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Comment by stoolpigeon | Hacker News Reader

When I worked on the USS Carl Vinson we used to discuss what it would be like in some post apocalyptic scenario where we were left on the ship. We didn't like the idea. Of course, while the ship could have power and fresh water for years, the aircraft couldn't operate long without more fuel and the people on board would run out of food pretty quickly.

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Presumably, with power and fresh water, the flight deck could be converted into a rather sizable garden. It even has access to sunlight and protection from pests.

>> When I worked on the USS Carl Vinson we used to discuss what it would be like in some post apocalyptic scenario where we were left on the ship. We didn't like the idea. Of course, while the ship could have power and fresh water for years, the aircraft couldn't operate long without more fuel and the people on board would run out of food pretty quickly.

> Presumably, with power and fresh water, the flight deck could be converted into a rather sizable garden. It even has access to sunlight and protection from pests.

You'd need dirt too, and lots of it.

In such a scenario, it'd probably most practical just to anchor or dock the ship somewhere safe near land, and use its facilities to jump-start a settlement. I'm guessing with the maintenance possible in such a scenario, all the ship's systems would break down within a decade or so (and it'd need to be refueled with enriched uranium at about that point, too), so you really wouldn't want to stay dependent on it for too long.

> You'd need dirt too, and lots of it.

You could do hydro/aeroponics. You have plenty of fertalizer in the form of human waste, fish waste, and other things.

I haven't done the math but I doubt it works out. It would be like expecting to power your car with a solar panel on the roof.

Convert crewmembers to fertilizer until you reach equilibrium.

Which videogame have you been playing? This comment seems a bit off-brand.

Crafting Humans.

Sometimes you gotta branch out of your personal style a little. :)

Sunless Sea

I thought you can (with Toyota?). As long as you do not drive it that much. But aircraft carrier need not just fluid. Well if you persevere a bit can the nuclear plant just do thing important whilst the ship is parked somewhere.

I think that analogy is a bit of an exaggeration, gardens can be surprisingly space efficient if you plan well. It might still be too little for the whole crew, but it'd feed a lot of people for sure.

From a calorie perspective I don't think that's true. If you grow all potatoes which are one of the more efficient calorie/acre crop you have approximately: 90 days for 1 crop at ~15e6 kcal/acre. Nimitz class aircraft carrier has a surface area of ~1 acre and a crew of about 6000 people requiring ~10.8e6 kcal per day. So after 90 days of growing potatoes you would have about one days worth of food, or enough to feed ~66 people continuously. Of course you could always fish...

Bet you'd get good at fishing real quickly

I don't imagine fishing is great right next to an aircraft carrier, what with propellers and sonar and all that fun stuff making noise in the water and scaring fish away?

Fishing from a boat is actually really easy. The hull is quite rich in small crustaceans and flora. This attracts bait fish, which attracts larger fish. A carrier at anchor bunkering would have all sorts of animals swimming around.

Presumably you can turn those off.

As long as there is fuel for the airplanes, couldn't they be used for whaling? How much of a whale is left after being hit by a hellfire missile?

The ASW gear would make for a fantastic fish-finder!

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