The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier docked in its homeport of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, on Tuesday for what is scheduled to be its final visit there.
The world’s oldest aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1975 with a service lifespan of 50 years, is set to return to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, in 2026 and be decommissioned.
The Nimitz returned from a nine-month deployment to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleets that began March 21 when it set sail from Kitsap.
“We have traveled more than two-thirds of this planet during this nine-month deployment, and I cannot overstate the positive impact Nimitz Strike Group has made as part of our mission to maintain peace through strength by sustaining credible deterrence alongside our allies and partners,” said Rear Adm. Fred Goldhammer, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, according to a release.
During its final deployment, the Nimitz spent three months in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility and almost four months in U.S. Central Command.
In the U.S. 5th Fleet, the carrier helped set conditions that enabled the Iran-Israel ceasefire and helped strike Islamic State targets in Somalia, according to the release.
The Nimitz also supported operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet, providing deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and taking part in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition.
Sailors aboard the Nimitz completed over 8,500 sorties, 17,000 flight hours, 50 replenishments-at-sea and sailed over 82,000 nautical miles combined, the release said.
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Built after the Navy’s first nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Enterprise, the Nimitz became the flagship vessel of the ten Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers.
The storied vessel was named after Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, who served as commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II.
The Nimitz first deployed July 7, 1976, to the Mediterranean, and then two years later, deployed to the Indian Ocean after Iran took 52 U.S. hostages in the wake of an attack on the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran.
The warship participated in Operation Evening Light, which sought to rescue those hostages, but the efforts were unsuccessful after the mission was called off due to an insufficient number of helicopters to complete it.
The 52 hostages were eventually released and returned to the U.S.
The Nimitz also supported Operation Desert Storm in the Arabian Gulf in 1991 and Operation Southern Watch in 1993 and 1997.
The carrier was stationed at its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk for 12 years until it relocated to Naval Base Kitsap in 1987.
It relocated again in 2001 to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California, from which it deployed in 2005 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war on terrorism.
The Nimitz relocated in 2012 to a new homeport in Everett, Washington, deploying a year later in 2013 to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
The carrier also famously fielded the Navy F-35 Lightning’s first carrier landing at sea.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the Nimitz began a deployment that would end up becoming the longest since the Vietnam War, clocking in at 341 days.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
