The U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) was redeployed to Japan on the 22nd.
According to local media, the USS George Washington was deployed following the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), which returned to the United States in May, and arrived at the U.S. Navy Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa Prefecture on the same day.
Commissioned in 1992, the USS George Washington is an aircraft carrier measuring 332 meters in length and 78 meters in width, with a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h). Its flight deck, where carrier-based aircraft take off and land, is three times the size of a soccer field (18,210 square meters).
Along with this carrier replacement, the latest F-35C stealth fighters and CMV-22 Ospreys were deployed to the U.S. military base in Yamaguchi Prefecture. NHK reported, "Going forward, the USS George Washington is expected to be deployed around the maritime activity-intensive areas near China and the Korean Peninsula border."
This is the second deployment of the USS George Washington to Japan, following the period from 2008 to 2015. The Yokosuka Base, the only U.S. aircraft carrier homeport outside the United States, has hosted aircraft carriers since the USS Midway was stationed there in 1973.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
