BREMERTON, Wash. — Naval Base Kitsap would swap the Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier for its newest under a plan released Friday. “The Navy proposes to replace an older Nimitz-class aircraft carrier at NBK-Bremerton with the next-generation Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy,” according to a statement from U.S. Fleet Forces Command. The USS Nimitz, commissioned in 1975 just days after the fall of Saigon ended the Vietnam War, is slated to move from the naval base at Bremerton, which is west of Seattle on Puget Sound, to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., by April 2026. The Navy on Friday also released a draft environmental impact assessment calling for public comment on the plan to bring the USS John F. Kennedy to Kitsap after it is commissioned later this year. The Navy said electrical and other facilities upgrades at Kitsap would be necessary before moving the new carrier to Bremerton. “USS John F. Kennedy would arrive no earlier than fiscal year 2029,” according to the Fleet Forces Command statement. John F. Kennedy would join the USS Ronald Reagan at Kitsap. Nimitz to retire When the Nimitz arrives at Norfolk, it will begin an estimated 12-month “Ship’s Terminal Offload Plan,” or STOP, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. “The ship will no longer operate as an active part of the fleet,” said Jamie K. Koehler, a command spokeswoman. But there will be one more deployment before the Nimitz relinquishes its place in the fleet. In November 2024, the Nimitz was approved as seaworthy and combat-ready following a Navy review in San Diego. That allowed the aircraft carrier to surpass its official 50-year service life for a final deployment. The Navy won’t say which theater of operations that the Nimitz will serve its final mission. For now, the nuclear-powered carrier is at its homeport on Puget Sound where it returned Feb. 19. Congress was notified Thursday the carrier was moving to Norfolk, the U.S. Naval Institute News reported Thursday. Naval Sea Systems Command said the Nimitz would be in Norfolk until the spring of 2027 to offload equipment and materials that can be repurposed. The ship will then move to HII-Newport News Shipbuilding to begin the estimated 30-month process of removing nuclear fuel and deactivating the carrier. The company will do the work, though final details of the timeline and completion are still under discussion, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. The Nimitz, which was named for Adm. Chester Nimitz, has a crew of more than 3,200 and another 2,500 or more when carrying its air wing. Navy’s newest carrier The Navy plans to maintain its congressionally mandated 11 aircraft carriers in the fleet by commissioning the USS John F. Kennedy to replace the Nimitz. The Kennedy is the second of the new $12.9 billion Gerald R. Ford-class carriers. The proposal to homeport the Kennedy at Kitsap would see the carrier move within the next five years. The carrier will have extensive sea trials after commissioning before moving to Kitsap if the facility upgrades and environmental safeguards are made in the next several years. In addition to the Ford and Kennedy, four more Ford-class carriers have been authorized, with each to take the place of an aging Nimitz-class carrier. The Reagan, the ninth of 10 Nimitz-class carriers, will remain homeported at Kitsap. Later this month, the ship is going into a 17-month maintenance period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Kitsap. The work includes technological upgrades, hull preservation, and a review of steering and powerplant components, according to Navy plans. If the work is finished on schedule, the Reagan will be available for deployment by August 2026. GARY WARNER Gary Warner covers the Pacific Northwest for Stars and Stripes. He’s reported from East Germany, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and across the U.S. He has a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
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