USS Carl Vinson Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier & USS Princeton AEGIS Cruiser via Pearl Harbor
At the entrance to Pearl Harbor by the Officer's Club on Hickam AFB, you can oftentimes watch the Navy ships going in and out of Pearl Harbor. On 26 April 1999 we had a special treat--the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with its air wing embarked and the entire battle group were departing Hawaii following a deployment to the Persain Gulf. During this deployment, the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Battle Group participated in airstrikes in Iraq during Operation DESERT FOX and Operation SOUTHERN WATCH through March 1999. We were able to watch these huge ships pass by without the aid of tug boats. You may notice several people on the deck because this is know as a "Tiger Cruise" when family and friends can hop aboard in Hawaii and cruise back with the carrier to its home port in Bremerton, Washington.
The USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is a United States Navy Nimitz class supercarrier named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia.
You can also read about the AEGIS Combat System on the USS Princeton at this Wikipedia URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_combat_system
