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The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) begins the transit to Newport News, Va., on Aug. 4, 2017, to begin a refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) maintenance at Newport News Shipyard. US Navy photo.
USS George Washington (CVN-73) will return to Japan as the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier once it completes a four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding, USNI News has learned.
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2017.
The following is part of a series. Please also see Top Stories: International Acquisition, Navy Operations, Marine Corps Operations, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Acquisition, International Operations and New Administration.
2017 began with the promise of planning for a larger fleet: at the end of 2016, the Navy announced a 355-ship requirement, and the incoming Trump Administration expressed its support for a larger military and a heftier Navy. Few concrete steps were taken this year, though, to begin a buildup – though many programs that will be pivotal to the 355-ship fleet of the future reached significant programmatic milestones in 2017.
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is towed by tug boats to its new homeport in Newport News, Va., on Aug. 4, 2017. George Washington changed homeports to support the ship’s refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) maintenance at Newport News Shipyard. US Navy photo.
Aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) began a 48-month Refueling and Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding earlier this month after serving for seven years as the forward-deployed carrier in Japan, creating a somewhat unique work package for the Navy’s sixth-ever RCOH. Read More
Thw aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford (CVN-78) and Enterprise (CVN-65) sit side by side in the South Yard as the sunrise starts to light up the sky. HII Photo
This post has been updated to include workforce totals at Newport News Shipbuilding.
The sole U.S. aircraft carrier builder is planning on laying off 1,500 employees over the next year-and-a-half as part of a series of cost saving measures, according to a letter sent to employees from the president of Newport News Shipbuilding this week. Read More
The following is a July 20, 2015 letter from Newport News Shipbuilding president Matt Mulherin on planned cost reductions at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard. Read More
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) prepare the flight deck for flight operations. US Navy Photo
The Carl Vinson carrier strike group (CSG) has left U.S. Central Command and has passed its strike missions over Iraq and Syria to a new CSG centered on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), the service announced on Friday. Read More
Aircraft sit on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Oct. 29, 2014. US Navy Photo
The crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) finished clearing clogged seawater intakes to allow the ship to depart for a Middle East deployment, Navy officials told USNI News on Wednesday. Read More
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) participates in a strait transit exercise on Jan. 16, 2015. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s most technologically capable carrier, cruiser and destroyer are shipping out for a Middle East deployment on Monday, according to a release from Fleet Forces Command. Read More
A unit for the future aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) rests on the assembly platen at Newport News Shipbuilding on March 5, 2014. US Navy Photo
In their first budget hearing of the year with the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Navy officials described their Fiscal Year 2016 plans that include speeding up construction of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) without changing its delivery date, hurrying to start the USS George Washington (CVN-73) Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) planning to avoid problems down the road, and abandoning hopes of procuring a third Afloat Forward Staging Base early. Read More
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits in a strait transit formation with ships from Carrier Strike Group 12 on Sept. 20, 2014.
The U.S. Navy’s most technologically capable aircraft carrier left Naval Station Norfolk , Va. to start a series of exercises ahead of deployment later this year, the service announced last week. Read More
