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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books COs of USS Gerald R. Ford History Deployments of USS Gerald R. Ford Accidents aboard the Ship Homeports of USS Gerald R. Ford Image Gallery to end of page |  |
The GERALD R. FORD is the first ship in an all new class of aircraft carriers and the first ship in the Navy named after 38th President of the United States. A focus in the construction of the new carriers was laid on reducing maintenance-intensive systems thus decreasing the number of personnel required to operate the ships. The FORD carriers will be the first aircraft carriers designed with all electric utilities, eliminating steam service lines from the ship. New technologies employed aboard include the new A1B reactors, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), Advanced Arresting Gear and Dual Band Radar.
| General Characteristics: | Awarded: September 10, 2008 |
| Keel laid: November 14, 2009 | |
| Launched: November 17, 2013 | |
| Commissioned: July 22, 2017 | |
| Builder: Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va. | |
| Propulsion System: two A1B nuclear reactors | |
| Propellers: four | |
| Aircraft elevators: three | |
| Catapults: four Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems | |
| Length, overall: 1,092 feet (332.85 meters) | |
| Flight Deck Width: 256 feet (78 meters) | |
| Beam: 134 feet (40.84 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 100,000 tons full load | |
| Speed: 30+ knots | |
| Planes: approx. 75 | |
| Crew: approx. 4550 (ship and air wing) | |
| Armament: one Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile System, two | |
| Homeport: Norfolk, Va. |
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS GERALD R. FORD. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageUSS GERALD R. FORD Cruise Books:
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS GERALD R. FORD's Commanding Officers:
| Period | Name |
|---|---|
| July 8, 2013 - April 8, 2016 | Captain John F. Meier, USN |
| April 8, 2016 - August 10, 2018 | Captain Richard C. McCormack, USN |
| August 10, 2018 - February 12, 2021 | Captain John J. Cummings, USN |
| February 12, 2021 - April 24, 2023 | Captain Paul J. Lanzilotta, USN |
| April 24, 2023 - May 12, 2025 | Captain Richard G. Burgess, USN |
| May 12, 2025 - present | Captain David Skarosi, USN |
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS GERALD R. FORD History:
USS GERALD R. FORD was delivered to the US Navy on 31 May 2017 and formally commissioned at Norfolk on 22 July 2017. In the initial months after commissioning, the ship qualified flight operations, beginning with the first arrested landing and catapult launch in late July 2017, and then rotated through post-delivery trials that matured the new launch and recovery systems, power architecture, and deck handling concepts.
From July 2018 the carrier entered a post-shakedown availability at Newport News Shipbuilding to correct early deficiencies and incorporate upgrades. That yard period concluded at the end of October 2019, returning the ship to sea for a sustained period of Post-Delivery Test & Trials (PDT&T), which the Navy closed out in April 2021. Over the summer of 2021, GERALD R. FORD completed Full Ship Shock Trials - three underwater explosive events on 18 June, 16 July, and 8 August - before beginning a follow-on Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) for repairs and modernization. The PIA wrapped up one day early on 28 February 2022, and in December 2021 the ship accepted the last of its eleven Advanced Weapons Elevators, clearing a long-running new-construction milestone.
With maintenance complete, GERALD R. FORD conducted integration events with Carrier Air Wing Eight and on 4 October 2022, departed Norfolk for a short, service-retained first deployment in the North Atlantic. During this period the ship ran the US-led exercise Silent Wolverine (8-12 November) with Canadian, Danish, French, German, Dutch and Spanish units; made its first foreign port visit at Halifax, Nova Scotia (28-31 October); then anchored off Portsmouth, United Kingdom (14-18 November), before returning to Norfolk on 26 November.
After workups through early 2023 - including completion of the strike group's Composite Training Unit Exercise on 2 April, GERALD R. FORD departed Norfolk on 2 May 2023 for its first full deployment to US Sixth Fleet. The itinerary included a high-north sequence under NATO command and a port visit to Oslo, Norway (24-26 May), followed by participation in Arctic Challenge 2023 air-maritime integration on 5 June. The carrier then anchored off Split, Croatia (26-27 June), and later conducted a scheduled visit off Trieste, Italy (19 September).
As regional tensions rose in October 2023, the GERALD R. FORD Carrier Strike Group shifted to the Eastern Mediterranean for presence and integrated operations with allies, including dual-carrier activity with USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) on 3 November. In early December the ship paused for a short logistics and liberty visit to Souda Bay, Crete (2 December), before resuming flight operations. GERALD R. FORD returned to Naval Station Norfolk on 17 January 2024 after an eight-month deployment that featured multiple NATO command periods and several port visits in Europe.
In 2025, the ship completed another full pre-deployment workup, with the Secretary of the Navy embarking during COMPTUEX (10-11 April). The strike group got underway for a scheduled deployment on 24 June, transited the Strait of Gibraltar with allied escorts on 19 July, and joined NATO's enhanced-vigilance activity Neptune Strike 25-2 in the Ionian and Adriatic seas in late July. Port calls during this period included Marseille, France (4-9 August), and a subsequent English Channel transit past the Cliffs of Dover (17 August) before continuing operations under Sixth Fleet tasking which included Neptune Strike 25-2 (July-September 2025) off Norway.
