Overview
- The carrier moored at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton on Dec. 16, concluding roughly nine months operating across the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleets.
- Sailors logged more than 82,000 nautical miles, over 8,500 sorties and about 17,000 flight hours, with 50 replenishments at sea.
- Operations included multiple Strait of Hormuz transits, strikes against ISIS targets in Somalia, and port visits and exercises with partners in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Guam.
- A sailor went missing during an April port call in Guam, and on Oct. 26 an F/A-18F and an MH-60R crashed into the South China Sea with crews rescued and both aircraft recovered in early December.
- Too large for the Panama Canal, the nuclear-powered ship will sail via the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn to Naval Station Norfolk before May 2026 for defueling and deactivation, with Ford-class carriers set to assume its role and USS John F. Kennedy expected to take its Bremerton slot.