Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) transits the Strait of Magellan, April 26, 2026.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Molly Guy)
The United States Navy’s oldest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), departed the Pacific Ocean almost certainly for the final time, after transiting the Strait of Magellan on Monday. The supercarrier is rounding South America as part of a homeport shift from Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Wash., to Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
The lead vessel of the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class of aircraft carriers, the largest warships built for the service until the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), CVN-68 is too large to transit the Panama Canal. It must take the long way around South America, crossing the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean via the Strait of Magellan.
The carrier’s arrival in the Atlantic will be akin to a homecoming, as the USS Nimitz initially operated with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet for approximately 12 years, from her commissioning in 1975 until being transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1987. During that time, she was based in Norfolk, conducting multiple deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean before changing homeports to Bremerton and to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
CVN-68 returned to Norfolk for her mid-life Complex Overhaul and Refueling, which began in early 1998 and ended in June 2001. Following sea trials in the Virginia Capes, USS Nimitz transited around South America to her homeport at NAS North Island.
However, as USS Nimitz had spent the majority of her five-decade career based at Naval Base Kitsap, she has earned the nickname the “Carrier of the Pacific Northwest.”
CVN-68 departed from the base on Saturday, March 7, 2026, beginning that homeport shift in advance of her decommissioning next year after more than 52 years in service.
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In December, the oldest active supercarrier completed her final global deployment, which lasted nine months. USS Nimitz arrived at Naval Base Kitsap on December 16, 2025.
On Monday, USS Nimitz began the transit of the Strait of Magellan, a 350-mile (560 km) natural, navigable channel separating South America from Tierra del Fuego. It historically served as the only “safe” sheltered passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans before the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.
It was first discovered by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the first circumnavigation of the Earth in 1520. The route allowed sailors to avoid the more chaotic and dangerous Drake Passage, the body of water between Cape Horn in Chile and the southern extreme of South America.
USS Nimitz passes Cruz de los Mares on Cabo Froward, the southernmost point of continental South America.
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jaron Wills)
USS Nimitz may be taking the route through the Strait of Magellan, as it offers a protected but narrow passage with calmer waters, and provides a more direct, shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It is still known as a treacherous waterway, with unpredictable winds requiring an experienced crew to navigate safely.
Given that most U.S. Navy aircraft carriers will transit the waters only a handful of times during their service lives, the experience is likely one the crew will still appreciate.
The U.S. Navy shared photos of sailors taking in the sights from the flight deck, including of Cruz de los Mares on Cabo Froward, the southernmost point of continental South America.
Even as the journey from Naval Base Kitsap to Naval Station Norfolk could be the final one for USS Nimitz, it is still very much business as usual with the carrier taking part in joint exercises with maritime partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Earlier this month, CVN-68, joined by the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG-101), took part in a bilateral maritime engagement with the Ecuadorian Navy. The two U.S. Navy vessels operated with the Ecuadorian Esmeraldas-class missile corvettes BAE Manabi (CM 12) and BAE Loja (CM 16).
Plans call for USS Nimitz to take part in additional joint naval drills with the maritime forces of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay, as part of the Southern Seas 2026 deployment, as the carrier operates in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility. The aircraft carrier also made a port visit to Chile last week, and future stops are set for Brazil and Jamaica.
CVN-68 will also likely be the first U.S. Navy supercarrier to operate in the Caribbean since USS Gerald R. Ford was redirected to the Middle East in February. CVN-78 is one of three nuclear-powered flattops, along with USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), supporting Operation Epic Fury. The U.S. Central Command military operation was initiated on February 28, 2026, aimed at dismantling Iran’s security infrastructure, destroying missile production capabilities, and neutralizing threats to the region.
That mission in the Middle East has left the U.S. Navy spread thin, necessitating the decommissioning of USS Nimitz to be delayed until next March, when the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), the second Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, is finally commissioned into service.
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