Sailing On The USS George H.W. Bush

The Navy plans to name a new aircraft carrier after former President George Bush.

The elder Mr. Bush, who led the nation during the 1991 Persian Gulf War with Iraq, was to be on hand Monday afternoon at the Pentagon for a ceremony naming the aircraft carrier.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said he didn't know what, if any, role President Bush had in securing the honor for his father. "I know that he's honored that his father was honored," Fleischer said.

The USS George H.W. Bush is still under construction at Northrop Grumman's Newport News shipyard in Virginia. Completion of the massive nuclear-powered vessel is scheduled for 2009.

When finished, the ship will be 1,092 feet long, weigh 97,000 tons and have 4.5 acres of deck space for about 75 aircraft. Nimitz-class ships have crews of about 6,000 people.

The carrier named after Mr. Bush would be the 10th Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the Navy's fleet. The ninth, also still under construction in Virginia, is the USS Ronald Reagan.

Another Nimitz-class carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, is currently in the Persian Gulf, where its planes are helping to patrol the southern no-fly zone over Iraq.