The US Navy on Saturday commissioned its newest aircraft carrier, which is named for former president George HW Bush, with a patriotic ceremony in which President George W Bush honoured his father and current sailors, reported dpa. The USS George HW Bush is to be the last of the Nimitz class aircraft carriers and will have a crew of more than 5,500 sailors based at the home port of Norfolk, Virginia. The ship has a more than 330 metre-long flight deck and is powered by two nuclear reactors. The elder Bush served as a pilot flying an Avenger torpedo bomber aboard the USS San Jacinto during World War II. He was shot down by enemy fire and then rescued during a mission in 1944. The decorated aviator who would later become the 41st president was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals.
