upcoming pbs special: life aboard the uss nimitz

[lazygood4nothinbum]

one for the nords. happened to catch a preview of the making of the documentary "carrier" (a ten-part mini-series) airing april 27-may 1. looks very good.

CARRIER | PBS

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Neat. I had a relative who served aboard the Nimitz. He had some really great stories.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

they said they are doing it like a reality tv show only better (i hope). you could see from the preview that the producers were very into it.

 

[hankster]

I took a tour last month of the USS Midway in San Diego. I had never even been close to an aircraft carrier before that. The size and complexity of these amazing machines have to be seen first hand to fully appreciate the service of the men and women who operate them.

 

[Walt34]

The ship tour that impressed me the most was the Torsk, a WWII submarine in Baltimore. Those crews had Big Brass Ones.

 

[HFWR]

Not to change the subject, but HBO's mini-series John Adams started this week also. First two looked good, but I'm a [-]history[/-] nut, so YMMV...

 

[TeeRuh]

lazy, Thanks! I'll definitely be looking for this having spent 13 months on aircraft carriers (30 years ago). Should bring back a few memories.

t.r.

 

[Nords]

Looking forward to it. I don't know much more about CVNs than the rest of the public.

I liked the assessment of the guy who said that it's a floating high school. The median age is probably about 19-20.

We'll just buy the DVD for our Navy-wannabe daughter to view obsessively... it'll be interesting to see how it affects her decision and overall recruiting. The Navy is probably paying PBS for this one!

 

[CuppaJoe]

Thanks, Lazy, it really is thought-provoking to take a close look at military ships; I've toured a sub, a rare supply transport that survived WWII, and I'll never forget waiting in line to get on board the Missouri, someone handed out the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine."

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

having studied city planning during my two-plus years of architecture at u of f and lived in small towns of under 10k population (granted, though, in suburbia and next to large cities), and having lived on a boat, i find the idea of 5-6,000 people all living aboard one ship nothing less than fascinating.

if they weren't war machines, i bet they'd be a lot of fun. though i hadn't thought of the age and "floating high school" at that, just by infrastructure alone, aircraft carriers are amazing. these things really are floating cities, making their own water and electric. they have their own portable airport. the only thing they are missing is a little farm on the, um, poop deck.

i've never toured one though i did see the uss reagan when it came to fort lauderdale. think i posted this picture before but here it is again. check out how it just dwarfs the 31-story point of the americas condominium building on entering port everglades. just amazing.

 

[2soon2tell]

As a Navy courier based in the Philippines during the Viet Nam war I made a couple of flights out to the carriers on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. As a visitor on the ship it is very easy to get lost. I'm sure many of the carrier sailors had a good laugh at this lowly Ltjg trying to find his way around. I spent a lot of time on vultures row high in the island watching planes get catapaulted off the ship heading for North Viet Nam.

As a passenger strapped in the back of the C-2 Carrier Onboard Delivery Aircraft (COD) aircraft the arrested landing is not as exciting as the catapaulting off the bow or waist cats. It's called a cat shot. If I remember you go from 0 to 130 knots in about 2.5 seconds. It has no ejection seat so if the plane goes into the water you probably won't get out before it sinks. The cat shot has been described as making love while you are in a car wreck. I think thats a pretty good description.

2soon2tell

 

[TeeRuh]

hmmm; had about a 100 cat shots and don't recall ever thinking I was makin' love. Do recall a few landings that felt like car wrecks. One where we blew a tire and had to be towed off the deck comes to mind!

t.r.

 

[tightasadrum]

Spent all my time on destroyers. So when I visited an old friend on his carrier, I remember walking away thinking that it was too big to be call a ship. Ships are suppose to pitch and roll, let you know you're underway.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

So I finally caught this show last night around 2 am the 1st episode. Wow I thought it was really cool! I got a kick out of the young people saying it was like being a in big high school. It was interesting seeing how the young people and the old timers worked together.

 

[Nords]

Spouse has been riveted to the screen, and I'm enjoying the director's camera/interview techniques.

I especially enjoy the whining about how cramped and closed in everybody feels.

Looks like this one's a winner.

 

[clifp]

Just finished watching this on the internet. Looks like a great series, way better than Big Brother even if it is a lot more crowded...

I'd love to go out on one of their "family" cruises and watch the launch and land jets.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I noticed it said Mel Gibson as the director. Same actor Mel Gibson?

 

[TromboneAl]

I tuned in in the middle last night -- that woman that was disciplined then called her dad -- what had she done?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Something to do with drinking. Part of her punishment was AA meetings.

 

[NotSoonEnough]

I tuned in in the middle last night -- that woman that was disciplined then called her dad -- what had she done?

I believe she was caught with an adult beverage of some kind...

 

[clifp]

I think it was also not the first time she had been caught with booze.

 

[Nords]

I tuned in in the middle last night -- that woman that was disciplined then called her dad -- what had she done?

Underage drinking or a DUI-- bad idea.

Drinking onboard a naval vessel underway, when the beverage wasn't handed out by the CO-- really bad idea. Smuggling the stuff onboard (or buying it from a "friend", or distilling your own) implies that it's a little worse than a rowdy liberty call.

She's lucky that she didn't get brig time or a rank reduction to think about it. As it is I suspect she's gonna have a little trouble making rank on the next advancement exam or two, and maybe even a little trouble re-enlisting. I'll have to start lurking on Military.com or SailorBob.com again to see what they're saying...

The "good" news is that a ship that size will have a really big crowd at their AA meetings!

 

[Caroline]

I'd love to go out on one of their "family" cruises and watch the launch and land jets.

My ex took me out on a dependents' cruise when he was serving aboard the Enterprise. I still have a picture of us sailing under the Golden Gate bridge with sunny San Francisco in the background.

They split the visitors into two groups for the airshow. We were in the second group, and watched them launch exactly one plane before the show was called off. Major disappointment. When we went back to the weather office where he worked, however, we learned that the plane had disappeared from the radar shortly after takeoff, never to be seen again.

I keep remembering that pilot while I watch this.

RIP

 

[Sue J]

I noticed it said Mel Gibson as the director. Same actor Mel Gibson?

Yes, it's the same one. His production company is "Icon Productions" and I saw it in either the opening credits or the closing ones.

ICON MOVIES - Film Production, Sales, Marketing and Distribution

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Yes, it's the same one. His production company is "Icon Productions" and I saw it in either the opening credits or the closing ones.

ICON MOVIES - Film Production, Sales, Marketing and Distribution

Thanks! Seems to be well done so far