SCMP
DONALD ASPREY
Crew members aboard the USS Ronald Reagan set their sights on Hong Kong yesterday as the US Navy’s newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier made its maiden stopover.
The 334-metre warship, commissioned in July 2003, has more than 60 aircraft and a raft of design changes, including a bulbous bow, digital communications and a redesigned “island” – the command centre for flight-deck operations.
Displacing 98,500 tonnes and with 1.82 hectares of flight deck, the ship’s four 30-tonne bronze propellers can drive the vessel at more than 30 knots, powered by two nuclear reactors that can run for more than 20 years between pit stops.
Rear Admiral Michael Miller, commander of the fleet that includes the aircraft carrier, said the city would give his crew some much-needed entertainment.
“We have brought about 6,000 sailors into your city and they are ready to spend,” he said. “For many of them it will be their first experience of Hong Kong. This is one of our favourite berths and we are all very excited to be here.”
Admiral Miller said that as well as filling the bars in Wan Chai, many sailors were keen to get involved with the local community.
“Some of us will also be participating in community relations projects, which involve anything from painting an orphanage to interacting with patients in hospitals,” he said. “It is a global community and we want to help where we can.”
Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Dominique Lasco painted a picture of life on board. “It gets very routine,” she said. “You are working 12 hours on, 12 hours off, usually seven to seven, and then you grab a bite to eat and go to bed. There are no bars or leisure facilities. In fact, there’s no alcohol. That sucks.”
The sailor, who enlisted 2 1/2<121> years ago to help pay her tuition fees, said she was glad to be in the most balanced crew in the navy, but said life on board could still be tough for women.
“There are about 500 to 600 women on this cruise [about 12 per cent], the most for any ship in the US Navy. But it can be hard.”
One of the highlights for her has been the travel. Since the carrier was deployed in January it has roamed more than 24,000km along the east and west coasts of Latin America, through the Straits of Magellan and across the Pacific to berth at Malaysia and Singapore.
“Singapore was very disappointing,” she said. “It was boring.”