U.S.S. NIMITZ

Nimitz is a super carrier and among the largest of the warships in the world. Commissioned in 1975, she is a nuclear-powered multi-mission aircraft carrier. Though she began her service in Virginia, she was transferred to San Diego in 2001. A part of Carrier Strike Group 11, Nimitz is the flagship of the group.

Service Highlights

Over her impressive career, she has participated in the following operations and humanitarian missions:

• Various deployments to the Mediterranean, including a role in response to the Iran hostage crisis called Operation Evening Light
• During an exercise in international waters near Libya, shot down two Libyan aircraft
• Deployed to the coast of Lebanon after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847
• Security detail off the coast of South Korea during the 1988 Olympic Games
• Operation Earnest Will to protect Kuwaiti tankers
• Various deployments to the Middle East
• Several world cruises
• Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Nimitz plays a role in popular culture. A 2005 PBS documentary called Carrier profiled the daily life of Navy personnel abroad the ship. She was also featured in the film The Final Countdown and in the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising.