50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 256 I really want to take it all with me
Hearing that the other party had lowered the price by $15,000, Sun Zhiwei was very satisfied. The ship was basically new, and the price was a good deal.

"Deal, Norman. Go and call the ship owner over for the transaction. I'll wait for him here. Also, call a lawyer for me."

"Okay, sir, you'll be able to have lunch on your 'Hamburger' at noon."

Before noon, Sun Zhiwei purchased the 'Hamburg' yacht in the presence of two lawyers.

Afterwards, Sun Zhiwei spent a day buying fishing gear and diving equipment.

On a bright and sunny morning, he sailed the 'Hamburg' alone from the dock.

On the 'Hamburger', Sun Zhiwei, wearing slippers, a floral shirt, and a sun hat, was navigating the yacht eastward down the James River.

Soon, a shipyard appeared on the left side of the ship. He could clearly see the unfinished aircraft carrier and the submarine undergoing maintenance at the shipyard dock.

That's our target: Newport News Shipbuilding.

It is the only shipyard in the United States capable of building supercarriers, which are aircraft carriers with a displacement of more than 75,000 tons.

Most of the aircraft carriers of the United States are supercarriers, while the aircraft carriers of countries such as Britain and France are generally small light carriers under 4 tons.

This is also a construction site for several types of submarines, including the Los Angeles-class attack submarine that Sun Zhiwei is going to explore this time.

Sun Zhiwei stared longingly at the aircraft carrier on the dock, but the yacht did not stop at all and headed straight for the Atlantic Ocean.

As he approached the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean, he saw a large dock filled with various warships, including four aircraft carriers.

This is the largest naval base in the Bald Eagles: Norfolk Naval Base, located directly opposite the Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard.

It is the base of the Bald Eagle Atlantic Fleet, where the 4th, 6th and 8th Carrier Strike Groups are stationed.

It will also be the home port for five future U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers: the USS Eisenhower, the USS Roosevelt, the USS Lincoln, the USS Truman, and the USS Bush.

Of course, there aren't that many yet.

Sun Zhiwei only saw one "Eisenhower" ship; the others were either under construction on the slipway or in future plans.

If he could, he would love to pack up all these ships and take them with him, but unfortunately, he can only dream about it.

He piloted the Hamburg past the gates of the Norfolk Naval Base and sailed straight into the Atlantic Ocean.

Sun Zhiwei came out under the guise of fishing, but he couldn't possibly take the boat into the deep sea. Such a small boat wouldn't be able to withstand a big storm.

He steered the 'Hamburg' across the bridge at the mouth of the gorge and stopped not far from Virginia Beach. He then lowered the anchor, secured the boat, and began fishing seriously.

This is the estuary of several rivers, and the seabed contains nutrient-rich mud washed down from upstream, which attracts various fish species year-round.

There were many boats on the nearby waters, some were fishing boats and some were yachts, and most of them were fishermen fishing.

His position is right on the central axis of the gorge, which is where the water is deepest and where there are the most fish.

However, the central axis is also a shipping lane, and fishing boats are not allowed to moor there.

Although it is called a gorge, the closest point is still 17 or 18 kilometers apart on both sides, and the water depth in the middle is at least 100 meters, making it very suitable for large ships to pass through.

Ships departing from Norfolk Naval Base and Newport News Shipbuilding inevitably pass through the central channel of this strait. From Sun Zhiwei's anchored position, he could observe the ships in the channel at any time via the available space.

He has already decided to stay here for half a month to see when a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine that has completed its testing will pass by, and then he will think of a specific plan.

The day passed quickly, and in the evening, Sun Zhiwei, having had a meager harvest, returned to the yacht marina with little enthusiasm.

This is the time when ships from various places gather to return to port, and several other yachts also dock at this time.

When they disembarked, they were quite surprised to see Sun Zhiwei's unfamiliar face as he was organizing fishing gear on the 'Hamburger'.

A friendly boat owner, carrying a fishing rod, approached the 'Hamburger' and shouted, "Hey, buddy, are you a new sailor?"

Sun Zhiwei walked to the side of the boat and extended his right hand: "Hello, I'm George Wilson. I just bought the 'Hamburger.' Let's go fishing together from now on."

Upon hearing that he was also a fisherman, the guy became extremely excited and quickly turned around to shout to the others:

"Hey guys, we've got a new fishing buddy. This is George, the new owner of the 'Hamburger'."

“I am Captain Norbert Iverson of the ‘Flying’ ship, the black one; the blue striped ship is the ‘Bull’ ship, captained by Burke Johnson; and the pure white one is the ‘Emma’ ship, the bearded one is named Zweilin Berg.”

"The three of us are boat owners who often fish at this dock. Now that you're here, there are four of us. We can start a club. What do you think? Are you interested?"

“I would love to participate, but I’m not often here; I have some business in Asia.”

"Haha, we're all in the same boat. Nobody can fish here all year round."

“The fishing season here is fixed, and we can agree to meet here every year during the fishing season.”

"You know what the fishing seasons are. I'm new here and not familiar with the situation."

"No rush, let's get to know each other first. I'll go call them over to chat together."

"How about this? It's getting late, let's all go for a drink together."

This suggestion suited everyone perfectly, so the four fishermen moored their boat and went to a nearby bar for drinks and dinner.

After getting to know three anglers, Sun Zhiwei's luck seemed to improve. The next day, while they were fishing at the gorge, they encountered an aircraft carrier returning to port.

Sun Zhiwei immediately recognized it as the first Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz.

At this point, only two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers have been produced, the other being the USS Eisenhower, which is docked at Norfolk Naval Base.

The Nimitz has been in service for a year and this trip is likely a return to port for maintenance.

Sun Zhiwei saw the densely packed F-14A Tomcat fighter jets parked on the deck of the Nimitz, and his heart burned with excitement. This was the fighter jet he wanted to fly.

However, as he looked at it, he felt something was wrong. Why was there a big hole in the deck of this aircraft carrier?

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that several fighter jets around the deck were tilted, two of which had broken wings, and the parts near the control tower showed signs of fire.

(End of this chapter)