It Always Gets Stupider
By 
Trump wants to make Essex class aircraft carriers great again:
The United States Navy is potentially redesigning incoming aircraft vessels to better align with President Trump’s preferred aesthetic.
The maritime branch is considering the shift on Ford-class ships to match the president’s preference for the new aircraft carriers to resemble the World War II-era, according to a Saturday report from the Washington Post.
The changes – including moving the multistory aircraft carrier’s command center tower to the ship’s middle – would cost billions and worsen chronic delays, sources said.
Officials also told The Post that changing the command center to the middle would remove 3 key benefits: additional parking spaces, reduced launch time and lowered chances of turbulence during landing.
The construction timeline for aircraft carriers is long as the USS Gerald R. Ford, the lead Ford class carrier, took 17 years to construct due to delays new technology incorporation took. The ship debuted the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) catapult which the Navy credited as being highly effective.
The top photo has the Gerald Ford (CVN-78) in the foreground and the Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the background, showing how far the island was moved back between the Nimitz and Ford classes. For comparison here is USS Saratoga (CV-60):
There is a great deal of commonality in US supercarrier design since the 1950s, but one common thread has been to push the island back in order to generate more deck space and solve some internal issues. If you follow this kind of thing the difference when the Ford first entered service really was notable; I remember thinking “whoa, island pretty far back,” but of course I’m not a fucking moron and as such it did not occur to me that an aesthetic change would be worth any kind of Presidential attention.
I follow a lot of naval guys on X and many of them are relatively happy with the attention that the Trump administration has given to maritime affairs, if not with the specific of every decision along the way. Almost all of them have been extremely quiet over the last few days, with notable exceptions in either direction. As always one of Trump’s few redeeming qualities is that he has no problem humiliating his lickspittles; there were a couple of folks who ventured forth to defend a return to steam catapults who are now having to engage with the demand that the island superstructure be moved forward. Bryan captures my feelings:
The best idea would have simply been to show Trump a picture of USS America (LHA-6) and tell him “this is an aircraft carrier, no EMALS, island where it should be, thank you Mr. President,” but I suppose the opportunity has passed…
