Aircraft carrier coming to new homeport in Bremerton

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) will be coming soon to its new homeport at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, a US Navy news release Aug. 7 says.

Details of the exact time are not published in advance due to safety concerns.

The Reagan departed May 16 from Yokosuka, Japan, where it’s been deployed since 2015 and served as the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier operating in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Naval Base Kitsap is the Navy’s third-largest fleet concentration area in the nation. It is home to more than 70 tenant commands, including Commander, Navy Region Northwest; Commander, Submarine Group 9; Commander, Carrier Strike Group 3; Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest; Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport; and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Spanning more than 12,000 acres across the Kitsap Peninsula, NBK supports a diverse range of strategic missions, including all types of submarines, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Manchester Fuel Depot.

Capt. Daryle Cardone is the commanding officer of the Reagan, which will be moored at the pier.

As the Reagan returned to the states, it partook in Valiant Shield 2024, a port visit in Guam, and transitioned to the 3rd Fleet AOR, where it conducted a hull swap with USS George Washington (CVN 73).