Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) is now operating in the Mediterranean Sea as it heads home following a nearly eight-month deployment.
Truman transited the Suez Canal on Saturday and is participating in the tail end of the NATO Neptune Strike drills in the Mediterranean as the carrier makes its way back to Naval Station Norfolk.
Truman was operating in the Red Sea for the last few months and was key in Operation Rough Rider, the mission seeking to degrade the Yemen-based Houthis’ abilities to attack commercial and military shipping. President Donald Trump paused that mission earlier this month.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier lost several F/A-18 Super Hornets at sea during this deployment. Cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64) shot down one of the carrier’s jets in a December friendly fire incident in the Red Sea. The carrier lost another Super Hornet last month when it had to make an evasive maneuver and a jet fell overboard while getting towed in the hangar bay. A third jet went overboard earlier this month after a failed landing on the carrier. No personnel were killed in the three incidents.
In February, the carrier briefly stopped in Souda Bay, Crete, for emergency repairs after colliding with a merchant ship near Port Said, Egypt. As a result of the collision, the carrier’s commanding officer was relieved and the Navy brought Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill aboard for the duration of the deployment.
Truman left its homeport at the end of September and sailed to the North Sea for NATO drills before heading to the Eastern Mediterranean. The Pentagon extended Truman‘s deployment several times recently due to the campaign against the Houthis.
