America’s Oldest Active Aircraft Carrier USS Nimitz Enters Final Retirement Planning Phase

The United States Navy has begun the final retirement planning phase for USS Nimitz (CVN 68), America’s oldest active aircraft carrier, after awarding Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) a US$33.5 million contract modification to initiate advance planning and procure long-lead materials for the vessel’s inactivation and defuelling.

The contract covers preparatory work that will be carried out at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) facility in Virginia, with the effort expected to be completed by March 2026. The work includes preparations for inactivation, including the removal of the carrier’s nuclear reactor.

USS Nimitz recently returned to her homeport at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, on 16 December, following a nine-month operational deployment.

During the deployment, the carrier and her strike group operated across the US 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas, sailing more than two-thirds of the globe while working alongside allied and partner navies to enhance interoperability and support regional stability.

Operational reporting indicates that the deployment included nearly four months under US Central Command and approximately three months in the Indo-Pacific Command area.

While operating with the US Fifth Fleet, USS Nimitz supported freedom of navigation operations in the Arabian Sea and completed four transits of the Strait of Hormuz.

The carrier strike group also provided power projection support for US Central Command, setting conditions for regional stability and enabling the Iran–Israel ceasefire.

Additionally, the strike group supported US Africa Command operations, including strikes against ISIS targets in Somalia, according to operational accounts.

Port visits during the deployment included Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, marking the first US aircraft carrier port calls in Bahrain and the UAE in more than five years.

In the Indo-Pacific region, USS Nimitz participated in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition and conducted routine port visits to Malaysia and Guam.

Commissioned in 1975, USS Nimitz is a nuclear-powered supercarrier and the lead ship of the Nimitz class, ranking among the largest warships ever built. She was originally designated CVAN-68 before being redesignated CVN-68 on 30 June 1975.

Throughout her service life, USS Nimitz has shifted homeports as per operational requirements. She was initially based at Naval Station Norfolk before relocating to Naval Station Bremerton in 1987.

Following a refuelling and complex overhaul completed in 2001, her homeport was moved to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. Subsequent realignments saw the carrier transferred to Naval Station Everett in 2012, before returning to Naval Base Kitsap in January 2015, where she remained until her most recent deployment.

Early next year, USS Nimitz is expected to sail to the US East Coast to arrive at Newport News Shipbuilding, where the inactivation process will formally begin, marking the final phase of her operational life.

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group comprised USS Nimitz, flagship of Carrier Strike Group 11, the embarked staff of CSG 11, Destroyer Squadron 9, Carrier Air Wing 17, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54), Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108), Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) and Gridley (DDG 101).

Reference: Naval Today

Source: Maritime Shipping News