The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier, a floating airbase that can carry over 80 aircraft, will be deploying to US Central Command in the Middle East, multiple sources tell the BBC's US partner CBS News. The massive carrier and its strike group completed pre-deployment training earlier this month, and now could be joining US operations in Iran, US officials tell CBS. Two guided missile destroyers - the USS Donald Cook and the USS Mason - also departed the US this week en route to join US operations in Iran. And another, the USS Ross, has also left the US this week, though its destination is not yet public.
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Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Arrives in Souda Bay for Repairs After Laundry Room Fire
news.usni.org
... USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) pulled into port at Souda Bay, Greece, the Navy announced Monday.
Ford, the flagship of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, is in port for maintenance and repairs following a March 12 fire in the aft laundry room.
A ship spotter saw Ford and three destroyers head into the Suez Canal on Saturday. A replenishment ship also accompanied the aircraft carrier. It's unclear whether the destroyers also finished the transit north through the Suez.
Ford is scheduled for more than a week of repairs, USNI News previously reported. The Navy's Monday announcement did not say how long Ford is expected to be in port.
"The aircraft carrier remains fully mission capable," reads the Navy statement. "The port call allows for the ship to undergo efficient assessment, repairs and resupply."
More than 200 sailors were treated for smoke inhalation, with one sailor medically evacuated from the carrier, after being injured in the damage control effort. Two others were treated for lacerations, USNI News reported.
The smoke damage from the laundry room fire extended to the berthing. The Navy took 1,000 mattresses off the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) in Newport News, Va., to send to Ford. More than 100 racks were lost in the fire, a Pentagon spokesman told USNI News. ...
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