This Massive Ship Has 5,680 Service Members Living Onboard

24/7 Wall St. Insights

We used data from Military Factory, an online database of arms, vehicles, and aircraft.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are some of the largest warships in the U.S. Navy.
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Sea vessels carry a variety of crew sizes based on the size of the vessel itself and its purpose. Sailing warships may carry 400-500 service members, while an aircraft carrier can carry upwards of 5,000. What is even more extraordinary is that these vessels not only carry this many men and women but also hold weapons of all shapes and sizes, including airplanes. Ensuring that the people and the equipment work together seamlessly in times of need is important and requires practice.

The US Navy conducts an annual exercise, Exercise Sea Breeze, which is a joint countermeasure exercise between the US Navy and, this year, the Royal Navy and Ukraine Navy in Glasgow, Scotland. Exercises like this allow navies an opportunity to cross-train with each other to improve interoperability. In this case, Sea Breeze is training Allied Forces and their partners for a post-conflict era in the Black Sea region.

For this, crews of multiple ships of different navies will work together on mine countermeasures. The function of this exercise is for crews to work effectively side-by-side, and the importance of that cannot be understated. This is especially important when crews for some vessels can number in the hundreds, if not thousands. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at the U.S. Navy and how many crew its vessels have.

To identify the warships and submarines in the U.S. Navy with the biggest crews, 24/7 Wall St. referenced a catalog of naval vessels from Military Factory, an online database of arms, vehicles, and aircraft. The warship and submarine classes were ranked in order of their average crew size. We included supplemental information regarding type, top speed, armament, and more.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are some of the largest warships in the U.S. Navy and they need a crew that can effectively operate them. Crews on these vessels typically number over 5,000 and sometimes over 6,000, including the air wing. With this many crew members, aircraft carriers are basically floating air bases. Here is a look at the American warships and submarines with the biggest crews:

Why Are We Covering This?

Makin Island LHD-8 | September 5, 2011 - The setting sun silhouettes the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) underway off the coast of Southern California.

Understanding the U.S. Navy and its capabilities gives context to larger national defense strategies and geopolitical relations. Its technological innovations have profound impacts not just on the military but on civilian life as well.