How does the US navy lower its massive carrier anchor at full speed?
In case you were curious about the gold-painted anchors, ships that receive the US Navy Retention Excellence Award are allowed to paint their anchors gold to show off that status. I’m 99% sure the carrier shown here is USS George HW Bush CVN-77. The award is given for “sustaining superior levels of military retention,” retention meaning the rate at which personnel voluntarily re-enlist and stay on that ship. Having built US Navy ships my entire life, it’s quite exciting for the brake band on the winless to catch on fire during free fall operation. This is due to hydraulic oil leaks in the system. An unavoidable consequence on the older anchor systems. I’ve been doing this 30 something years.
