Carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) is pier-side in Newport News, Va. after almost two years in dry dock for its midlife refueling and overhaul, the service announced this week.
Last week, Huntington Ingalls Industries and the Navy began the process to float the aircraft carrier at the dock at the shipyard where Washington has been since 2017.
“Months in the making, flooding the dry dock began on the morning of Sept. 23, when the team put 18 feet of water into the dry dock, and a variety of watchstanders and personnel on the ship and in the shipyard took initial readings and measurements,” the Navy said in a Monday statement. “Over the course of the next five days, more than 100 million gallons of water were pumped into the dry dock. Progress was measured and methodical, as numerous personnel on and off the ship were involved in ensuring that both ship and dry dock met appropriate checkpoints for the evolution.”
In August, Washington hit the halfway point of the four-year, multi-billion-dollar refueling and complex overhaul for the carrier that was commissioned in 1992. The work is expected to complete in 2021.
“Returning this amazing warship back to the water is a result of many months of hard work from George Washington’s crew and the NNS personnel,” said carrier commander Capt. Kenneth Strong in a statement. “Our primary focus in the second half of RCOH is to build and sustain combat readiness.”
