USS Nimitz sailed from its longtime homeport in Bremerton, Washington, in March. The carrier is currently off the coast of Brazil, participating in Operation Southern Seas.
The aircraft carrier will eventually end its career in Norfolk after more than five decades. Bob Challender served on the carrier from 1979 to 1982 in the ship’s nuclear department, when the ship started its long career home-ported in Norfolk.
"For those reactor plants and all the equipment to perform for 50 years is amazing. It's a testament to engineering excellence,” he said.
He was on the carrier during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, when the ship was less than five years old. A total of 66 Americans were being held hostage, after the American embassy in Tehran was overrun on Nov. 4, 1979.
A mix of special operations troops arrived on board the carrier by helicopter, which had been at sea for several months. The night before the operation, the captain addressed the crew about a plan to free the American hostages, Challender said.
The operation ended in disaster when a Sea Stallion helicopter flown from the Nimitz collided with a C-130 transport plane. Eight service members died.
“The news was so devastating to us on the ship,” Challender said. “We thought that we would be a part of history. When it came to what happened, and we found out on the ship, it was just gut wrenching to everybody.”
The ship has been making its way slowly around South America after leaving Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on March 7. It has hosted dignitaries from multiple Latin American countries, including Mexico, Panama, Ecuador and Chile, before participating in Operation Southern Seas with several navies from the region. It comes at a time when the Trump administration is trying to encourage deeper partnerships in the region, while continuing to target small boats that the administration claims are carrying drugs.
USS Nimitz was the prototype for what would eventually be 10 Nimitz class carriers in the United States fleet, each of them designed to last half a century. It will be the first of its class to be retired after it arrives in Norfolk. The nuclear-powered engines will be removed at Huntington Ingall Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding.
Nimitz was originally scheduled to be decommissioned shortly after it arrived at its last homeport. The Navy added another year to the life of its oldest aircraft carrier while Newport News Shipbuilding delivers the second Ford class carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, in 2027.
