USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier headed to Bremerton
BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — The Navy announced Wednesday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier will come to Bremerton for an overhaul in 2021.
The Roosevelt made worldwide headlines earlier this year after being sidelined in Guam because of a coronavirus outbreak aboard the carrier. It is one of the country’s 11 aircraft carriers.
The Roosevelt’s overhaul, known as a scheduled “docking planned incremental availability,” is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, the Kitsap Sun reported.
The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is home to one of two dry docks that can accommodate the world’s biggest warships. Naval Air Forces have said the Roosevelt’s home will be switched from San Diego to Bremerton in summer 2021.
The USS Carl Vinson is the most recent carrier to have work done at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard dry dock 6, officials said. The Vinson project cost $367 million, and the ship is scheduled to have its home port switched back to San Diego Aug. 1.
The Roosevelt came to Guam March 27 after its captain, Brett Crozier, called for it to dock as COVID-19 spread on board. More than 1,000 of the 5,000 crew members were infected with COVID-19, and one sailor died.
Crozier was later fired and tested positive for COVID-19.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Bremerton’s other home-ported aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, is currently on deployment in the Pacific Ocean.