The USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is a United States Navy Nimitz class supercarrier named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia. She was commissioned in 1982 and carries F/A-18 Hornets and F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as well as surveillance and other aircraft. Carl Vinson can carry 85 planes and 5,500 personnel. Very few ships of the United States Navy have been named after a person who was alive at the time of the christening.
A member of the United States House of Representatives for fifty years, Carl Vinson was, for twenty-nine years, the Chairman of the House Naval Affairs and Armed Services Committee.