USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, and the lead ship of her class. One of the largest warships in the world, she was laid down, launched, and commissioned as CVAN-68, "aircraft carrier, attack, nuclear powered", but she was later redesignated as CVN-68, "aircraft carrier, multi-mission, nuclear-powered", on 30 June 1975, as part of a fleet-wide realignment that year.
The ship was named after World War II Pacific fleet commander Chester W. Nimitz, USN, (1885–1966), who was the Navy's third fleet admiral. She is the only Nimitz-class carrier whose official name is just the surname of the person for whom she is named. Nimitz had her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, when she was relocated to Naval Station Bremerton in Washington (now part of Naval Base Kitsap). Following her refueling and complex overhaul in 2001, her home port was changed to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego County, California. The home port of Nimitz was again moved to Naval Station Everett in Washington in 2012.
In January 2015, Nimitz changed home port from Everett back to Naval Base Kitsap. With the inactivation of in 2012 and decommissioning in 2017, Nimitz is now the oldest serving aircraft carrier in the world. On 10 March 2026, she began what was supposed to be her final voyage, but on 14 March 2026, the Navy extended her active service through March 2027, to maintain the 11-carrier mandate.
Construction
Nimitz was authorized by the U.S. Congress in fiscal year 1967 and Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in Newport News, Virginia, was awarded the $106.5 million contract (equivalent to $ million today). Her keel was laid down on 22 June 1968. The vessel was christened on 13 May 1972, by Catherine Nimitz Lay, the daughter of the late Admiral Nimitz, six years after his death. Nimitz was delivered to the Navy in 1975, and was commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on 3 May 1975, by the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford.
Nimitz Carrier Strike Group Nimitz is part of Carrier Strike Group Eleven (CSG-11) with Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) embarked, with Nimitz as the flagship of the strike group and the home of the commander of Destroyer Squadron 9.
Ships of Destroyer Squadron 9
Squadrons of CVW-17
Strike Fighter Squadron 22 (VFA-22) "Fighting Redcocks" with Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets Strike Fighter Squadron 94 (VFA-94) "Mighty Shrikes" with F/A-18E Super Hornets Strike Fighter Squadron 137 (VFA-137) "Kestrels" with F/A-18E Super Hornets Strike Fighter Squadron 146 (VFA-146) "Blue Diamonds" with F/A-18E Super Hornets Electronic Attack Squadron 139 (VAQ-139) "Cougars" with Boeing EA-18G Growlers Carrier Airborne Command & Control Squadron 121 (VAW-121) "Bluetails" with Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6 (HSC-6) "Screaming Indians" with Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawks Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 (HSM-73) "Battle Cats" with MH-60R Seahawks Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 Detachment 3 (VRC-40) "Rawhides" with Grumman C-2 Greyhound
Service history 1970s
USS Nimitz first deployed to the Mediterranean Sea on 7 July 1976, with Carrier Air Wing 8 embarked in company with the nuclear-powered cruisers and . In November 1976, Nimitz was awarded the Battle "E" from Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet, for being the most efficient and foremost aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Fleet. The cruise was uneventful, and the carrier returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 February 1977.
A second uneventful Mediterranean cruise was conducted from 1 December 1977 to 20 July 1978. The third deployment began on 10 September 1979, to the Mediterranean. The ship moved to the Indian Ocean in response to the Iran hostage crisis in which the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, was overtaken and 52 hostages were held. Prior to this trip, the ship took part in the shooting of the 1980 film The Final Countdown, whose story was specifically set aboard the Nimitz. After four months on station, Operation Evening Light was launched from Nimitzs decks in an attempt to rescue the U.S. Embassy staff. The mission was aborted after a helicopter crashed at a refueling point in the Iranian desert. The ship returned home 26 May 1980, having spent 144 days at sea.
1980s On 26 May 1981, a Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler from Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 (VMAQ-2) assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) crashed on the flight deck, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others. The Prowler was fuel-critical after a "bolter" (missed approach), and its crash and the subsequent fire and explosions destroyed or damaged 19 other aircraft. Autopsies showed later that the pilot had had six times the normal level of the sedating antihistamine medication brompheniramine in his blood.Raphael C. Wong and Harley Y. Tse, Drugs of Abuse: Body Fluid Testing (Humana Press, 2005) p3 Despite having no connection to the accident, the media focused on the autopsy results of several members of the Nimitzs enlisted flight deck crew who were killed and who tested positive for marijuana. An article by Robert Reinhold in the 17 June 1981 edition of The New York Times reported, "Experts at the National Institute on Drug Abuse say that it would probably be impossible to establish conclusively that any of the Nimitz crew had been smoking marijuana on the night of the crash because the test does not directly detect the component of marijuana smoke that acts on the brain. Because the metabolites may persist in the blood for many days, the test may detect marijuana that was used many days earlier, long after the effects have worn off". As a result, President Ronald Reagan instituted a "Zero Tolerance" drug policy across all of the U.S. armed services, which started the mandatory drug testing of all U.S. military personnel.
