The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz completed what likely was its final deployment on Tuesday and is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2026. File Photo by Yonhap
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz docked at Naval Base Kitsap on Tuesday after completing a 270-day deployment that likely was its last before being retired.
Thousands gathered at thel base in Bremerton, Wash., to welcome the carrier’s arrival and be reunited with their loved ones serving aboard it.
Kimberly Seavey was among them and relished the opportunity to greet husband, Tyler, with a traditional kiss upon completing his deployment.
“This is a very special one for us — an emotional one for us,” Seavy told KING-TV.
“I’m really excited,” she added. “He’ll be getting off the ship, and then he’ll come and meet up with me and get a little smoocheroo.”
Seavey carried a sign that said, “My Christmas wish came true. Welcome home, babe,” and said she endured several disheartening events during the deployment.
A family member and a pet each died during the past nine months, which she said was hard to undergo while her husband was at sea.
The vessel’s recent nine-month deployment started March 31, when it sailed from Kitsap to support the U.S. Navy’s 3rd, 5th and 7th fleets, according to Navy Times.
“We have traveled more than two-thirds of this planet during this nine-month deployment,” Rear Adm. Fred Goldhammer, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, said in a news release.
“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,” Goldhammer added.
The strike group’s deployment included three months in support of the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command and four months supporting Central Command.
While with the 5th Fleet, it supported the cease-fire between Israel and Iran and assisted in striking Islamic State targets in Somalia.
During the nine-month deployment, the aircraft carrier’s crew flew more than 8,500 sorties totaling 17,000 flight hours.
The carrier also participated in 50 replenishments while at sea and sailed more than 82,000 nautical miles.
The Nimitz is the world’s oldest active aircraft carrier, was launched in 1975 and is scheduled to sail to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia in 2026 to be decommissioned.
The Nimitz is named in honor of Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, who, along with Gen. Douglas MacArthur, jointly led the United States’ military against Japan during World War II.
The nuclear-powered carrier is the flagship vessel of 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers that were built from 1968 to 2006 by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. in Newport News, Va.
The Nimitz’s keel was laid in 1968, and the vessel was launched in 1972 and commissioned for service in 1975.
