USS Nimitz has come full circle. The aircraft carrier arrived in Norfolk on July 9 after traveling around South America from Bremerton, Washington, its home port for many years.
Before reaching Norfolk, the ship became the longest serving aircraft carrier in Navy history. At 51 years old, it surpassed USS Enterprise, which left active service in 2012 after 51 years and one day. The Nimitz is expected to stay in service until at least March 2027, when the future carrier John F. Kennedy is slated to come on line.
The Nimitz was commissioned on May 2, 1975, and was the first of 10 carriers in its class. It spent its first 12 years based in Norfolk. During that period, the ship served as a staging platform for Operation Eagle Claw, the aborted 1980 attempt to rescue U.S. hostages held by Iran after the Iranian revolution.
The nuclear-powered carrier was also the centerpiece of the U.S. Navy in 1980, the year it appeared in the film "The Final Countdown," starring Kirk Douglas. In the science fiction story, the Nimitz is thrown back in time from the 1970s to the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Off screen, the carrier left Norfolk in 1987 and spent most of its career homeported on the West Coast, with stints between Washington and San Diego.
The ship can carry a crew of nearly 6,000 sailors and Naval aviators. Most of its air crew stayed on the West Coast when the Nimitz left Bremerton for the last time on March 7.
Since arriving in Norfolk this summer, the carrier has hosted a NATO change of command ceremony and other events. It is also being used to train pilots from Naval Air Station Oceana, along with their maintenance crews.
WHRO Military Reporter Steve Walsh flew out to the Nimitz on July 9 to document the crew as the ship arrived for its final change of homeport.