Nimitz deployed again to the Mediterranean on 3 August 1981. The ship, in company with , conducted a Freedom of Navigation exercise in international waters in the Gulf of Sidra near Libya on 18 and 19 August 1981. On the morning of 19 August 1981, two Grumman F-14 Tomcats of VF-41 were engaged by two Libyan Su-22s, resulting in the two Libyan aircraft being shot down in what became known as the Gulf of Sidra incident.
Nimitzs fourth deployment, from 10 November 1982 to 20 May 1983, was to the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Nimitz deployed for a fifth time on 8 March 1985. On 14 June 1985, two Lebanese gunmen hijacked TWA Flight 847, which carried 153 passengers and crew and included Americans. In response, Nimitz was deployed to the coast of Lebanon, where the ship remained until August 1985. The ship returned to Norfolk on 4 October 1985.
Nimitz, again with CVW-8 embarked, departed Norfolk for the sixth and final Mediterranean deployment on 30 December 1986. After four months and numerous Mediterranean port visits, the carrier crossed the equator en route to Rio de Janeiro. From Rio de Janeiro, she proceeded south around Cape Horn and into the Pacific Ocean. After a brief stop in San Diego, to offload the East Coast air wing, Nimitz arrived at her new home port of Bremerton, Washington, on 2 July 1987.
Nimitz deployed to the Western Pacific with Carrier Air Wing 9 embarked on 2 September 1988. During the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Nimitz provided security off the coast of South Korea, then in October, operated in the North Arabian Sea, participating in Operation Earnest Will, the protection of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers. On 30 November 1988, while in the Arabian Sea, a 20 mm cannon accidentally fired during maintenance, striking a KA-6 Intruder. The ensuing fire spread to six other aircraft, and two sailors were killed. Nimitz returned to Bremerton on 2 March 1989.
1990s On 25 February 1991, Nimitz departed Bremerton for the Persian Gulf in relief of in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, returning to Bremerton on 24 August 1991. Nimitz again deployed to the Persian Gulf on 1 February 1993, in support of Operation Southern Watch, returning on 1 August 1993.
On 27 November 1995, Nimitz deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf with Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9). In March 1996, the ship patrolled the waters off Taiwan amid missile tests conducted by the Chinese in the area, becoming the first American warship to pass through the Taiwan Strait since 1976. Nimitz also cruised the Persian Gulf in support of Southern Watch prior to returning from deployment on 20 May 1996.
Between 14 and 24 July 1997, Nimitz participated in Joint Task Force Exercise 97-2 (JTFEX 97–2) off the coast of Southern California, which also served as a "Revolution in Strike Warfare" demonstration. The latter event was designed to demonstrate the capability of an aircraft carrier and an embarked air wing to project carrier-based airpower into littoral warfare. On 20 July 1997, Nimitz and CVW-9 began a high-intensity strike campaign. When flight operations were completed four days later, Nimitz and CVW-9 had carried out 771 strike sorties while dropping 1,337 bombs on target. CVW-9 flew 975 fixed-wing sorties during this four-day surge operation. Almost 80% of the sorties flown were strike sorties, with strike support accounting for another 10%. F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters flew nearly 80% of the strike sorties. Of the 771 strike sorties, 727 were loaded with ordnance, while 44 were electronic support by EA-6B Prowlers. During this four-day period, only a portion of the medium-range interdiction strikes required tanking support. KC-135 and KC-130 tanker aircraft provided most of this support. S-3 Vikings conducted recovery tanking and supplied more than one-third of the fuel passed to CVW-9 aircraft during this surge operation., pp 3–5 This surge had been preceded by a 16-hour preparation after undergoing four days that had generated about 700 fixed-winged sorties.Jewell, Angelyn et al., pp. 5–6. A following study by the Center for Naval Analyses determined that Nimitz and CVW-9 could have maintained this high-sortie operational tempo for another 12 to 24 hours before requiring equipment maintenance, with rest for the crews while ordnance and aviation fuel stocks were replenished.Jewell, Angelyn et al., pp. 146–149.
On 1 September 1997, Nimitz began an around-the-world cruise, again supporting Southern Watch, which ended in Newport News, Virginia, on 2 March 1998. She spent the next three years undergoing a nuclear refueling and complex overhaul that ended on 25 June 2001.
2000s
On 21 September 2001, after sea trials in the Virginia Capes, Nimitz began to transit around South America to her new home port of NAS North Island in San Diego, California, arriving there on 13 November 2001. Aircraft from Carrier Air Reserve Wing 20 were embarked for the transit. From January to May 2002, a four-month post-shakedown maintenance availability was completed at North Island; during this time, an advanced combat direction system was installed.
Nimitzs 11th operational deployment began on 3 March 2003. The group relieved in the Persian Gulf in mid-April 2003, launching Carrier Air Wing 11 aircraft sorties over Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She returned to San Diego on 5 November 2003. Nimitz and CVW-11 were awarded the 2003 Battle "E" and Flatley Award in early 2004.
In November 2004, Nimitz was contacted by , which was tracking reported unidentified flying objects. Princeton subsequently contacted two Navy F/A-18F fighters from Nimitz, whose cockpit instrumentation recorded data and imagery that some pilots interpreted as an object accelerating and maneuvering at extraordinary speeds. The incident was publicized in December 2017 along with details of the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program.