son, just have her home by a decent time."

Roundbadge > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 13:41

This is the era I'm familiar with as well...I was all excited when one of my buddies, after graduating and being commissioned, was assigned to one of them new-fangled Burke-class destroyers...

ncasolowork2 > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:41

My response would have been SIR, YES SIR SIR!

ncasolowork2 > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:42

Also a good chance she did that on purpose to put the fear of God into him.

pauljones > William Byrd
05/01/2014 at 13:47

That's hilarious. As he was searching the trunk, I would have just looked at him and said, "You can look in the trunk all you want, sir, but I keep all my booze in the glove compartment. It's much easier to reach."

William Byrd > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 13:48

And then. Boom! Watchlisted.

Brian, The Life of > ncasolowork2
05/01/2014 at 13:49

No, a house. I mentioned this before (I think) but basically we decided to rent out our house in Loma Portal and rent this one so we could move my in-laws in with us for the last couple years our kids are living at home. My in-laws were living in one of those independent living places and they just weren't very happy there. They were spending a ton of money to live there and are still so active they just weren't getting any value out of it. My wife found this freaking huge 7 bedroom, 6 bath place out in La Playa that was renting for $500 LESS than what they were paying for their "penthouse" apartment in where they were, and it just seemed to make sense ... so, here we are :)

After the kids are all off to college, we'll probably move back to our house and have them come live with us there. My pops-in-law is 90 and my mother-in-law is 80. Although he can still drive, it is definitely time for us to be watching out for them more closely.

Brian, The Life of > ncasolowork2
05/01/2014 at 13:52

*AYE-AYE, SIR!

/Navy ;)

ncasolowork2 > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 13:57

I had a condo I sold last year and moved in to a house. I would have loved to rent it as it would have genuinely been a profitable thing to do, but I worry too much about getting good tenants who don't destroy the place. Hopefully that all works out for you. Still if I was to move from west Michigan there are two places I'd like to go. Denver is one San Diego is the other. Denver gets snow, but they get a ton of winter sunshine so it typically doesn't accumulate. We, on the other hand, had 155" of snow this past winter.

pauljones > William Byrd
05/01/2014 at 14:02

I figure if I'm showing up to his house to pick up his daughter for a date, I'm already on the watch list. The only thing left is to show him you can't be bullied; if nothing else, he'll know that his daughter is hanging out with someone with the courage to defend himself and her as necessary.

Brian, The Life of > ncasolowork2
05/01/2014 at 14:03

I had so many responses to my silly little ad on Zillow. It turns out there are precious few houses in my hood for rent; most are owner-occupied. Liberty Station is becoming the "hip-n-happening" part of Point Loma and out house is within walking distance so everyone wants to live there. I was fortunate enough to find a very nice Navy family to rent it. He is a navy Ophthalmologist who will be stationed at the Navy hospital here for the next 3 years. They wanted a 3-year lease but I could only give them 2 since that's what I have here.

ncasolowork2 > Brian, The Life of
05/01/2014 at 14:05

Navy opthamologist... I can't think of a better tenant. Especially if he already has the family part established.

Brian, The Life of > ncasolowork2
05/01/2014 at 14:11

I know, right? He is at the tail-end of his assignment at NAS Lemoore up near Fresno. They wanted the house, sight unseen and were willing to send a non-refundable deposit since they were not going to be able to come down to see it for a over a week when they saw the ad. I had a few other responses before them but was not ready to show the house since it was a disaster of mid-move-out clutter. Understanding how hard it is for those guys to find a place to live when they get reassigned, I declined his deposit offer and told him he had my word they could have the place if they liked it and passed background. They saw it when it was a total mess and wanted it immediately.

William Byrd > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 14:12

If that ever happens in real life, let us know how it goes. lol

ElAgave > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 16:13

I hear you on that. But you'll always have the B-52...it's going to outlive you and I and probably a few more generations.

Kaltrop > pauljones
05/01/2014 at 22:53

I used to watch Pegasus class hydrofoils pull in and out of Key West. Gone too. Thanks, now I has a sad....