Amid the U.S. war with Iran, the Navy has decided to delay the decommissioning of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which played a consequential role in the Middle East when it operated out of San Diego from 2001 to 2012, according to the US Naval Institute and Breaking Defense.
The delay became public in a ship-servicing contract the Defense Department issued on Friday.
The 50-year-old Nimitz, which visited San Diego on Tuesday, had been scheduled to be decommissioned in Virginia in May. The situation began to publicly shift last week when the Navy announced that its oldest flattop would first go on deployment to the Southern Command, which includes Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
The decision was influenced not only by the war but major delays in bringing the Navy’s newest carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, into service. It won’t be commissioned until next March.
The delays come at a difficult moment for the Navy, whose 11 carriers have been in heavy rotation throughout the world. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle told reporters in San Diego in February that this operational tempo has been taking a big toll on sailors and ships.
The vessels include the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which has played a leading role in the attack on Iran. The “Abe,” as sailors call it, has been on deployment for about five months. It is currently operating in the Arabian Sea. A second carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is launching attacks from the Red Sea. It went on deployment 10 months ago and isn’t expected to leave the area soon.
Carrier deployments typically last six to seven months.
Like the Nimitz, the Lincoln has made many long deployments, including a 295-day mission that began in 2019, when it was operating out of San Diego.
It’s possible that other San Diego-based warships will soon begin long missions in the Middle East. The Trump administration is deciding whether to use Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to guide oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz to shield them from attacks by Iran. The Navy has just over 70 of those ships active, 17 which are homeported in San Diego.