The USS Abraham Lincoln is moving to Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington—the former home of the USS Nimitz, prior to its final journey to the East Coast this spring.

It is unclear when the United States Navy’s USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) will next deploy. Earlier this month, the fifth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier completed a 10-month combat deployment that began last November. The warship, which returned to Naval Base San Diego looking a little worse for wear, will next head to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), the specialized industrial shipyard located within the Bremerton portion of Naval Base Kitsap.

Yet even when the maintenance work is completed—which could take upwards of a year and a half—it won’t be returning to San Diego, apart from port visits. Later this year, CVN-72 will officially shift its home port to the Pacific Northwest, the United States Navy confirmed on Monday.

“The relocation will be executed as a permanent change of station (PCS) for the crew and family members,” the service wrote. “Throughout the home port shift process, Abraham Lincoln Sailors and their families will have access to resources which will prepare for the transition.”

Admiral Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, first suggested that CVN-72 could be homeported at Naval Base Kitsap during a visit to the facility in June, with the USS Abraham Lincoln joining the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). The US Navy’s oldest active nuclear-powered supercarrier, USS Nimitz (CVN-68), was homeported in Bremerton until it departed for Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, in March in advance of its decommissioning next spring.

The Abraham Lincoln’s departure from San Diego will not significantly downgrade the US Navy’s presence there; the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) are both homeported in San Diego.

The Abraham Lincoln Used to Live in Washington State

This will be a homecoming of sorts for the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had previously been homeported at Naval Station Everett—located about 28 to 30 nautical miles (32–34 land miles) across Puget Sound from Naval Base Kitsap—from January 1997 to December 2011. At that time, the carrier departed for a change-of-homeport deployment ahead of its Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), and never came back.

Following the completion of its midlife refueling, CVN-72 was initially stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, before shifting its homeport to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California.

“Home port shifts are part of the Navy’s continued commitment to the strategic dispersal of ships,” the US Navy added.

About America’s West Coast Drydocks

The crew and their families will have time to get accommodated in Washington State before the USS Abraham Lincoln begins its next deployment, and the maintenance could be far longer than even its recent record-setting time at sea.

CVN-72 is the next carrier set to undergo a Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA), a scheduled maintenance period where large warships are placed into a dry dock. That maintenance period addresses issues on parts of the ship that can only be completed when it is fully out of the water—including the propeller shafts, rudders, and underwater hull plating.

PSNS & IMF is the only facility on the West Coast able to conduct maintenance on the United States Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarriers. The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) completed its DPIA in August, freeing up the facility for the Abraham Lincoln’s use.

The facility is also set to undergo a long-term major expansion that will allow PSNS & IMF to handle the maintenance of the larger Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers. The upgrade to PSNS & IMF won’t be completed before the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) arrives at its future homeport of Naval Base Kitsap, but that shouldn’t be a problem, as it (hopefully!) won’t need to enter drydock for at least a decade. 

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines, and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author at Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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