USS Theodore Roosevelt

USS Theodore Roosevelt underway. Image from DCS.

The **USS *Theodore Roosevelt* (CVN-71)**, (also called **"TR"** or the **"Big Stick"**), is a warship that appears in the *Foxtrot: Foxes in Arms* series. She is a *Nimitz*-class nuclear powered aircraft carrier built to serve in the United States Navy, and one of the largest ships in the series. The ship is named after the 26th President of the United States, and is one of the deadliest aircraft carriers afloat, having seen plenty of action since her launching in 1984. In the series, the *Theodore Roosevelt* is the sole aircraft carrier of the 1st Transglobal Fleet, and it is the main base for VFA-242.

The ship in the series is based off the real ship of the same name.

## Characteristics

### General Characteristics

USS *Theodore Roosevelt* is one of ten *Nimitz*-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers designed and built between the 1970s and 1980s. Historically, she was the first aircraft carrier to be assembled using modular construction, wherein large modules are independently constructed in "lay-down" areas, prior to being hoisted into place and welded together. Also, *Theodore Roosevelt* and those *Nimitz*-class vessels completed after her have slight structural differences from the earlier carriers and improved protection for ordnance storage in her magazines.

The massive ship displaces around 104,600 long tons (117,200 short tons) fully loaded, among the largest ships seen within the series. *Theodore Roosevelt* is 1,092 feet (332.8 m) long overall and 1,040 feet (317.0 m) at the waterline. She has a beam of 134 feet (40.8 m) down at the waterline, while her overall beam at the flight deck is 252 feet (76.8 m) and an operation draft of 37 feet (11.3 m), though the limit is roughly 41 feet (12.5 m). This so called "supercarrier", is powered by two large Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors which uses highly enriched uranium (HRU 93.5%) as its primary fuel source, and she is propelled by four steam turbines driving four propeller shafts from the steam generated by the reactors. The reactors combined can generate enough steam to produce a grand total of 260,000 shp (194 MW) in the four shafts, pushing the ship to a speed of 30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph). Due to the nuclear power the ship uses, the range she has is practically unlimited, and she can go 20-25 years without needing to refuel, though her endurance is limited by food and other supplies by the crew. Regarding the crew, the actual crew of the ship consists of 3,200 officers and enlisted personnel, while the accompanying airwing has a compliment of 2,480, combining the total crew of well over 5,000 personnel. *Theodore Roosevelt* also has been constructed with 2.5 in (64 mm) Kevlar armor over vital spaces.

### Armament

While the aircraft are a carrier's primary armament, there are plenty of armaments aboard *Theodore Roosevelt* that are primarily used for self-defense. The ship is equipped with two Mark 29 missile launchers capable of carrying NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles or RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles (ESSM) for defending against aircraft or incoming anti-ship missiles. She also has two Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching Systems designed for the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles for the same reasons. The carrier is also armed with Phalanx CIWS (close-in weapon system) Gatling guns for close-in defensive measures, on top of other countermeasures. And for close-range action, the ship also has several Mark 38 25 mm chain guns and smaller armaments.

### Air Wing

Of course, as an aircraft carrier, *Theodore Roosevelt* has a large flight deck and a hangar deck to be able to launch and recover aircraft. Most other ships in the fleet can have helicopters take off and land, but carriers like this can also accommodate jets. At most, the ship can carry up to 90 aircraft, both fixed-wing and helicopters. Specifically, she carriers between ten to twelve F/A-18C Hornets or F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike aircraft across several squadrons, for over forty strike fighters total. Others include one Electronic Attack squadron of five EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron, with four E-2C Hawkeye or five E-2D "Advanced" Hawkeye AEW aircraft, one Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron of eight MH-60S Seahawks, one Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) Squadron of eleven MH-60R Seahawks, and Fleet Logistics Support (VRC) Squadron Detachment of two C-2A Greyhound transport planes. More recently, F-35 stealth jets have been introduced into the carrier air wings, though that has yet to be seen within the series as squadrons have yet to obtain the expensive fifth-generation stealth fighters.

## History

### Early Services

USS *Theodore Roosevelt* was ordered on September 30, 1980 and completed on October 25, 1986, being commissioned at Newport News, Virginia, United States. Her maiden deployment following sea trials took her to the Mediterranean Sea, where she patrolled for roughly six months between December 1988 to June 1989. In January 1991, the carrier arrived in the Persian Gulf as a part of Operation Desert Shield, with combat operations beginning shortly after Operation Desert Storm begins. The *Theodore Roosevelt* would end up flying over 4,200 sorties, more than any other carrier, and dropping more than 4,800,000 pounds (2,177,243.4 kg) of ordnance before the cease-fire. Following the Gulf War, the ship and her airwing were among the coalition forces Operation Provide Comfort, flying patrols over northern Iraq. By November, the ship returned home.

