Every carrier since the Forrestal can top 50 kts. They can only do it for a short period of time though. I was on the Forrestal in April 1985 when
she was on sea trials after SLEP in Philadelphia. I was in a helicopter on the flight deck when she made a speed run into the wind. Considering that
the wind was at about 14 kts. and the airspeed indicator was reading 66 kts. I'll leave the math for you. There was a group of nuclear powered
cruisers (I think California class) that could haul ass when necessary as well. When I was at North Island in 1983 I saw the USS Texas go full bore
from a standing start. The ship was throwing up about a 50 ft. rooster tail of water and the front 100 ft. was out of the water. I heard later that
she topped out at about 48 kts.
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