U.S. Navy Christens Aircraft Carrier Named for Former President Bush

President George W. Bush presided over the christening ceremony of the USS George H. W. Bush, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, in Newport News, Virginia, in early October 2006. The former president, a World War II naval aviator and later CIA director and diplomat, attended the event alongside his wife, Barbara.

Doro Bush Koch, the former president's daughter, performed the traditional bottle-breaking across the bow. The elder Bush called the vessel "a naval aviator's dream come true."

Built by Northrop Grumman over roughly seven years, the supercarrier required 47,000 tonnes of structural steel and one million pounds of aluminum. It will house a crew of approximately 6,000 and is expected to remain in service for about 50 years.

The president described the ship as the most advanced carrier in the U.S. fleet and praised the more than 1.6 million Americans who had volunteered for military service since 11 September 2001. Also attending were family members, former White House chief of staff Andrew Card, and U.S. Ambassador to China Sandy Randt.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.