The United States Navy USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Nimitz-class supercarrier departed Dry Dock 6, April 6, after spending 14 months undergoing a Docking Planned Incremental Availability period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility. While every availability poses challenges to the PSNS & IMF team, depending on the scheduled maintenance and growth work for the platform, the COVID-19 pandemic is posing a unique challenge for everyone involved in getting Carl Vinson back to the operational fleet.
The Carl Vinson project team got a head start on the DPIA by ensuring certain work was done in San Diego before the ship came to Bremerton in January 2019. The team conducted multiple ship visits and assessments to fully scope the work required before the ship arrived, and leveraged lessons learned and improvements that were implemented during the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) DPIA at PSNS & IMF from March 2018 to June 2019. The shafts, rudders and bearings had significant material deficiencies that delayed the undocking, while both rudders, rudder bores and struts also required extensive repairs.
Some of the work completed included:
Upgrades to electrical system.
Maintenance on rudders, shafts and tanks.
Upgrades to crew living spaces.
Work to preserve the ship’s hull.
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is the United States Navy’s third Nimitz-class supercarrier. She is named for Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia, in recognition of his contributions to the U.S. Navy. The ship was launched in 1980, undertook her maiden voyage in 1983, and underwent refueling and overhaul between 2005 and 2009. Carl Vinson’s call sign is “Gold Eagle”. Besides deployments in Operation Desert Strike, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Enduring Freedom, Carl Vinson was involved in a number of notable events. The body of Osama bin Laden was buried at sea in 2011 from the deck of Carl Vinson, and that same year, on Veterans Day, she played host to the first NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier, between North Carolina and Michigan State.
