The United States has christened the 10th and final Nimitz-class ship, the biggest military vessels the world has ever known.

The USS George H.W. Bush, named after the former president, is a $6-billion US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that stretches 333 metres and will carry a crew of about 3,000 sailors when it enters service in 2008.

Rain and gusting wind marred the ceremony to christen the USS George H.W. Bush.
(Steve Helber/Associated Press)

Bush and his son, President George W. Bush, attended the christening ceremony in Newport News, Va., on Saturday. Doro Bush Koch, the elder Bush's daughter, broke a bottle of sparkling wine against the ship's bow.

“This is any naval aviator’s dream come true,” said the former president, who was a navy pilot in the Second World War. Four of his fellow pilots from the war attended the ceremony.

"I know you join me in saying to our father, president Bush, your ship has come in," the current president said.

Thunder, lightning, wind and heavy rain forced speakers at the ceremony to cut their remarks short.

Flat top gets a trim

Northrop Grumman, the builder, has reduced the island — the ship's command centre, which towers 20 stories above the waterline — by one level.

Removing that level allowed about 22 centimetres to be added to each of the remaining levels, leaving "room to add new and upgraded systems as they become available," the navy said.

Communications systems have been redesigned to make it easier to install   upgrades, the navy said, while the ship's bulbous-bow makes it more buoyant forward and improves the hull’s efficiency.

The carrier can reach speeds of more than 30 knots and carries more than 80 aircraft.

With files from the Associated Press