<P> The Nimitz - class carriers have an overall length of 1,092 ft (333 m) and a full - load displacement of about 100,000--104,000 long tons (102,000--106,000 t). They have a beam at the waterline of 135 ft (41 m), and the maximum width of their flight decks is 251 feet 10 inches (76.76 m) to 257 feet 3 inches (78.41 m) (depending on the variant). The ship's company can number up to 3,200, not including an air wing of 2,480 . </P> <P> The Nimitz - class aircraft carriers were ordered to supplement the aircraft carriers of the Kitty Hawk class and Enterprise class, maintaining the strength and capability of the U.S. Navy after the older carriers were decommissioned . The ships were designed to be improvements on previous U.S. aircraft carriers, in particular the Enterprise and Forrestal - class supercarriers, although the arrangement of the ships is relatively similar to that of the Kitty Hawk class . Among other design improvements, the two reactors on Nimitz - class carriers take up less space than the eight reactors used on Enterprise . Along with a more generally improved design, this means that Nimitz - class carriers can carry 90% more aviation fuel and 50% more ordnance when compared to the Forrestal class . </P> <P> The U.S. Navy has stated that the carriers could withstand three times the damage sustained by the Essex class inflicted by Japanese air attacks during World War II . The hangars on the ships are divided into three fire bays by thick steel doors that are designed to restrict the spread of fire . This addition has been present on U.S. aircraft carriers since World War II, after the fires caused by Kamikaze attacks . </P> <P> The first ships were designed around the time of the Vietnam War, and certain aspects of the design were influenced by operations there . To a certain extent, the carrier operations in Vietnam demonstrated the need for increased capabilities of aircraft carriers over their survivability, as they were used to send sorties into the war and were therefore less subject to attack . As a result of this experience, Nimitz carriers were designed with larger stores of aviation fuel and larger magazines in relation to previous carriers, although this was partly as a result of increased space available by the new design of the ships' propulsion systems . </P>

How long is the largest us aircraft carrier