By Karen Rubin, editor@news-photos-features.com, news-photos-features.com
On America’s historic day, July 4th 2026, exactly 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I was on the deck of the legendary “Old Salt” aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz. The timing couldn’t be more appropriate for this ship, commissioned in 1975, just a year before the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976, and scheduled to be retired in March 2027, the year after the Semisesquicentennial.
While ships of this kind typically have a 50-year lifespan, the Nimitz’ retirement was postponed to maintain its 11 carrier fleet while waiting for the commissioning of the second Ford-class carrier, the John F. Kennedy, which is expected to arrive in March. But this enabled the Nimitz to proudly anchor The International Naval Review (INR 250) in New York Harbor, featuring more than 30 U.S. and allied military vessels that has only occurred six times previously in American history.
The first of the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, named in honor of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, is now the oldest American aircraft carrier in active service.
It is a massive vessel, one of the largest warships in the world: 20-stories high, 1,092 feet long (1/5 of a mile or nearly four football fields), displacing 100,000 long tons when fully loaded, it can carry up to 75-90 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft (fighter jets, early warning, anti-submarine, and transport), and when fully operational, carries 5,000 crew and air wing members. Propelled by two nuclear reactors, the Nimitz has unlimited range and speeds exceeding 30 knots. A major storm is nothing for this ship.
(Indeed, the night before Sail4th 250, when the ship was hosting important dignitaries and guests, a major squall came through and pretty much destroyed all the tents that had been set up; the crew worked all night to clean up and set up.)
Among its notable operations:
On Sept. 10, 1979, Nimitz was dispatched to the Indian Ocean as tensions heightened after Iran took 52 U.S. hostages. Four months later, Operation Evening Light/Eagle Claw was launched from Nimitz in an attempt to rescue the hostages, which was aborted.
The Nimitz also took part in Operation Earnest Will to provide protection of Kuwaiti-owned tankers from Iranian attacks; Operation Desert Storm; Operation Southern Watch and United Nations initiatives in the Arabian Gulf; Operation Enduring Freedom; Operation Iraqi Freedom; and the Global War on Terrorism. During a deployment in 2022, sailing over 65,000 nautical miles, the Nimitz logged her 350,000th arrested aircraft landing, the most of any aircraft carrier.
In June, the Nimitz completed its Southern Seas 2026 mission, the last operational deployment in the ship’s history.
The USS Nimitz had come into New York Harbor, coming under the Verrazano Bridge (after a careful calculation of total height to make sure it could fit), after sailing from the West Coast around South America, through the Strait of Magellan, where it hosted allies. Following Sail4th 250 events, it will sail to its new (old) homeport of Newport, Virginia, where it will serve as a training ship as it undergoes its decommissioning.
From the flight deck on the Nimitz, we were able to observe the International Naval Review (INR) 250, the pinnacle event of the U.S. Navy’s celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Hosted in the Port of New York and New Jersey from July 3-8, 2026, INR 250 was a historic, multinational maritime event that gathered ships, aircraft, and personnel from over 50 international navies and coast guards.
This once-in-a-generation gathering, the largest international maritime event in U.S. history, featured a Parade of Ships with over 70 U.S. and allied naval vessels and international tall ships. It also includes the International Aerial Review, a multinational flyover led by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. INR 250 honored 250 years of American sea power and global maritime partnership, showcasing the strength of alliances and a shared commitment to a free and open international order, and the importance of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard’s role defending the nation, securing global maritime security, and preserving American independence.
Prior to the parade of some 40 Tall Ships from 20 countries on the morning of July 4, the Acting Secretary of the Navy boarded the USS FARRAGUT and proceeded slowly past U.S. and allied military vessels all at anchor on the west side of the Hudson River. The USS Nimitz sailors engaged in a centuries old ceremonial tradition, Manning the Rails, where they line up along the entirety of the outer decks, to render high-level honors to dignitaries, celebrate a homecoming, or pay solemn respects to historical memorials.
As part of the ship’s celebration, 13 sailors – each representing one of the original 13 states – took their oath to re-enlist.
We get to tour the ship – see the “catapult” that actually launches the aircraft and learn that the ship has to be sailing at sufficient speed to create enough wind for the jets to take off; and the hook mechanism that enables the jet to land on such a short runway.
We climb up four-stories by ladder to visit the flight deck control, the navigation center and air traffic control (but we get to go down in the elevator built to take airplanes from the hangar to the flight deck).
Despite its age, it has up-to-date technology to control aircraft, though its Chief Flight Deck Officers Nhu O. Lei and Marty Martinez prefer their “weegie board” over a computer program – with physical cutouts to exact specifications of every aircraft, vehicle or container that needs to be on the flight deck that they can move around like pieces of a puzzle (“weegie board” because they use two fingers to move the elements around).
Here are photo highlights:
See also:
Photo Highlights: Blue Angels Headline Four Leaf Air Show at Jones Beach Honoring America’s 250th
Photo Highlights: Four Leaf Airshow at Jones Beach State Park Honors America’s 250th
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