U.S. Media Article: Where Are the 11 Active Aircraft Carriers of the United States?

Reference News Network reported on April 12 The U.S. magazine "National Interest" published an article on April 1 titled "Where Are America's Aircraft Carriers Now," authored by Peter Suciu. The full text is excerpted as follows:

USS George Washington (CVN-73)

Current Status: In Port (Yokosuka, Japan)

USS George Washington is homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, and returned to port just before Christmas after visiting Guam in early December last year. The carrier is currently undergoing maintenance and is not expected to be deployed again until the second half of 2026 at the earliest.

USS George Washington is the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy named after the first President of the United States, George Washington, and was commissioned on July 4, 1992. It is scheduled to depart Norfolk, Virginia, for Yokosuka in November 2024. This aircraft carrier served as a forward-deployed carrier in 2008, becoming the first nuclear-powered warship to fulfill that role.

When USS George Washington returned to the U.S. in 2015, it was reportedly unclear whether the ship would return to Japan or continue to serve. At that time, the Pentagon had serious discussions about retiring the carrier due to budget cuts.

However, the final decision was to keep the ship in service and complete a mid-life refueling and complex overhaul, but few could have predicted the hardships the carrier would face afterward. USS George Washington underwent a maintenance period lasting over 2,100 days (nearly six years), while this process typically takes about three years.

USS George Washington is equipped with Carrier Air Wing Five, featuring approximately 90 aircraft. Its air wing includes F-35C Lightning II fighters, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

USS John Stennis (CVN-74)

Current Status: Undergoing mid-life refueling and complex overhaul (Newport News, Virginia)

USS John Stennis is likely to be docked at the Newport News Shipbuilding facility in Virginia for most of 2026. The aircraft carrier began its mid-life refueling and complex overhaul in 2021, initially scheduled for completion in August 2025. However, in August 2024, the U.S. military announced that the ship would not return to service as planned, and the mid-life refueling and complex overhaul period would be longer than expected, totaling about five and a half years, extending approximately 14 months beyond the original schedule.

The delays were influenced by the pandemic and unexpected equipment damage. The current timeline requires the carrier to return to service in October 2026.

This Nimitz-class ship, the seventh in the class, is named after senior Mississippi Senator John Stennis and was commissioned on December 9, 1995. The senator served as the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1969 to 1981. It is widely believed that awarding him this honor was somewhat unexpected, but the nomination received approval from then-President Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Compared to other U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, USS Stennis has had a relatively calm service life, although there have been some notable incidents. For example, in 2007, the ship conducted a deployment in the Persian Gulf. In 2012, it participated in the rescue of an Iranian vessel that had been hijacked by pirates near the Gulf of Oman.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, USS Stennis served for a long time as the home of Carrier Air Wing Nine. However, before USS Stennis entered its mid-life refueling and complex overhaul period, Carrier Air Wing Nine was transferred to USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2020.

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)

Current Status: In Port (Norfolk, Virginia), preparing for mid-life refueling and complex overhaul

After completing an 8-month deployment in the areas of responsibility of the U.S. Fifth and Sixth Fleets, USS Harry S. Truman arrived at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on June 1, 2025. The ship will remain here to prepare for mid-life refueling and complex overhaul.

USS Harry S. Truman is named after the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, and was commissioned on July 25, 1998.

USS Harry S. Truman's most recent deployment was not without its challenges. In February 2025, the 100,000-ton warship collided with a 53,000-ton Panamanian cargo ship while conducting operations in the Mediterranean Sea near the port of Suez, Egypt. The collision with the merchant vessel caused damage to the starboard side near an aircraft elevator, damaging two storerooms and an external bulkhead of a maintenance room. When President Trump delivered a speech in Norfolk, Virginia, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Navy, USS Harry S. Truman was docked, with the damaged area covered by a banner.

The U.S. Navy confirmed that after USS Stennis completes its repairs, USS Harry S. Truman will begin its mid-life refueling and complex overhaul next year, at which time the damage will be addressed. This process is expected to keep the carrier out of service for three to four years.

In addition to the damage from the collision, when USS Harry S. Truman returned from its long deployment, its air wing was also missing three fighter jets.

In December 2024, one of the carrier's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters was shot down in a friendly fire incident. It was mistaken for an enemy missile and was struck by the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64).

In April and May 2025, while the carrier was conducting operations in the Red Sea, two more Super Hornet fighters were lost. One aircraft fell off the carrier while being towed to the hangar. Just a few weeks later, another aircraft crashed into the Red Sea due to a failure of the arresting system.

USS Harry S. Truman carries Carrier Air Wing One, equipped with approximately 90 aircraft, including F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters. (Serialized, Part Three) (Translated by Tu Qi)