50-Year-Old Carrier USS Nimitz Returns to Home Port for the Last Time

USS Nimitz returns to a cold, wet welcome in Bremerton, Washington, December 16 (USN)

The U.S. Navy's oldest aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz, has returned to her home port in Bremerton, Washington for the last time. The first-in-class supercarrier turned 50 years old this year, and will soon be decommissioned and defueled.

Named after a famed WWII commander, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USS Nimitz was the first in a class of ten nuclear-powered carriers, which have played a role in nearly every American conflict since they were constructed. USS Nimitz had her share: she provided the launch point for Operation Evening Light, the infamous rescue attempt to retrieve U.S. hostages from Iran in 1980; joined Operation Earnest Will to defend Kuwaiti tanker convoys in the Persian Gulf in 1988; supported Operation Southern Watch after the first Persian Gulf War; and deployed to Gulf again for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007-8, and 2009-10, along with multiple other actions in the broader War on Terror. During the COVID-19 pandemic, USS Nimitz was deployed for 11 months straight and put more miles under the keel in one deployment (99,000 nm) than any Navy ship since the Vietnam War.

Nimitz's keel laying, 1968 (USN)

USS Nimitz under way in the Caribbean, 1975 (USN / SeaForces)

USS Nimitz under way off Iraq, Operation Southern Watch, 1993 (USN / SeaForces)

USS Nimitz in the Arabian Sea, 2023 (USN)

In her final deployment beginning in March 2025, Nimitz headed to the Mideast and conducted four transits of the Strait of Hormuz to provide presence during tense moments of the Iran-Israeli conflict. In June, she was standing by in the Arabian Sea (with USS Carl Vinson) during Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. bomber strike that damaged three Iranian nuclear sites. Before leaving the region, Nimitz and her air wing bombed ISIS targets in Somalia in August. She returned to San Diego on December 7 to offload part of her airwing, then arrived in Puget Sound on Monday.

Next year, Nimitz will depart her home port for the final time and transit around Cape Horn to reach the U.S. East Coast. At HII Newport News Shipbuilding, where she was constructed, her reactor will be removed in preparation for final dismantling. For the thousands of U.S. Navy sailors who have served aboard the carrier over the last five decades, there will be several more opportunities to say goodbye - including, if history is any guide, a final ceremony on arrival at the shipbreaking yard.