Special Report: On Board IS-Fighting Warship

The USS Carl Vinson is one of the largest warships in the world.

From her current position in the Gulf, this American super carrier is the spearhead of the air campaign against Islamic State.

The 60 fighter jets onboard have flown more than 3,000 missions and dropped 700 bombs since arriving in the region in October.

Simply no other Navy in the world can match this capability.

The ship's commander describes it as "American power, at its finest". Standing on its 1,000ft deck, it's hard to disagree,

But for all the statistics, it's also hard to gauge what impact the Carl Vinson is having.

The ship is just one part of the air campaign, albeit a significant part.

More often than not though, planes return to the ship with all their bombs attached.

The Commander of the Strike Group, Rear Admiral Chris Grady, argues that his pilots are winning.

"Over the course of the campaign we have destroyed many vehicles, tanks, artillery pieces, fighting positions, training camps," he said.

"We've killed their fighters, we've killed their leadership.

"We've eliminated vast sources of revenue in the form of Gulf gasoline and fuel oil that they've been selling to resource themselves.

"Because of that they're now no longer able to mass, to manoeuvre, to command and control, or protect their own strategic lines of communication."

The carrier's contribution is more than a third of the entire coalition.

Because of her position, most of the strikes are over Iraq. Flying north, the pilots can be over IS positions in little more than an hour.

When operations are in full swing, aircraft can be landing or taking off every 45 seconds.

"The pilots take videos every time they launch missiles so we can check for battle damage assessment," Captain Karl Thomas, the ship's Commanding Officer told us.

"I get a chance to view those videos as well and I would tell you that bombs versus ISIL fighters is not a fair fight."

The Carl Vinson is the flagship of a Strike Group - a collection of warships and submarines that sail close by, providing protection and support.

She stays in a tight grid, in international waters, sailing in a square, sometimes little more than 30 or 40 miles from the coast of Iran.

At one point during our stay, an Iranian coastguard boat followed the ship, at safe distance.

Watching, keeping an eye on an old enemy.

The relationship between the two navies is "professional" we're told.

The two countries have been flying jets in the same airspace - Iraq - bombing the same enemy - Islamic State - but, not communicating, not collaborating.

At least that is what we're told, repeatedly.

Landing on the Carrier is dangerous, especially at night.

The pilots must constantly adjust the approach of their plane to match the runway which is set at an angle.

Coming in at 150mph, a hook underneath must catch one of four wires stretched across the runway.

It will bring the plane to a stop in two seconds.

If the pilots miss, and it does happen, they must take off immediately and try again.

To anticipate this, rather than hitting the brake on touchdown, the pilots are trained to immediately put on the thrust, going against instinct.

Five thousand men and women serve on board.

The ship is powered by two nuclear turbines meaning, in theory, it can stay at sea without needing to dock and refuel.

It is only the human crew that need replenishing, and with an air campaign in full swing, missiles and bombs must be restocked.

Immediately below deck, in four gargantuan hangars, aircraft are repaired and maintained.

It is no easy task keeping them airworthy during a lengthy and intense campaign.

On 2 May 2013 the USS Carl Vinson secured her place in American legend.

Before dawn the body of Osama bin Laden was secretly flown aboard.

He'd been killed by US Navy Seals a few hours earlier in Pakistan.

He was buried at sea in a 50-minute ceremony at noon, his body pushed into the water not far from where the ship sails today.

Few knew about it.

"We were told we had a guest, and then told we no longer had a guest," one remembers.

When the USS Carl Vinson left San Diego last summer, it was on a routine deployment.

They now find themselves at war.

It's been a long mission and it isn't over yet.

When they return home they will have been at sea for nine-and-a-half months.

"We'll work hard, until the job is done," a young officer tells us. "Then we play."

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