The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt quietly left North Island on Sunday morning, headed to the Middle East to relieve the USS George Washington, according to military media reports.
The departure was not announced in advance in keeping with recent Navy practice, but in August acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao revealed that the Roosevelt was originally scheduled to relieve the long-deployed, San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln.
In the end, the Japan-based Washington was temporarily sent, amid reports of substandard conditions and attempted suicides aboard the Lincoln and accompanying vessels after record-breaking time at sea.
But United States defense policy calls for at least one carrier to patrol the western Pacific Ocean at all times, so the Washington has to return to that region.
A local webcam image showed the Roosevelt’s transit through San Diego Bay beginning after 9 a.m. Sailors were not seen “manning the rails,” as was typical in the past.
The Navy has said it expects longer carrier deployments amid the continuing war in Iran. The USS Gerald R. Ford was deployed for 326 days over this year and last, and the Lincoln is currently at 311 days but on its way back to San Diego.
