The Arabian Gulf, July 9, 2000 — Winner of the 1999 Golden Anchor award for retention, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) displays two golden anchors at her bow while in the Arabian Gulf Sunday in support of Operation Southern Watch. The Golden Anchor awards are presented to those commands who are most successful in retaining the high quality Sailors needed for today’s highly-technological Navy.
Can I go fishing off the edge of that thing? I mean, if you want to retain high quality sailors, what i more relaxing than fishing next to the guns on deck? (smile!)
Is that you in the picture, Chief?
You might realize just how important that little award (Pun intended) is when you hear what the retention rate is in the Navy as a whole. It ain’t good. I don’t know the numbers for the rest of the Navy, but fighter pilot retention is something like 18% for FA-18s, and can be as low as 6% for S-3B’s. They need around 40%. You won’t see it now, but in about three years, get ready to read about a lot of airplane accidents during deployments, because there aren’t enough old timers to bring the new pilots up to speed.
You don’t know how much I fought to get a few pictures of the ship up on CHINFO’s website.
I’ve released better than 800 images, but until I called D.C., screamed, threatened, castigated and cajoulled I couldn’t get photos posted.
Damn, civilians.
I’ve always wondered about that. I know it’s several stories down to the water, but a decent-sized reel can hold a couple hundred yards of line.
Does anyone ever fish off a carrier when it’s at anchor? I’m sure that, when she’s underway, 25+ knots is a bit too fast for trolling.
One more thing…it’s named after a president, but it’s still a she. That’s weird.
Fishing, though possible, is rarely allowed from the decks of any U.S. Navy ship. Cutting bait, full creels, scales, guts, discarded hooks, tangles of line… shiver not a very shipshape picture.
Additionally, what are you gonna do with the fish? You throw 'em back from three stories up they’ll die when the hit with the water. I wouldn’t want fresh fish all over the reefers. The galleys aren’t set up for you to cook your own fish and there’s no way you’ll catch enough to feed a crew of 4,700!
That being said…
While stationed aboard the USS Yosemite (AD-19) in 1985, we had to occasion to be anchored for 69 days off the coast of Masira, Oman. The skipper, an avid fisherman, opened the fantail for fishing on the weekends.
I think it lasted for about three weeks until the stench of fish overpowered the smell of the paint locker! The first lieutenant secured it soon after.
Wow. We have a Navy transport ship from WWII docked at our waterfront today (the John W. Brown). I thought it was big. Shit, now it looks like a tugboat.
Alas, fair Kim.
Were the same mistake made more often with my crotch.
For the love of GOD, someone get this man laid. wink
Wait a minute. You want someone to think it’s big, then discover that by comparison, it’s not?
That can’t be what you were going for.
You want someone to think it’s a tugboat?
Nope, that’s not it either.
Oh, wait, I get it. You want someone else tugging on it. Is that it?
Chief, you need to get off of that ship.
Nope.
I just need to get off.
Chief hon? WE KNOW. 
I don’t know if the trolling is good but even my old boat ,the Connie (CV 64), was fast enough to water ski from. She had a wicked shimmy at 30 knots but the old girl could haul ass even though she wasn’t modern and nook-yoo-ler powerd. When you see guys dangling lines over the catwalk rail they aren’t fishing though, they’re doing laundry. All you need is a hundred feet or so of shroud line (the Connie was 65 feet from the flght deck to the waterline) from the rigger’s shop and a mesh laundry bag. Let your unmentionable splash around in the wake for a while then go rinse them out in fresh water then you have ocean fresh skivvies.
I did my laundry that way once or twice on the Yo-Yo.
It’s not permitted anymore.
Actually, what has always amazed me about aircraft carriers is how small they are considering that really fast airplanes take off from and land on them.
I understand the mechanics of it all, but am still amazed when I see one that it isn’t bigger. Of course, when I stop considering that aspect it does fill me with a certain pride in our species that we can build something that big that can move (let alone move so fast).
TG - Of course you can. Have you not seen McHale’s Navy?
D&R
Wakeboarding time! Gotta be a b!tch waiting for the boat to come back and pick you up when you wipe out, though.
>> Actually, what has always amazed me about aircraft carriers is how small they are considering that really fast airplanes take off from and land on them
That’s why they make them go so fast. Once the ship is going forward at the same speed as the plane needs to be in the air, then you can do with a very short runway for take off and landing. Think about it, if the plane is flying low and the ship is going the same speed underneath, it’s like the runway is runing forward and, in effect, makes it much longer.
Some other day I’ll get into the angled runway which is needed when the ship’s course deviates substantially from the meridian.
As ChieffScott has explained, the increase in ship speed makes for better airplane launch and landing but you cannot do your laundry by trailing it in the drink because at that speed it just bounces skimming the surface.
And then there were the shark attacks on the laundry. (Yes, chief , sir, the shark ate my pants…)
Lots of cool stuff to read about it here, too. You can even write to a sailor Tee Hee!
And Chieffie, when I asked my boss about time off to come to the tour, he told me he’d been there and showed me some pictures. I scanned a few and uploaded them here for you to see. Anybody in them look at all familiar to you? Small world, eh? (The first pic there isn’t of his tour, but I threw it in there anyway).
I still hope to be able to come out there, even though the tour is off.