Decommissioning the Nimitz is a Huge Mistake..

[CG2014]

Huge aircraft carrier and a fire in the laundry cause it to take it out of combat operations?

Tough it out.


Army and Marines ground infantry are in the mud for months without a hot shower and a hot meal.


p,s, I didn't know the USA has facilities in Crete large enough to accommodate a nuclear aircraft carrier.

[ICU 812]

Greece is a NATO member. Greece administers half of Crete. There is probably ly an Air base there with RADAR ad air traffic control too.

Turkey administers the other half of the island. Turkey is also a NATO member.

Whatever facilities are there, I would guess the joint usage arrangements are in effect.

[royamcr]

Originally Posted by pxmcc

the Ford is going in for repairs after a massive fire onboard.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/18/polit...-fire-iran-war

i predict the Nimitz will have some excitement sooner rather than later. good call by Congress to extend her service.

No way Nimitz is going anywhere near a war zone.

[pxmcc]

^^as Salty would say, we'll see..

just curious, but what aspect of the Nimitz falls short of being battle-ready, in your opinion? sure looks more battle-ready than the Ford to me. dealing with the fire ran 30 hours on our newest, best, and biggest "battleship". absolutely unbelievable..

btw, i appreciate your expertise on the subject. i don't pretend to be an expert, i just have instinct and a bit of common sense to work with lol.

[txdot-guy]

Originally Posted by pxmcc

the Ford is going in for repairs after a massive fire onboard.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/18/polit...-fire-iran-war

Originally Posted by pxmcc

^^as Salty would say, we'll see..

just curious, but what aspect of the Nimitz falls short of being battle-ready, in your opinion? sure looks more battle-ready than the Ford to me. dealing with the fire ran 30 hours on our newest, best, and biggest "battleship". absolutely unbelievable..

Apparently the fire started in a dryer vent and quickly spread to some berthing spaces for some 600 people. That 30 hours includes not just putting out the fire but also cleanup efforts.

They have also been in service for much longer than their standard deployment. They really need to come in for needed repairs and maintenance before redeployment.

https://maritime-executive.com/artic...thout-berthing

The recent fire aboard the supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford was more significant than initially reported, sailors and officials have told the New York Times. It started as a laundry room fire, as accurately described in official statements, but did not stop there. Defense officials told veteran national security reporter Helene Cooper that the blaze spread through vent ducts and swept through the berthing areas for more than 600 people, about one-eighth of the total crew complement aboard. The Washington Post's Dan Lamothe confirmed the reports.

Last week, U.S. Central Command reported that Ford had suffered a fire in an onboard laundry facility, possibly sparked by an electrical fault. Two people were treated for non-critical injuries, but the vessel remained on mission and launching fighter sorties. CENTCOM emphasized that the cause of the fire was not combat-related and said that it had been contained, with no damage to the ship’s propulsion plant.

According to the Times, the fire started in a dryer vent, then spread into berthing spaces. It took more than 30 hours to extinguish, the officials told the Times, indicating a significant firefighting effort. 600 personnel are now without berths because of the blaze and are sleeping where they can find space, sailors told the Times.

At the time of the incident, USS Gerald R. Ford and her carrier strike group were operating in the northern Red Sea, far from the high risk zone in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf. CENTCOM emphasized that the fire was an accident, not the result of enemy action.

Despite the fire and the discomfort for the crew, Ford is expected to stay on station and set a new all-time record for longest carrier deployment, officials told the New York Times. The carrier was dispatched to the Caribbean for the Venezuela campaign, then redeployed across the Atlantic in the run-up to the strikes on Tehran.

[royamcr]

Originally Posted by pxmcc

^^as Salty would say, we'll see..

just curious, but what aspect of the Nimitz falls short of being battle-ready, in your opinion? sure looks more battle-ready than the Ford to me. dealing with the fire ran 30 hours on our newest, best, and biggest "battleship". absolutely unbelievable..

btw, i appreciate your expertise on the subject. i don't pretend to be an expert, i just have instinct and a bit of common sense to work with lol.

Other than being out of nuclear fuel it is probably ok. Probably not totally out, but at anytime it could start to lose power. Losing power means planes harder to launch due to reduced top speed. The reactors power everything on the ship.

If the Nimitz was headed to middle east it wouldn't be part of southern command and would be heading across the pacific to the Indian Ocean.

It's a massive operation either way with 5-6 destroyers, 2 cruisers, a supply ship and a couple subs hanging out all making a carrier battle group. Oh and responsible for around 70 aircraft.

[pxmcc]

holy heck, the Ford may be out of action for 14 months. i see the Nimitz seeing action.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/03/...for-14-months/

my guess is that if the Nimitz's nuclear fuel were a gas tank, it's got a quarter of a tank left in it.

[royamcr]

I think it would be pretty risky to send the Nimitz into a war zone. If it loses too much power all the sudden it can't operate. It could strand many billions of $ worth of aircraft without launch capabilities. 1/4 tank left would mean the actual service life of the reactors is more like 30 years.

[pxmcc]

happy day and sad day for the Nimitz..

should be fun sailing around Cape Horn. few seas anywhere on earth are as "exciting"..

https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/04/uss-...ca-retirement/