[Olefin]

Have only been a forum member for a couple of weeks but have been avidly reading the old posts and there is something I feel that needs to be said about the fate of the USN carrier fleet.

A lot of people in the past have gotten their panties in a ringer about any discussions where its offered that USN nuke carriers may be surviving in the late 2000 to early 2001 time period. Most have the "well its not in canon" or "then the US would rule the waves and that would ruin the game for me" kind of flavor or bring out the tired "last fleet is shattered" argument.

However think about what it means for a carrier to be surviving versus being fully operational.

A nuclear carrier could be seaworthy and useable - but not be even close to operational.

You could have inoperable catapults, comm gear destroyed or non-functional, enough props or shafts damaged that she cant operate aircraft anymore, elevators non-functional, damage to the flight deck or hangars that is beyond their ability to repair, - the list goes on and on - but still be seaworthy and able to do something - but definitely not operational as a carier with an air wing

For that matter she doesnt even have to be damaged. Consider this list:

she doesnt have an aviation gas anymore and is in an area where they are out of it - say Europe or Korea - so while the ship works great she cant do anything with her aircraft.

She has av-gas but she is out of weapons and cant get more where she is-

she is at a dock, ready to go, but her reactor is out of fuel

Because of battle losses and spare part issues she doesnt have any operational aircraft left

Now does that mean they are useless - definitely not - but not as carriers anymore. A nuclear fueled ship like that would make a terrific troop or cargo transport (think of how much stuff you can put in her hangar decks) and if just carrying men she could bring several thousand men at once

A ship like that is hardly ruling the waves - especially considering most of them only have some light AA guns and would have to be retrofitted with better guns to defend themselves or they would be sunk by the first ship that has a gun bigger than 76mm they run into - but is still useful and still around for the day when the US gets avgas or can make the repairs

So does Belleau Wood being the last active carrier in the world mean that they are all sunk or damaged badly - not at all -

But if the Stennis is hauling passengers because its catapults are out of order and they cant get the parts then she is still around, still in commission - but definitely not operational as a carrier anymore