Service life of American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is coming to an end and it has already completed its last voyage before planned decommissioning.
The ship has now returned to base in Bremerton, Washington, and a week and a half ago its CVW-17 air wing was already removed from it. And, as USNI reports, Nimitz will next make its last transition in life to the U.S. East Coast, where it will be finally decommissioned.
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And the combat service of this aircraft carrier, which became the first in its class, is actually completed; this also means the beginning of gradual decommissioning of all 10 aircraft carriers of this class, which are being replaced by a new class Gerald R. Ford. Of course, unless the U.S. Navy needs rapid strengthening of carrier strike groups now, or while the ship will be in the so-called reserve fleet awaiting scrapping.
USS Nimitz's decommissioning is absolutely planned, because this aircraft carrier was launched on May 13, 1972, and in service since May 3, 1975, meaning it's already over half a century old and this was exactly the determined operational life limit. And during this time, this aircraft carrier became truly iconic and the most famous aircraft carrier in the world.
At minimum, it's definitely more famous than the nine other U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of its class. After all, we're talking about a 333-meter ship with total displacement over 100,000 tons, with two nuclear reactors and total power plant output of 190 MW, crew of 3,532 people and air wing of 85-90 aircraft and helicopters.
Moreover, USS Nimitz itself proved more media-friendly than all, because from the very beginning it became the star of the 1980 science fiction film "The Final Countdown," and through its deployment during the Cold War in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, it was also actively mentioned by Soviet propaganda as a model of American militarism. It also participated in two wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as numerous other operations and missions, overall conducting over 30 deployments.
The last voyage, lasting 9 months, took place in the Pacific Ocean, with entry into the Arabian Sea during U.S. strikes on Irans nuclear program. The last voyage was marked by losses of F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter and MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter in one day on October 26 while in the South China Sea.
At the same time, chances that USS Nimitz will be turned into a museum, saving it from scrapping, are quite small. Specifically, in 2010, the U.S Navy proposed transferring the first-in-class Ticonderoga missile cruiser to a museum, but for 10 whole years no takers were found and it was sent for scrapping in 2020.
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