----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 2:27 PM Subject: Re: Jimmy Carter & Cuba...
> One of the justifications I remember (and may be mis-remembering) was > that so many of our military vessels were too big to go through the > canal that it wasn't as important strategically as it had been at the > time it was built. > > Julia > > Me: > All of them, so far as I know. Supertankers can't fit through the canal - > which is why people propose digging a new one through Lake Nicaragua every > so often - but even a Nimitz class can, I believe, get through the locks if > you're very careful. It's a tight squeeze, but it can be done. Certainly > every other ship in the fleet can do so without difficulty. > If that is true, then the maximum stated size of a ship has an enormous amount of lee way. The Kitty Hawk is 100 feet longer than the maximum allowed and has a beam that is 30 feet wider than the maximum. I know with the locks at Sue St. Marie, there isn't that much leeway required for commercial ships. Dan M. Dan M.
