Carrier USS Ford Pulls Into Port at Crete for Fire-Damage Repairs

The carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has pulled into Souda Bay, Crete for repairs after a serious fire that started in a laundry room. The blaze damaged berthing areas, already in short supply on board a carrier designed for a smaller crew, and raised concerns about the effects of a nine-month deployment on a vessel designed for six-month service intervals.

Ford arrived in Souda Bay on the 23rd, and will be in Crete for an indeterminate period for "efficient assessment, repairs, and resupply," U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement. The vessel's deployment continues, the command emphasized, despite reports that the ship may soon be relieved for a return voyage to Norfolk.

A copy of the Pentagon's latest internal testing review of Ford suggests that the $13 billion ship's issues may extend beyond fire damage, according to Bloomberg. Nine years after Ford's delivery, and four years after her first trial-scale overseas deployment, the Department of Operational Testing & Evaluation remains uncertain about her "operational suitability." Launch & recovery, radar capability, defenses against incoming threats, and the functioning of her weapons elevators (a longstanding issue) all remain unproven in the department's eyes due to "insufficient data."

For its part, the Navy has expressed satisfaction with Ford's recent operational performance, and says that it has put the ship's first few years of difficulties in the past. Former commanding officer Capt. Rick Burgess called Ford the "most capable, adaptable, and lethal combat platform in the world" at his departure in 2025, extolling the ship's "exceptional performance."

The USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group is now winding up for a deployment to join operations in the Mideast, potentially to relieve Ford. Bush's destroyer escorts got under way on Wednesday, including USS Mason, USS Donald Cook and USS Ross.

The threat picture in the region is serious, according to President Donald Trump. On Tuesday night, during a press conference about the prospects for a deal with Iran, Trump told reporters that Iranian forces had fired more than 100 missiles at the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during operations off the coast of Oman. Trump celebrated the Navy's ability to conduct air defense at such a significant scale.

"They shot 100 missiles at one of our aircraft carriers, the Abraham Lincoln," Trump said. "And out of 101 missiles shot, every single one of them was knocked down into the sea. Think of that."

On March 25, the day after Trump's comments, Iranian news sources confirmed the launch of an unspecified number of cruise missiles at Lincoln.