Sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan received a warm welcome to its new home from family and the Navy community of Bremerton Aug. 13 after completing the vessel’s move to Naval Base Kitsap after its years-long homeport in Yokosuka, Japan.

The Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier departed May 16 from Yokosuka, where it had been homeported since 2015. After participating in a joint force training exercise in the Indo-Pacific and visiting a Guam port en route to the mainland, the Reagan arrived in San Diego to undergo a hull swap with the USS George Washington.

Commanding officer Capt. Daryle Cardone called it a passing of the baton to the Washington, which replaced the Reagan as of this month as the Navy’s sole forward-deployed Naval Forces-Japan aircraft carrier.

“It is a historic day for us, both for the journey of our crew as well as for the life of our ship,” he said in his first moments in Bremerton. “(The George Washington) is a ship near and dear to my heart as a former executive officer of that ship, and we left there just a few days ago to make our way here.”

Eagerly waiting were hundreds of family members ready to greet their relatives, waving miniature U.S. flags and displaying handcrafted signs either premade or decorated on base just a while earlier. Occasionally, the cry of a name as a sailor’s face became recognizable was followed by cheers from the crowd.

More rounds of cheers and claps erupted as the Reagan was tied down and ported, officially joining the USS Nimitz – the namesake of the ship’s class – as the second aircraft carrier at NBK.

Approximately 2,800 crew members have been brought to the base as a result of the ship’s move, Cardone said. The total number of new arrivals to Kitsap including family was unavailable.

The carrier previously arrived in Bremerton in 2012 to undergo a “planned docking incremental availability.” The 12-month, $210 million matinee project was completed, and the ship returned to San Diego in 2013.

The Reagan in now its second visit to Bremerton is scheduled to undergo critical maintenance, which had previously not been possible during deployment, Cardone said.

The Reagan will become part of the rotational forces again upon completion of maintenance, though the duration of the ship’s stay is to be determined.

Don and Carley Kunkle jump and wave at the sailor nearest and dearest to them.