Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a class of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the United States Navy. The lead ship of the class is named for World War II United States Pacific Fleet commander Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the U.S. Navy's last fleet admiral. With an overall length of 1,092 ft (333 m) and full-load displacements of over 100,000 long tons, they have been the largest warships built and in service, although they are being eclipsed by the upcoming Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. Instead of the gas turbines or diesel-electric systems used for propulsion on many modern warships, the carriers use two A4W pressurized water reactors which drive four propeller shafts and can produce a maximum speed of over 30 knots (56 km/h) and maximum power of around 260,000 shp (190 MW). As a result of the use of nuclear power, the ships are capable of operating for over 20 years without refueling and are predicted to have a service life of over 50 years. They are categorized as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and are numbered with consecutive hull numbers between CVN-68 and CVN-77.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (/ˈaɪzənˌhaʊər/ EYE-zən-HOW-ər; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45 from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first Supreme Commander of NATO.

Eisenhower was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and was raised in a large family in Kansas by parents with a strong religious background. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud and had two sons. After World War II, Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff under President Harry S. Truman and then accepted the post of President at Columbia University.

Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race as a Republican to counter the non-interventionism of Senator Robert A. Taft, campaigning against "communism, Korea and corruption". He won in a landslide, defeating Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and temporarily upending the New Deal Coalition.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) ("Ike") is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of the ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The vessel was initially named simply as USS Eisenhower, much like the lead ship of the class, Nimitz, but the name was changed to its present form on 25 May 1970. The carrier, like all others of her class, was constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Virginia, with the same design as the lead ship, although the ship has been overhauled twice to bring her up to the standards of those constructed more recently.

Since commissioning, Dwight D. Eisenhower has participated in deployments including Operation Eagle Claw during the Iran hostage crisis in 1980, as well as the Gulf War in the 1990s, and more recently in support of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

United States Navy

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage. The U.S. Navy has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 328,194 personnel on active duty and 101,199 in the Navy Reserve. It has 272 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 aircraft in active service as of February 2016.

The U.S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was essentially disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a major role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy and seizing control of its rivers. It played the central role in the World War II defeat of Japan. The 21st century U.S. Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in such areas as East Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. It is a blue-water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward areas during peacetime, and rapidly respond to regional crises, making it an active player in U.S. foreign and defense policy.

USS Abraham (1858)

USS Abraham (1858) — formerly CSS Victoria — was a side-wheel steamer captured by the Union Navy from the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

Abraham — a capacious ship of 800 long tons (810 t) — served primarily as a storeship, conveying supplies to Union vessels in the battle area and at times, during such missions, getting struck by enemy shell.

Service with the Confederacy

Early in the Civil War, Victoria — built at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania in 1858 and based at St. Louis — was acquired by the Confederate Government for service as a troop transport on the waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

Capture by Union Navy forces

In the spring of 1862, Union warships of the Western Flotilla, commanded at first by Flag Officer Andrew Foote and then by Flag Officer Charles Davis, relentlessly fought their way downstream from Cairo, Illinois. On 6 June, they met Southern river forces in the Battle of Memphis and won a decisive victory which gave the North control of the Mississippi River above Vicksburg, Mississippi. Later that day, the Union gunboats found and took possession of several Confederate vessels moored at the wharf at Memphis. Victoria was one of these prizes.