The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The USS Nimitz makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. Family members of sailor Garrett Hernandez watched from Shelter Island as the Nimitz made her way towards North Island NAS. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)The USS Nimitz makes her way into San Diego Bay mid-morning on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in San Diego, CA. The Nimitz, which was ported in San Diego for 11 years, is finishing a 50-year service life and will be decommissioned next year. Family members of sailor Garrett Hernandez watched from Shelter Island as the Nimitz made her way towards North Island NAS. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

 

File images of the Nimitz from the UT staff

 

ORG XMIT: CADIU101 Ofelia Figueroa, second from left, watches as her husband's ship, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, leaves from Coronado, near San Diego, Monday, March 3, 2003. The ship was deployed to support the Global War on Terrorism. (AP Photo/San Diego Union-Tribune, K.C. Alfred)Ofelia Figueroa, second from left, watches as her husband’s ship, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, leaves from Coronado, near San Diego, Monday, March 3, 2003. The ship was deployed to support the Global War on Terrorism. (K.C. Alfred / UT file)
ORG XMIT: CADIU103 Sailors line the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on Monday, March 3, 2003, as it leaves from Coronado, Calif., on a mission that will bring the aircraft carrier within striking distance of Iraq. (AP Photo/San Diego Union-Tribune, K.C. Alfred)Sailors line the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on Monday, March 3, 2003, as it leaves from Coronado, Calif., on a mission that will bring the aircraft carrier within striking distance of Iraq. (K.C. Alfred / UT file)
The carrier USS Nimitz is seen in 2023 in San Diego. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)The carrier USS Nimitz is seen in 2023 in San Diego. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is nursed to its' berth with tugboats at North Island Naval Air Station after an eight month deployment to the conflict in Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003. The carrier was the last to arrive there and the last to return home. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier led a strike group that included the USS Princeton guided missile cruiser and the USS Bridge combat support ship. It joined five other carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf to form an unprecedented floating air force within striking distance of Iraq. (AP Photo/San Diego Union-Triibune Photo, John Gibbins)The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is nursed to its’ berth with tugboats at North Island Naval Air Station after an eight month deployment to the conflict in Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003. The carrier was the last to arrive there and the last to return home. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier led a strike group that included the USS Princeton guided missile cruiser and the USS Bridge combat support ship. It joined five other carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf to form an unprecedented floating air force within striking distance of Iraq. (John Gibbins / UT file)
Jan 24, 2008 - Coronado, California, USA - Crew members line the deck of the Aircraft Carrier, USS Nimitz as it leaves NAS North Island on a Western Pacific deployment. (Credit Image: © Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego/ZUMA Press)Crew members line the deck of the Aircraft Carrier, USS Nimitz as it leaves NAS North Island on a Western Pacific deployment in 2008. (Howard Lipin / UT file)