Throughout the 1990s, the ship would be kept quite busy, including a number of different training exercises and actual deployments interchanged. Such deployments include being enforcing US no-fly zones over Bosnia, as well as enforcing one over Iraq, and joining a naval blockade of shipments to the former Yugoslavia. Fighting began in one of the previous regions, as planes from the *Theodore Roosevelt* led NATO strikes against strategic Bosnian Serb targets in Bosnia-Herzegovina. And while operating off the coast of California in 1996, the carrier collided with the Aegis cruiser USS *Leyte Gulf*; there were no injuries, but millions of dollars in damages were caused to both ships. Several more naval exercises and operations would follow, and by March 1999, the ship took part in Operation Allied Forces, where she conducted airstrikes for two months over the skies of Kosovo against Serbian positions. She would then again enforce a no-fly zone over Southern Iraq.

### The 21st Century

The 2000s would see the ship taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom in the wake of the September 11th attacks and the start of the Global War on Terror, as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom. Over the course of these operations, thousands of sorties were flown and tens of thousands of pounds of ordinance was dropped on enemy positions. Afterward, the ship went into drydock in 2009 for an overhaul and refueling.

After several training exercises following the overhaul, the *Theodore Roosevelt* took part in Operation Inherent Resolve in 2015, launching 1,800 sorties against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, totaling over 10,600 flight hours and over one million pounds of ordnance.

### Urocyan Conflicts

By the mid 2010s, the US government was growing concerned over the situation happening in Urocyia, and following some annexations by Urocyan forces, Congress authorized the use of military action to put an end to that, and send a message to Urocyia. It can be assumed the *Theodore Roosevelt* was among the American Forces that conducted sorties against Urocyan forces to halt all operations, thus sparking a conflict between America and Urocyia.

In 2020, the *Theodore Roosevelt* was gearing up to embark on a training mission with the recommissioned battleship USS *Missouri* and other escorting ships from Carrier Strike Group 9 and Battle Group Delta. Before they could get too far out of the port, Urocyan aircraft launched from carriers attacked the American fleet, which was primarily still in port. The surprise attack caught the Americans off guard, and scrambling to organize a counterattack, but they were too disorganized to effectively fight back, and chaos ensued. Many ships were sunk or damaged during the initial attacks. The *Theodore Roosevelt*, with aircraft on board, quickly scrambled to get their fighters ready for anti-aircraft combat. VFA-242, led by Captain Justin Redding, were among the first to launch off the deck to meet the foe. Captain Arthur Snow, aboard the *Missouri*, attempted to coordinate a bold counterattack with a number of the undamaged vessels and aircraft. Several more ships were damaged, with the *Theodore Roosevelt* getting out of the conflict mostly unscathed, however, a number of aircraft would be lost in the ensuing dogfight, with one damaged aircraft crashing into the deck, causing a fire and injuring several carrier personnel, some seriously. The fires were quickly put out, but a number of aircraft still on deck were destroyed. Fortunately, with Arthur leading the naval force and Justin taking command of he skies, their combined efforts managed to lessen the damage and lives lost. But both *Theodore Roosevelt* and *Missouri* would be damaged and would need to return for repairs, even if those repairs were for minimal damage.

Upon repairs, the *Theodore Roosevelt* and Carrier Strike Group 9 would launch retaliatory strikes against Imperial Forces, though these were met with varying levels of success. Soon, Carrier Strike Group 9 would be combined with the likes of Battle Group Delta to form Battle Group Foxtrot, which would become known as the "Vanguard Fleet" by the media. The fleet would become the most powerful single fleet the US Navy had in many years, with *Missouri* being designated the flagship of the fleet, and Arthur, despite only being a captain, would get the duty of combat commander. It would be from this point that the carrier and her air group would be among those on the front lines to confront the Urocyan Imperial Navy after the Urocyan War officially breaks out.

## Known Crew

* Multiple Carrier crewmembers
* VFA-242
	+ Captain Justin "Red Wind" Redding
	+ Commander Felix "Longshot" Radcliff
	+ Lieutenant Commander Shirley "Dynamo" Yeager
	+ Lieutenant Commander Autumn "Ax" Rowan
	+ Lieutenant Ash "In Luv" Russell
	+ Lieutenant Scout "Angel" Linwood †

## Trivia

* *Theodore Roosevelt*'s inclusion in the series is inspired by the carrier's appearance in the 2022 film *Top Gun: Maverick*.
	+ (Spoiler Alert) In that film, Maverick leads a flight of four F/A-18E/F jets known as "Dagger Flight" on a special mission to destroy an illegal uranium enrichment plant in a foreign country. The planes, two F/A-18Es and two F/A-18Fs, took off from the USS *Theodore Roosevelt* for the mission, as identified by the 71 on the carrier's island in some scenes and the ship's designation, CVN-71, on an observation screen in the ship's Combat Engagement Center.
	+ USS *Abraham Lincol**n* (CVN-72) was also featured in the film, but only for the opening "Danger Zone" scenes.
* In real life, in 2020, the carrier was plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic as some of the sailors tested positive for the disease.
	+ This thankfully isn't the case in the series, as the COVID pandemic appears to not occur in the series. However, the ship, as do many others, come under attack by Urocyan military assets instead. Either way, 2020 was not the best year for the ship.
* The ship, in real life, is one of three US Navy ships that have the Roosevelt name, paying homage to the Roosevelt family.