USS John C Stennis

There are a few unmistakable symbols of American’s supremacy as the world's surviving superpower. One of the most formidable is a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group.



We recently had the opportunity to tour the USS John C Stennis while it was docked in at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base.

One of Deanna’s cohort in the Rutgers MBA program is a Navy sailor stationed in Singapore. He does not serve on the USS Stennis, but he helped arrange a tour while the carrier was visiting the Singapore base.



The simplest and most obvious observation is that the ship is huge--an entire airport, accompanied by a self-contained mobile city with a population of 6,500 crew and officers.

The city infrastructure is supported by 2 nuclear power plants, and a 400,000-gallon capacity water distillation plant. The city hosts four squadrons of F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, and five other squadrons of military aircraft. Eight additional ships complete Destroyer Squadron 21 and make up the JCS Battle Group.

We were invited first to walk into the indoor hanger that makes up the guts of the ship. Here is the giant repair shop where aircraft are taken for routine maintenance and upgrades, and for loading and unloading missiles, weapons, or other equipment, as needed.



The hull contained massive rolls of bubble wrap, which we learned are rapidly consumed by the ongoing repair and maintenance operations. All spare parts removed from the aircraft or waiting to be installed must be protected with two layers of bubble wrap at all times when not attached to an aircraft. An additional third layer is required when parts must be shipped away for repairs that cannot be made onboard. You can never be too careful when your worksite houses two nuclear reactors and enough bombs and missiles to police the world.

From these busy, but well-padded internal operations, we next took one of the four aircraft elevators for a quick ascent to the flight deck.



On the flight deck, the crew allowed us to walk right up to the various planes and helicopters. We were able to touch the aircraft and they encouraged us to take photos. The crew members explained how the four catapults launch fighters down the runway and how arrester cables catch them when they return.



It was fascinating to learn that the launch catapults are powered by steam. Even when they are not operating, you can smell the steam and see slight hints of it rising from along the slot that runs the length of the launch deck. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense when you think of a nuclear reactor as just giant pressurized boiler. The four turbine propellers that drive the ship are also steam powered, as is all of the electricity on the ship.

It had been raining earlier in the day, and the sky was still overcast with clouds. But it was still a great view from the flight deck looking back over the other military ships at docked at the base, and out to sea with the crowd of civilian cargo ships waiting to load or unload at Singapore’s busy seaports.



After our return back down the elevator, several of the women got a more personalized tour when they went looking for the women’s restroom. Of the 6,500-strong population, how many do you think are women? “Not many” was the answer. One of the few female crew members was recruited to lead her civilian sisters into the depths of the ship, down steel staircases, and through waterproof hatches that locked behind them, beyond the executive officer Board Room (and the executive Ward Room), until they found the restroom marked “women.”

After our women returned to us safely, we were invited to tour one of the battle group’s support ships, the USS Antietam, a guided missile cruiser. A few of the group took up the offer, but unfortunately, we did not have enough time to stay for the second tour.

Like all good American institutions, of course, the ship also sold souvenirs. We browsed through them before we left, and if they had miniature toy aircraft carriers or fighter jets I definitely would have bought some.

Returning through the naval base, we passed the USS Antietam, and several other ships in the carrier strike group, along with a few other visiting ships from the Italian and Japanese navies. And of course, the Singaporean navy was present in force as well.



Before leaving the base, I paused to use one of the porta-potties placed for civilian contractors wherein I noted three discarded cans of Heineken, an empty bottle of Jack Daniels, and a used Starbucks Venti Frappuccino cup.

Were these of former civilian or military use? Our tax dollar at work?

No word on the comparable contents of the women’s restroom.