Short answers, pulled from the story.
A capital ship is defined as a vessel conforming to the Royal Navy rating system with 100 or more guns across three or four decks. First-rate ships held this gun count while second-rate ships carried between 90 and 98 guns. By 1756, fourth-rate ships with 46 to 60 guns were relegated to ancillary tasks.
The term capital ship was coined in 1909 when a British battlecruiser appeared on the horizon. Formal definitions emerged through limitation treaties in the 1920s and 1930s including the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. Subsequent agreements included the London Naval Treaty of 1930 and the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936.
Only full-size fleet carriers became universally recognized as capital ships by late 1942. Light carriers using cruiser hulls and escort carriers built from merchant ships did not share this designation. The United States maintains supremacy today with 11 active duty supercarriers that can carry nearly 100 tactical aircraft each.
A Soviet Kirov-class large missile cruiser displaced enough to rival World War II-era battleships but remained technically a supersized guided-missile cruiser. Many navies including the Royal Navy and United States Navy still consider these vessels capital ships due to their tonnage and importance. These vessels feature nuclear propulsion and serve within the capital ship category for many modern naval doctrines.
U.S. aircraft carriers almost always honor politicians and notable figures in naval history since USS Enterprise was commissioned in 1968. Earlier U.S. aircraft carriers never adopted state names despite this widespread convention elsewhere. Gerald R. Ford served as president while Chester W. Nimitz held admiral rank during the era of these naming traditions.