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Supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford Transits Gibraltar into Atlantic

carrier Ford passing Gibraltar
Gerald R. Ford made her first of four transits of the Strait of Gibraltar in July 2025 (USN)

Published May 6, 2026 12:34 PM by The Maritime Executive


Eagle-eyed ship spotters confirmed what had been anticipated for days as the supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford transited the Strait of Gibraltar on Wednesday, May 6. It was widely anticipated that the carrier was due to leave the Mediterranean, and the speculation is that she will reach her home base in Norfolk, Virginia, before the end of the month.

The U.S. Navy has not confirmed the speculation that the long deployment is coming to an end, but Stars & Stripes is quoting a defense official speaking on background who confirmed the carrier is now operating in the Atlantic. She passed the 315-day mark on what is becoming a record-setting deployment after having departed Virginia in June 2025. The carrier has been deployed longer than any warship since the end of the Vietnam War, but it looks like she will fall shy of the 332-day deployment of USS Midway during the Vietnam War.

Further adding to the speculation that the carrier is homeward bound, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao posted pictures on social media confirming a visit to USS Gerald R. Ford “earlier this week.” He writes that he was there to thank the sailors and airmen for “completing a long, demanding deployment.”

The visit included Ford as well as her destroyer escorts, USS Winston S. Churchill and USS Bainbridge.

 

 

 

USS Gerald R. Ford departed Norfolk bound for Northern Europe last year and took part in NATO exercises and visited Norway. She later made her first transit into the Mediterranean on what has become four trips through the Strait of Gibraltar during this deployment. In October, she was ordered to the Caribbean to support operations off Venezuela and then earlier this year ordered back to the Mediterranean and then the Red Sea to support the attacks on Iran.

The carrier was removed from the Red Sea after a significant laundry room fire in mid-March that injured three sailors and damaged sleeping compartments on the ship. She visited the repair base at Souda Bay, Crete, and then went to Croatia before making another Suez Canal transit in mid-April. 

Her deployment seems to have come to an end after USS George H.W. Bush completed training exercises off Virginia and was deployed to the Middle East. The U.S. briefly had three carriers in the region, with the USS Abraham Lincoln deployed in the Arabian Sea.

Completing her second full deployment since becoming active, the speculation is that Ford will spend the next year receiving significant maintenance and possible upgrades. The Navy also expects to take delivery of the second carrier of the class, USS John F. Kennedy, possibly in March 2027. The third carrier of the class, USS Enterprise, is expected in late 2029 or early 2030.