Navy Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN) Homeporting at Mayport: Background and Issues for Congress

Abstract

On January 14, 2009, the Navy announced that it wants to transfer one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs) to the Navy home port at Mayport, FL, known formally as Naval Station (NAVSTA) Mayport. On April 10, 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced that it has decided to delay a final decision on whether to propose transferring a CVN to Mayport until it reviews the issue as part of its 2009-2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The Navy's desire to transfer a CVN to Mayport is an issue of interest to some Members of Congress. Many observers expect that transferring a CVN to Mayport would result in a CVN being transferred out of Norfolk, known formally as NAVSTA Norfolk. Transferring a CVN from Norfolk to Mayport would shift from Norfolk to Mayport the local economic activity associated with homeporting a CVN, which some sources estimate as being worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year to the economy of the home port area. Transferring a CVN to Mayport would require congressional approval of Military Construction (MilCon) funding for dredging and construction work to make Mayport capable of homeporting a CVN. Under the Navy's original schedule, if Congress were to approve the funding needed to transfer a CVN to Mayport, the ship could be transferred to Mayport as early as 2014. This "as early as" date, however, may have been pushed back by DoD's announcement to delay a final decision on whether to propose transferring a CVN to Mayport until it reviews the issue as part of its 2009-2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The Navy states that a key reason it wants to transfer a CVN to Mayport is to hedge against the risk of a catastrophic event that could damage the Navy's CVN homeporting facilities at Norfolk, VA, and nearby Newport News, VA. All CVNs based on the Atlantic Coast are currently homeported at Norfolk and Newport News.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 13, 2009
Accession Number
ADA500449

Entities

People

  • Ronald O'Rourke

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Carriers
  • Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion
  • Ballistic Missile Submarines
  • Boats
  • Environment
  • Marine Transportation
  • National Security
  • Naval Operations
  • Navy
  • Nuclear Powered Ships
  • Nuclear Propulsion

Readers

  • Clinical Trial Research.
  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
  • Strategic Security Studies