Cyprus has become a nuclear nation for the last few days. But don’t get too worried just yet. There aren no known nuclear terrorists around here, no nuclear weapons, and we aren’t building any nuclear power stations.
We have a guest. The Guest, I better say. Here are a few quotes from the Wikipedia page to get you introduced:
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVAN-69/CVN-69), nicknamed “Ike”, is the second of 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers in the United States Navy.
She was laid down as hull number 599 on 15 August 1970 at Newport News shipyard at a cost of $679 million, launched 11 October 1975 after christening by Mamie Doud-Eisenhower, and commissioned 18 October 1977
stayed on station off the coast of Iran for over 8 months, and was at sea for a total of 254 days
At one point, she spent 152 days (or 5 ½ months) at sea without a port call, a new record.
The ship is not that far from the coast. She is best viewed from Molos promenade. If you want to make pictures, make sure to check time (sun) and weather (mist, sun). I’ve made two attempts today, but both not very successful. I’ll try to make some more pictures tomorrow. All images will be posted to this Flickr set.
For the last couple of days I wasn reading a lot about this beauty. It is one piece of technology, I’ll tell you that. If I were to describe it in one word – “magnificent” is my choice. Truly. Any characteristic I checked about it – from the number of carried aircfats and the crew size to nuclear reactors and strategic potential – makes me go WOW! If you’re not amazed by the technology, try the money side of the story. Building costs, maintenance costs, repairs – you’ll have to count all zeros carefully.
Beautiful, beautiful gadget.
P.S.: This post is a part of a group blogging effort.