Two months after returning from an eight-month deployment to the US 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation, the US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman conducted a five-day ammunition unload serial while underway in the Atlantic Ocean.
Personnel from USS Harry S. Truman worked alongside Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 11 to transfer 1,185 tonnes of conventional munitions to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush and the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Robert E. Peary during vertical and connected replenishment operations between 3-8 August.
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Ammunition offloads are standard following deployments and before maintenance periods. In 2024, Truman supported a multi-ship offload with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Gerald R. Ford, and USNS William McLean, completing more than 1,700 ordnance transfers.
The completion of Truman’s ammunition offload marks another milestone in the ship’s focus on sustained operational proficiency as it prepares for its next phase in the maintenance cycle. Since commissioning on 25 July 1998, the carrier has completed ten deployments.
USS Harry S. Truman, the flagship of the Harry S. Truman Strike Group, is a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. For the US Navy, Carrier Strike Groups remain the cornerstone of the service’s forward presence through sea control and power projection.
US Navy’s Nimitz and Ford carriers
The US Navy’s Nimitz-class supercarriers were the largest warships afloat until the first of the successor Ford-class entered service in 2017. While the older Nimitz class will be replaced by the Ford-class carriers, the process is glacial with the eventual retirement of newest vessel, the USS George H. W. Bush, not likely for another couple of decades at least.
It is likely that with the removal of ammunition, the USS Harry S. Truman is preparing to enter a refuelling and complex overhaul (RCOH) period, which generally occurs around mid-way through the aircraft carrier’s service.
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By GlobalDataThe RCOH will include refuelling the ship’s nuclear reactors, a comprehensive review of all ship systems, and significant repairs and upgrades.
