{"id":76930,"date":"2025-03-28T17:58:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T17:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/03\/28\/uss-nimitz-waves-goodbye-to-san-diego-for-likely-final-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:02:48","slug":"uss-nimitz-waves-goodbye-to-san-diego-for-likely-final-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2025\/03\/28\/uss-nimitz-waves-goodbye-to-san-diego-for-likely-final-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"USS Nimitz waves goodbye to San Diego for likely final deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. Navy\u2019s eldest aircraft carrier set sail out of San Diego on Wednesday for what is sure to be its final trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nimitz, which was first commissioned in 1975 and given a service lifespan of 50 years, left Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego \u2014 once its homeport for 11 years \u2014 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific region, according to a Navy social media post<\/a>. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group arrived in California after leaving Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, on March 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing our Sailors man the rails today \u2014 with reflections from our very first deployment in 1976 \u2014 reminds us how far we\u2019ve come, and how strong our legacy remains,\u201d the post read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group includes the aircraft carrier Nimitz, as well as the nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 17 and the four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers of Destroy Squadron 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nimitz most recently completed a six-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific in June 2023, where it visited Japan and India, took part in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command\u2019s Large Scale Global Exercise and provided disaster relief to Guam after Typhoon Mawar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During its newest deployment, the strike group \u201cwill focus on protecting security, freedom, and prosperity for the United States, our allies and partners, and demonstrating the U.S. Navy\u2019s unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,\u201d according to a Navy release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the largest ships in the world, the Nimitz was first deployed on July 7, 1976, to the Mediterranean, according to a Navy website<\/a> on the Nimitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\t