On Friday, USS Nimitz departed from her home port at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, for what is expected to be her final deployment.

The United States Navy’s oldest operational nuclear-powered supercarrier is back at sea. 

“Nimitz, in its fiftieth year of service, continues and celebrates its legacy of building alliances, demonstrating the power of teamwork and cooperation in maintaining maritime stability and global security,” Lt. Commander Tim Pietrack, spokesperson for the warship, said in a statement to Kitsap Sun.

The carrier’s deployment may be overdue, as the warship completed its planned incremental availability (PIA) last October and recently concluded its Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPUTEX).

One Final Indo-Pacific Deployment

USS Nimitz is expected to spend her final deployment operating in the Indo-Pacific, as her sister vessel, USS Carl Vinson, has been ordered to the Middle East to support and replace USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.

As the oldest operational carrier in service with the U.S. Navy, its embarked air wing of nine squadrons won’t include any fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II carrier-capable fighters. Instead, the aircraft will consist of Boeing F/A-18C/E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare planes, along with E-2D Hawkeyes, C-2A Greyhounds, and MH-60R/S Sea Hawks.

USS Nimitz was first commissioned in 1975, and following this deployment, she moved to Norfolk, Virginia, for her planned decommissioning process. Due to the warship’s nuclear reactor, it was determined that preserving the vessel as a museum ship would be impossible. 

At the same time, the design and layout could provide details on the other Nimitz-class carriers now in service to potential adversaries.

Delays with the Gerald R. Ford-class carriers forced the U.S. Navy to postpone the retirement to May 2026. Extending the service of USS Nimitz will give the U.S. Navy additional time to prepare for the carrier’s recycling. Just as the maintenance and pre-deployment operations are complicated, so will breaking up the nuclear-powered vessel.

It won’t entirely be the end of the line, however.

After the reactor is removed, any remaining parts from the USS Nimitz determined to be salvageable will be used on other carriers, including her sister carriers and the Gerald R. Ford-class flattops now being constructed. Parts from the USS Enterprise that are already in the recycling process have found their way onto some Nimitz-class carriers. 

Thus, the retired carriers will aid the fleet for years to come.

From the First Design to the Final Cruise

The lead vessel and class of carriers were named for United States Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the Second World War. The nuclear-powered class of supercarriers was developed in the 1960s to supplement the U.S. Navy’s Kitty Hawk and Enterprise classes while initially designed as direct replacements for the aging Midway class.

Nine additional Nimitz-class carriers were built, with the last of the class, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), commissioned in January 2009.

The nuclear-powered carriers have two reactors and four propulsion shafts, allowing the warships to reach a top speed of 30+ knots (34.5mph). Each Nimitz-class has an expected fifty-year service life with one mid-life refueling. Still, in October 2020, the U.S. Navy announced that it was considering an extension to the service lives of the lead vessel, which had its refueling and overhaul completed from 1998 to 2001.

All ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers were constructed between 1968 and 2006 at Newport News Shipbuilding Company, now Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, at Newport News, Virginia, at a unit cost of approximately $8.5 billion. 

Since the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the fourth carrier of the class to be built, all have been modularly constructed. This has allowed whole sections to be welded together with plumbing and electrical equipment already fitted, improving efficiency.

The Final Deployment for the Nimitz, Ronald Reagan Waits at the Docks

Even as USS Nimitz has begun her deployment, Bremerton will be busy with USS Ronald Reagan, which is scheduled to start its Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA) maintenance cycle. That cycle is expected to last about seventeen months, and the Ronald Regan will be in port until at least the middle of next year or perhaps later.

USS Ronald Reagan is also back in the USA after serving as the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier. It is based in Yokosuka, Japan, and arrived at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton last August.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites, with over 3,200 published pieces and over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author at Editor@nationalinterest.org.

Image: Shutterstock/ Irenee Houngblame.

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