# If an Nimitz class aircraft carrier was found in a cornfield in Kansas... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794 "2012-01-08T03:51:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/21 "2012-01-08T14:06:51Z")
Ahh, found it. Just east of hwy 165, just south of the river in Muskcogee, Oklahoma. About 1000 feet from the river proper. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/22 "2012-01-08T14:19:03Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > (…) You _might_ be able to reuse some of the essentials (maybe the radar tower, and some structures from the flight deck) in a refit of an existing ship or as part of a replacement, but most of the body would be scrapped. Let’s not forget the aircraft! I guess the helicopters could take off by themselves, at least those that are already on the flight deck (assuming it’s reasonably level). To launch the fixed-wing aircraft, you need (a) steam pressure for the catapults and (b) a steady headwind (I think). Steam requires heat from the nuclear reactor, right? Can the reactor work in dry dock? Is it under the waterline, uh, cornline, and does it matter? For the headwind, since the ship isn’t moving, you’ll need to wait for a windy day with the desired wind direction. It helps if the ship is pointed west. Or you could use cranes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/23 "2012-01-08T14:33:32Z")
Since everyone seems to be playing along nicely, I’d add a question: If you tow/roll on jacks/ dig a canal and get it, undamaged, to the Mississippi River in the general vicinity of Kansas, can the carrier navigate the river? Is it deep enough the whole length? Is there enough width everywhere for the carrier to navigate? And no significant sand bars? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/24 "2012-01-08T14:41:45Z")
The nuclear reactors–would they continue to function? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/25 "2012-01-08T15:09:39Z")
If James T Kirk’s great great great great great great grandfathers legs are sticking out from under the keel of the aircraft carrier when it is “found” the Borg will have won. Yeah, I know but work with me here. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/26 "2012-01-08T15:30:53Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > can the carrier navigate the river? Is it deep enough the whole length? No - not even close. Various googling suggests the Nimitz draws over 30 ft, whereas the navigable channel is maintained at 9 ft. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/27 "2012-01-08T15:31:55Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > The nuclear reactors–would they continue to function? Not without a serious source of cooling water. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/28 "2012-01-08T15:43:17Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > The nuclear reactors–would they continue to function? > [@Xema](#): > > Not without a serious source of cooling water. Theeennn…Kansas got trouble. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/29 "2012-01-08T15:44:30Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > No - not even close. Various googling suggests the Nimitz draws over 30 ft, whereas the navigable channel is maintained at 9 ft. Wait for the every X years flooding. Though going under bridges could be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/30 "2012-01-08T17:48:51Z")
From Wikipedia, the _Nimitz_-class ships cost around $4.5 billion each, so maybe the question might be whether it was worth that much, minus depreciation (however you want to estimate that) to move, refloat and repair the boat. The _Gerald R Ford_ is scheduled to be ready around 2015 and was built to replace the _Enterprise_, so the answer is probably that it’s not worth it. I say we put rockets on it and try to get it into orbit! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/31 "2012-01-08T18:46:41Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > Are you watching old episodes of seaQuest DSV? Yes, that is where I got the idea from, but I haven’t seen that episode in quite awhile. IIRC the UEO used a fleet of _helicopters_ to move it; I always wondered why the aliens put the boat down on dry land when they knew damn well it was supposed to be in water. ---
**Author:** ![NadaHappyCamper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NadaHappyCamper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadaHappyCamper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/32 "2012-01-08T20:51:49Z")
Build a huge bathtub. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/33 "2012-01-08T21:25:59Z")
Reported for promoting illegal drug use. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/34 "2012-01-08T21:26:33Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > … > > Or you could use cranes. 🙂 [Try Siberian ones.](http://www.trackingcranes.org/en/siberian_crane.html)Better use them fast; they’re already in short supply. ---
**Author:** ![Walther\_Ego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Walther\_Ego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walther_Ego)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/35 "2012-01-09T11:20:11Z")
When an offshore platform is moved aboard a transport vessel, hydraulic jacks and two or four tracks (on very much reinforced ground) are used. Shipyards do move stuff on special vehicles, but those are building blocks and so not that heavy. The largest transport weights I’ve been involved with have been in excess of 10000 tonnes, so there’s still quite a leap to aircraft carriers. But ships are not that hard to cut and paste together. Cut it in 10 pieces, turn a 200ft strip of America from coast to coast to a standard offshore yard assembly site with jacks and tracks and go. Easy! You can then use this higway to move stuff from one ocean to another. If, for some strange reason, you would not want to build such a useful route, you could strip it to as small pieces as possible and move by road. Building supports for this kind of shi shape would be quite high, so I wonder if you could lift the block and turn it upside down for transport. That way the centre of gravity is low and the strips can be made narrower (and lighter!). Then we need a truck capable of moving a load the length of the beam of the carrier. The block is probably still too heavy. Unless the combination of the topography and the carrying capacity of the soil is very peculiar, the ship is not in one piece, so this helps the cutting job. But what are you going to do with a bunch of distorted ship strips? Sorry, that was not in the spirit of this thread. I take it back. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/36 "2012-01-09T11:36:06Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > It’s good that you wished the Nimitz into the cornfield, son! You win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/37 "2012-01-09T11:53:40Z")
What about dirigibles? Wasn’t there a recent documentary (narrated by Ed Asner, I think) about the lifting power of lighter than air mechanisms? Doing a quick Google search finds a bit of [information](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=399202)(warning; site is full of flakes): > [@How much can a modern dirigible lift?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-a-modern-dirigible-lift/383282/2): > > [Air at STP](http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Pneumatics/Density_of_Air/Density_of_Air.html) masses 0.077345 pounds per cubic foot. > [Hindenburg carried a gas volume](http://www.ciderpresspottery.com/ZLA/greatzeps/german/Hindenburg.html) of 7,062,000 cubic feet. > Filled with vacuum that’d lift 546231.6 pounds (273 tons). > > 7,062,000 cubic feet of is 199,973,571 liters. > At STP, that’s 8,927 moles of gas. > 8,927 moles of H[sub]2[/sub] masses 17,854 grams-\> 39.3 pounds. > 8,927 moles of He masses masses 35,708 grams -\> 78.7 pounds. > > 546231.6 - 39.3 = 546,192.3 pounds = Hydrogen filled Hindenburg lift capacity. > 546231.6 - 78.7 = 546152.9 pounds = Helium filled Hindenburg lift capacity. > > The above assumes zero mass lift bags, and structure for the Zeppelin. Regardless, modern matterials can probably trim off more than the 39 pound lift deficit incurred by using helium rather than hydrogen. So does that mean each Hindenburg-equivalent will lift 546,000 pounds? How much does an aircraft carrier weigh? The easiest cite I can find is on [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz_class_aircraft_carrier), which says that recent carriers were build by connecting 1,500,000 pound sections. So, does that mean if you attach about 3 Hindenburg-equivalents per section, you could float it a few feet off the ground and tow it? There is still the problem of support and cabling. Perhaps a cargo-net like mesh filled with bubble-wrap will provide the necessary support and water-like structure to hold the ship intact. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/38 "2012-01-09T13:37:46Z")
I think you just hit the gas and hope for the best! ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/39 "2012-01-09T13:59:06Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > So does that mean each Hindenburg-equivalent will lift 546,000 pounds? 546,000 pounds is 243 long tons. Displacement of a Nimitz is 104,000 long tons. So it will take somewhere around 427 Hindenburg sized blimps to lift the Nimitz. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794/40 "2012-01-09T14:59:39Z")
Call NOAA and ask for Dirk Pitt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-was-found-in-a-cornfield-in-kansas/608794.md?page=3)