USS Nimitz departs Bremerton for deployment amid COVID-19 pandemic
BREMERTON — The USS Nimitz got underway in Puget Sound Monday morning to help relieve the Navy's thinly-stretched aircraft carrier fleet, including the coronavirus-sidelined USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam.
Some 8,000 personnel among the 45-year-old aircraft carrier's strike group have been in quarantine and were tested for COVID-19 prior to the warship's departure. While media had reported cases onboard the Bremerton-based flattop, the Navy steadfastly denied there have been any.
"Our adversaries are watching us," said Nimitz Capt. Max Clark, a Philadelphia native and helicopter pilot who is the ship's 19th commanding officer, in a recent interview. "When they see 68 out on the watch, out on deployment, they’re going to know our country’s strength," Clark said, referring to Nimitz's hull number.
Its strike group, too, will join the Nimitz at sea to form a flotilla around the 1,100-footlong carrier, the oldest in the fleet. That includes cruisers from San Diego, destroyers from Everett and Pearl Harbor, and air squadrons from up and down the west coast, including the EA-18G Growlers based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/uss-nimitz-departs-bremerton-for-deployment-amid-covid-19-pandemic/ar-BB13huNT
= new reply since forum marked as read
