Combat Ships

This time, on Combat Ships...

Record-breaking vessels that made history.

They allow the United States

to exercise and extend American power around the world

almost instantaneously.

It's got power.

You see that thing coming at you,

you're like, come on now,

we're gonna kick some...

The German battle cruiser

that defied the odds.

The warship that changed naval combat forever.

She is the weapon of mass destruction at a time,

because nothing could beat her in a ship-to-ship battle.

And the record-breaking sub

that dominated the Battle of the Atlantic.

The British, and later, the Americans,

are literally throwing everything they've got

to try and contain the submarine menace.

They can't let that threat go unchallenged.

The year 1972

is a turning point in naval history.

A combat ship is launched that breaks the mold.

The US Navy unveils a record breaker.

The USS Nimitz.

The Nimitz-class is the largest of its kind in the world.

Ten are commissioned. And all are still operational.

This is a whole new dimension of carrier capability.

And they become not only

the practical application of naval power,

they become the symbol of naval power.

I mean, come on. It's all anyone has to see.

You see that thing coming at you,

you're like, come on now,

we're gonna kick some...

When I wake up in the morning

and I put my boots on, I get ready, you know,

go on the flight deck, have my cup of coffee,

sunrise and everything, and smell the fuel

and, you know, getting ready,

it's like, you don't know what's gonna happen.

It's all about the rush.

Below the flight deck

of the record-breaking Nimitz carriers

are vast hangars, providing shelter

and maintenance areas for the aircraft.

Below the hangars

are facilities for the ship's crew and air wing.

They carry not only their own shopping areas,

eating areas, stores,

barbershops...

everything that a city would have

to sustain life at sea,

and yet it can also steam at 30 knots.

So, it's a remarkable piece of technology.

It's a huge city

that's ready to defend 24-7, 365 days a year.

These revolutionary combat ships

have been patrolling the globe for over 50 years.

Large aircraft carriers in the present day

have incredible utility.

At its most basic level,

you can send a carrier strike group

to pretty much anywhere in the world

that will carry up to 80, 90 combat aircraft,

which can then engage an opponent.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

and carrier strike groups in general

are the centerpiece of naval power.

We actually project

our aircraft carriers and carrier strike groups

as a means of reassuring

our partner nations and our allies,

"We are here for you if you need us.

"And we're here when you need us."

The Nimitz-class has two nuclear reactors

that allow them to operate at sea for longer

than any vessel in history.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier actually has

a 50-year lifespan,

with one planned midlife refueling,

wherein we put the ship in

a significance maintenance availability.

We remove the spent uranium

and replace it with new uranium.

If you needed to keep the aircraft carrier out to sea,

you could conceivably keep it out to sea,

the ship itself running for 25 years.

The first aircraft carriers

have no power of their own.

Known as Seaplane Lighters,

they are towed by British Royal Navy destroyers.

On the short deck is a single biplane.

During the First World War,

the lighters soon prove their worth,

and a much larger version is designed.

The first British aircraft carrier,

the HMS Furious,

had the ability to launch aircraft,

but didn't have the ability to retrieve aircraft,

in that planes would actually have to ditch in the water

and they'd have to fish the pilots out of the water

when they ran out of fuel. This is not ideal

when you're trying to sort of preserve your limited numbers

of naval aviators.

By the late 1920s,

massive aircraft carriers

are being built across the world.

The dimensions change,

but the principle of a floating airfield

remains the same.

It is during the Second World War

that the carrier proves itself for the first time.

In the naval battles of the Pacific Ocean,

they make the difference between victory and defeat.

At the beginning of the war, aircraft carriers

are there to support the mission of the battleship,

which will ultimately sink the enemy's fleet.

By the end of the war, these roles are reversed.

Battleships are there to protect the aircraft carriers,

so aircraft carriers can launch aircraft

and sink the enemy's fleet

before the two ever come into sight of one another.

When World War II ends,

carriers are already firmly established

as the dominant form of naval warfare.

In the post-war years,

the size and capability of carriers increases.

Today, the US Navy has

the largest carrier fleet in the world.

The airplanes they carry

get bigger and bigger,

with longer range.

They can carry nuclear weapons.

So, they become a strategic platform,

as well as a tactical platform.

They allow the United States to exercise and extend

American power around the world almost instantaneously.

It allows you to take air power

and insert it into basically any portion of the earth

that is within range

of those aircraft being launched at sea.

The record-breaking Nimitz-class

is built for the Cold War,

but is never tested against the Soviet Union.

But they prove their worth in multiple crises.

Most notably after 9/11.

The first instruments of American power

to be on station to respond to the terrorist attacks

are the aircraft carriers.

They can sail immediately, on September 11th

towards the Arabian Sea and be ready to sustain

continuous flight operations that are gonna play a huge role

in the toppling of the Taliban in October of 2001.

On 9/11,

the Nimitz carrier USS Carl Vinson

is off the coast of India.

It immediately changes course to take part in

what becomes known as Operation Enduring Freedom.

On October 7th,

the first airstrikes are launched from the carrier.

It's the start of 72 days of attacks,

four thousand sorties in all.

The ordinance people started loading the F/A-18s,

and it kept going out, in, out, in, all day, all night.

I'm not supposed to worry about what their job is,

or what their mission is.

My job is to make sure

they leave this aircraft carrier and come back safely.

The Nimitz carriers have a significance

far beyond their size and firepower.

One of the things that President Clinton used to say

when confronted with a crisis anywhere in the world,

he would ask his advisors, "Where are the carriers?"

Because if you can get a carrier to that place,

you've made a statement.

They have a psychological

as well as a military capability.

Now there is the next generation

of aircraft carrier.

In 2013,

a new record-breaker is launched.

The world's largest supercarrier.

The USS Gerald R. Ford.

The USS Gerald R. Ford

is the most advanced carrier ever built.

Thirteen years in the making,

it's the ultimate combat ship

that changes the face of naval warfare.

The USS Gerald R. Ford

is packed full of state-of-the-art technology.

At a cost of $13 billion,

it is the most expensive combat ship ever built.

The Ford-class is destined to replace the Nimitz carriers,

which are nearing the end of their lifespan.

They're simply an updated,

technologically more sophisticated version

of the Nimitz-class.

For example, they have

the magnetic launching capability