Why US Aircraft Carriers Are Extremely Hard To Sink

[rangerrebew]

Why US Aircraft Carriers Are Extremely Hard To Sink
Story by Eli Shayotovich •
18h
 
Today's generation most likely associates aircraft carriers with the Tom Cruise blockbuster, "Top Gun." In fact, many pilots have gone on record, crediting the film as being the sole reason they joined the Navy in the first place. Carriers are the world's largest and most powerful warships -- basically floating cities -- capable of carrying a crew of 6,000 and 60 different aircraft of varying types and uses.
 
The United States fleet currently consists of 11 carriers, ten of which hail from the decades-old Nimitz class. Only one comes from the newest Ford class, which costs almost more to build than Canada spends on its entire annual defense budget.

A typical nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carrier has 25 decks layered together like a stack of pancakes, with hundreds of water-tight compartments scattered throughout. A Nimitz is 1,092 feet long (more than three football fields end to end) with a flight deck that covers more than four square acres. It sits 250 feet high and displaces some 100,000 tons of water when fully loaded.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-us-aircraft-carriers-are-extremely-hard-to-sink/ar-AA1fzIYT?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=2473b43cc42d46f9884587e3dec2bfd0&ei=9

[Kamaji]

One doesn't need to sink it, one just has to disable it.  To that end, target the catapults and the flight deck generally, so it can't be used, and target the rudder and props so that it can't be maneuvered.

[rangerrebew]

target the rudder and props so that it can't be maneuvered.

That's how the Bismarck was stopped!

[Timber Rattler]

One doesn't need to sink it, one just has to disable it.  To that end, target the catapults and the flight deck generally, so it can't be used, and target the rudder and props so that it can't be maneuvered.

Yep. And they're vulnerable to submarines.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/chinese-submarine-appeared-in-the-middle-of-a-carrier-battle_group-mx.html

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/chinese-submarine-stalked-us-aircraft-carrier/

https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/04/politics/chinese-submarine-u-s-aircraft-carrier-japan/index.html

[Fishrrman]

One small nuke on a cruise missile will do the job.
Even a direct hit won't be necessary -- just get within a few hundred yards.

With today's tech (which I'm sure the Chinese have) -- in a REAL war -- these things have become sitting ducks.