Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!veritas!amdcad!amdcad!military From: ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Allan Bourdius) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: CGN/DLGN Classification Message-ID: <1991May18.050738.10372@amd.com> Date: 17 May 91 21:32:34 GMT Sender: military@amd.com Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Lines: 35 Approved: military@amd.com From: Allan Bourdius >If I remember correctly, the 'A' in CVA stands for 'heavy' not 'attack'. >This follows the same logic that a CA stands for 'heavy cruiser'. The >rationale behind this was to distinguish between the larger and smaller >carriers. I have never heard of CVAN, but I have heard of nuclear >carriers being refered to as CVA's. Maybe since all modern heavy carriers >are nuclear, they viewed it as being redundant to include the 'N'. Actually, "CA" stands for "Armored Crusier", not "Heavy Cruiser." CVA stood for "attack aircraft carrier" and reflected the Navy's modifications made to Essex/Hancock class carriers during the 50's and 60's. Some were converted into dedicated ASW carriers, hence they became CVS's. Those that maintained their oringinal mission were designated CVA's. "CV" stands for "multi-mission aircraft carrier" and a "CVN" is the same, but nuclear powered. Originally, the Enterprise and the units of the Nimitz class were not going to be equipped with ASW aircraft, hence their original designation as CVAN's. Once the S-3 was developed in the early 70's, this thinking was changed and the nuc carriers became CVN's. Also, there are fewer nuclear powered heavy carriers than conventional ones (Conventional: Midway, Forrestal, Independence, Saratoga, Ranger, Constellation, Kitty Hawk, America, John. F. Kennedy. Nuclear: Enterprise, Nimitz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Carl Vinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln. There are two CVN's under construction and one planned. They are the George Washington, John C. Stennis, and United States respectively. -- Allan Bourdius [MIDN 2/C (Marine Option)/Brother, Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity] ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu or 1069 Morewood Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 The opinions in this post/mail are only those of the author, nobody else.