American nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead ship of the Nimitz-class carriers, has already begun the final phase of its deployment, after which it will be decommissioned and scrapped.
Now it has left Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and is heading to the continental United States, where it will first stop in San Diego, California, and then embark on its final voyage to Bremerton, Washington. There the process of decommissioning will begin, scheduled for 2026. Zona Militarreports this.
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USS Nimitz's (CVN-68) last combat deployment began in March this year. Since then, it has conducted operations in the U.S. Army INDOPACOM command's area of responsibility in the Indo-Pacific region in the South China Sea.
In addition, during its last combat deployment, it also moved to the Middle East to first strengthen presence against the backdrop of missile strikes exchange betweeniIran and Israel, and then replace the third carrier in class USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) in the region, which went to its home port in San Diego to complete its 8-month deployment.
Defense Express also adds that USS Nimitz was laid down back in 1968 and commissioned in 1975. That is, it has been in service for over 50 years, and it's the oldest aircraft carrier in U.S. service. During this time, it managed to participate in many wars and operations, including Eagle Claw 1979-1980, Desert Fox 1999, Iraqi Freedom 2003, and even encountered a Tic-Tac shaped UFO in 2004.
USS Nimitz in service should be replaced by the new USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) of the Gerald R. Ford class, which is planned to be commissioned only in 2027. That is, for the next two years, the U.S. will have only 10 aircraft carriers, which of course is not critical, but unpleasant especially against the backdrop of world tensions and particularly around Taiwan.
Meanwhile, China only recently commissioned its third aircraft carrier, and now there will be two more, one of which could quite possibly become the largest in the world. That is, China is gradually starting to catch up with the U.S. in number of aircraft carriers.
Although here it's worth looking at their displacement, because all American carriers have displacement of over 100,000 tons, while the largest Chinese ones weigh 60-85,000 tons. A similar situation is currently developing with the rest of China's fleet, because in quantity they have already surpassed the U.S. but in displacement they lag significantly behind.
Despite the U.S. planning to begin the decommissioning and subsequent scrapping process already in 2026, this process is actually very long and expensive, so the US Navy planned its scrapping back in 2023. And here it's worth looking at the example of scrapping predecessor USS Enterprise, for which even 6 years wasnt enough.
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