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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, October 12, 2009

Carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrives for Pearl Harbor visit tomorrow


Advertiser Staff and Wire Reports

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will arrive tomorrow at Pearl Harbor for a brief port visit, the Navy said.

The Reagan carrier strike group left the Middle East in September.
Its aircraft flew missions into Afghanistan. The strike group conducted counter-piracy operations off of Somalia and the Horn of Africa and “maritime security operations” protecting Iraqi infrastructure in the North Arabian Gulf.
Carrier Air Wing 14 provided 30 percent of all air support to ground troops in Afghanistan since July 6, flying more than 1,500 sorties.
The Nimitz carrier strike group relieved the Reagan on Sept. 18 in the Gulf of Oman, and launched its first sorties in support of Afghanistan.
The Reagan left San Diego on its fourth deployment in late May with the cruiser Chancellorsville, frigate Thach and destroyers Decatur, Howard and Gridley.
The Reagan, whose sailors are 21 years old on average, the Chancellorsville and the Gridley anchored near the resort area of Phuket, Thailand on Sept. 22.
USS Ronald Reagan stats:
• Its top speed is in excess of 30 knots.
• The carrier is powered by two nuclear reactors that can operate for more than 20 years without refueling.
• Aboard the carrier are more than 80 combat aircraft.
• Three arresting cables can stop a 28-ton aircraft going 150 miles per hour in less than 400 feet.
• The carrier towers 20 stories above the waterline and is 1,092 feet long; nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall.
• Flight deck covers 4.5 acres, and the ship has four bronze propellers, each 21 feet across and weighing 66,200 pounds.
• The carrier is home to about 6,000 personnel.