On 27 September 2025, USS GERALD R. FORD transited the Dover Strait southbound, replenished with USNS SUPPLY (T-AOE 6) off Portugal on 30 September 2025, transited the Strait of Gibraltar eastbound on 1 October 2025, and replenished again on 2 October 2025. The ship then anchored off Palma de Mallorca, Spain from 3 October 2025 for a five-day liberty visit, operated southeast of the Balearic Islands from 9 October 2025 to 11 October 2025 and off Sardinia, Italy from 13 October 2025 to 15 October 2025, transited the Strait of Sicily eastbound on 16 October 2025, operated near Calabria from 17 October 2025 to 18 October 2025, and transited the Strait of Otranto northbound on 19 October 2025 before anchoring off Split, Croatia from 21 October 2025 for a five-day liberty visit. On 27 October 2025, USS GERALD R. FORD transited the Strait of Otranto southbound and replenished with USNS SUPPLY, operated off Calabria from 27 October 2025 to 31 October 2025, transited the Strait of Sicily westbound on 1 November 2025, replenished with USNS SUPPLY on 3 November 2025, and transited the Strait of Gibraltar westbound on 4 November 2025.
On 13 November 2025, USS GERALD R. FORD conducted a PHOTOEX with USS MAHAN (DDG 72), USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81), and USS BAINBRIDGE (DDG 96) as a "show of force" northeast of Puerto Rico, transited the Anegada Passage southbound on 16 November 2025, and operated south of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from 16 November 2025 to 30 November 2025. The ship then anchored off Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas from 1 December 2025 for five days, operated south and southwest of Puerto Rico through 18 December 2025 with a replenishment-at-sea with USNS ROBERT E. PEARY (T-AKE 5) on 14 December 2025, continued operations south of the U.S. Virgin Islands from 19 December 2025 to 21 December 2025 and south and southwest of Puerto Rico from 22 December 2025 to 5 January 2026, replenishing with USNS SUPPLY on 22 December 2025 and 29 December 2025. Just after midnight on 3 January 2026, aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 8 launched combat sorties on targets in Venezuela in support of Operation Absolute Resolve. USS GERALD R. FORD operated southeast and southwest of Puerto Rico from 8 January 2026 to 18 January 2026 with another replenishment-at-sea with USNS SUPPLY on 13 January 2026, operated off southern Puerto Rico from 19 January 2026 to 20 January 2026, anchored off Charlotte Amalie West from 21 January 2026 for five days, replenished with USNS SUPPLY on 27 January 2026 and 7 February 2026, operated south and southwest of Puerto Rico from 27 January 2026 to 12 February 2026, and transited the Anegada Passage northbound on 13 February 2026.
As of 13 February 2026, U.S. officials were publicly cited saying USS GERALD R. FORD had been directed to redeploy from its Caribbean operating pattern toward the U.S. Central Command area to reinforce the carrier presence closer to Iran, where USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) was already operating in the Arabian Sea.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageAccidents aboard USS GERALD R. FORD:
| Date | Where | Events |
|---|---|---|
| March 12, 2026 | northern Red Sea | A fire breaks out in the ship's aft main laundry spaces. There is no damage to the ship's propulsion plant, and the aircraft carrier remained fully operational. Initial reports only mentioned two sailors receiving medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. On March 17, however, the Navy reported that GERALD R. FORD would need to leave the Red Sea and proceed to Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, for more than a week of pierside repairs. It is also reported that the fire required several hours of damage control efforts and that one sailor was medically evacuated from the ship. More than 200 sailors were treated for smoke inhalation but were able to quickly return to duty. The smoke further damaged berthing spaces requiring the replacement of 1000 matresses. In order to quickly solve the problem, the Navy took 1000 matresses from PCU JOHN F. KENNEDY (CVN 79) and sent them to GERALD R. FORD. Another problem arising from the accident was that large quantities of clothing aboard the carrier could not be cleaned anymore with most laundry services out of commission. |
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Homeports of USS GERALD R. FORD:
| Period | Homeport |
|---|---|
| commissioned at Norfolk, Va. | |
| 2017 - present | Norfolk, Va. |
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS GERALD R. FORD Image Gallery:
The photos below were taken by me on October 30, 2010, and show the GERALD R. FORD under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding roughly one year after her keel was laid. Several modules can be seen next to the drydock.
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The photos below were taken by me on May 6, 2012, and show the GERALD R. FORD under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GERALD R. FORD under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding. The photos were taken on October 28, 2013 - roughly 1 1/2 weeks before the christening of the ship.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GERALD R. FORD under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding on April 13, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GERALD R. FORD under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding on October 13, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GERALD R. FORD undergoing a six-month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) at Newport News Shipbuilding on December 26, 2021.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GERALD R. FORD at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on September 6, 2022.
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The photos below were taken by me and show USS GERALD R. FORD anchored in the Solent off Portsmouth, UK, on November 16, 2022. The carrier left its homeport of Norfolk, Va., on October 4 for what the Navy calls a "service-retained" deployment meaning that the FORD will stay under the operational control of the US 2nd Fleet and will not be assigned to a regional commander. It's USS GERALD R. FORD's maiden cruise and Portsmouth is her first-ever overseas port of call. This deployment serves as a test of the carrier's advanced technologies prior to its first Global Force Management deployment in 2023.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS GERALD R. FORD at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 4, 2024.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS GERALD R. FORD anchored off Oslo, Norway, on September 14, 2025. Oslo is FORD's second port visit during her current deployment. The carrier departed Norfolk, Va., on June 24, 2025, and has since visited Marseille, France, before transiting the Strait of Dover into the North Sea on August 17, then executed High North operations above the Arctic Circle with NATO partners (Norway, Germany, France) from August 23-September 8., before arriving at Oslo on September 12.
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