The U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), has arrived in Souda Bay, Crete, for a scheduled port visit.

This port visit comes on the heels of the 28th U.S. Secretary of Defense’s visit to Gerald R. Ford, during which the Secretary reiterated the importance of the Carrier Strike Group’s presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and its contribution to regional deterrence.

“The Sailors of USS Gerald R. Ford are excited to return to the gorgeous island of Crete,” said Capt. Rick Burgess, Commanding Officer of Gerald R. Ford.

“Greece and the United States have had a strong NATO alliance since 1952 and we enjoy and appreciate every opportunity to strengthen our maritime partnership as well as the rich history, food, and culture this area has to offer.”

According to a news release:

“This port visit is the capital ship’s seventh stop while deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR) area of operations. The U.S. Navy routinely operates with Greece, sending its largest aircraft carrier in the fleet to Souda Bay twice after it visited Piraeus in July. The ship deployed from Norfolk, Virginia on May 2, and has been conducting training, exercises, and operations to support maritime stability and security in defense of U.S., Allied, and partner interests.

Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, Advanced Arresting Gear and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems incorporated onto Ford-class ships are designed to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way forward for naval aviation.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, demonstrating the commitment and power projection capability of the Navy’s globally deployed force. The GRFCSG provides an inherently flexible naval force capable of deploying across combatant commands to meet emerging missions, deter potential adversaries, reassure allies and partners, enhance security and guarantee the free flow of global commerce. In total, the GRFCSG is deployed with more than 6,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander tasking.”

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group consists of Carrier Strike Group 12, Carrier Air Wing 8, Destroyer Squadron 2, USS Normandy (CG 60), USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS McFaul (DDG 74), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116).

Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.
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rst 2001
rst 2001 (@guest_777373)
8 months ago

Awesome ship ! 🇺🇸

Nevis
Nevis (@guest_777381)
8 months ago

Slightly off topic, does anyone know how many F35b’s we received last year. Was supposed to have been 7 but not seen anything that says it was more than 3.

Frank
Frank (@guest_777385)
8 months ago
Reply to  Nevis

Don’t, It’s depressing……. Apparently there is no point buying any until block 64 Software updates have been sorted….. 🙄

Spyinthesky
Spyinthesky (@guest_777502)
8 months ago
Reply to  Frank

Well the Americans aren’t

SailorBoy
SailorBoy (@guest_777408)
8 months ago

What. Have. They. Done. With. The. Island.
Enterprise and the like were bad but this is simply a step too far from the USN. If you want to have flat panels, fair enough but don’t put a full ship rig above it just in case the reactor runs out of fuel, then hang giant baubles on it. The baubles aren’t even symmetrical. What happens when a sea skimming missile comes from starboard and the radar on that side is lower so doesn’t spot it in time?

Jack
Jack (@guest_777539)
8 months ago
Reply to  SailorBoy

They probably never thought about the ship being attacked by a sea skimmer, an oversight I guess.

SailorBoy
SailorBoy (@guest_777543)
8 months ago
Reply to  Jack

I was joking
I think the asymmetric domes are SATCOM rather than radar, which is on the flat panels.
My point was the immense ugliness of every USN ship since WW2, and the latest shows no imminent signs of bucking the trend.
We, on the other hand, have pulled off quite elegant T45s, passable carriers, and good-looking frigates. Even T23 is better proportioned than anything the Americans have built

lonpfrb
lonpfrb (@guest_777931)
8 months ago
Reply to  SailorBoy

Fair point.

I wish they hadn’t named it for Gerald R. Ford because he pardoned Nixon for the Watergate crimes.

Criminal Presidents being a bad precedent especially allowing them back to the White House after being clear that Dictatorship will follow.

Democracy Matters!

Jon
Jon (@guest_777548)
8 months ago
Reply to  SailorBoy

They went overboard with the very expensive radar and are using a different configuration for later ships in the class.