USS Nimitz arrives in Puget Sound for 1-year stay

BREMERTON, Wash. — The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is again going to call Puget Sound home. The nuclear-powered ship arrived this morning at Bremerton from San Diego to begin a year of maintenance work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. A short time later, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray announced that the Nimitz would be based at Naval Station Everett to replace the departing USS Abraham Lincoln. About 2,800 sailors are assigned to the Nimitz. Ship spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Steve Ruh told The Kitsap Sun that about 1,400 of them are married and nearly 800 will call the Bremerton area home. The Nimitz was based at Bremerton from 1987 to 1997. It’s been at San Diego since 2001. The Lincoln left Everett in September for a routine deployment to the western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. It’s scheduled to head to Hampton Roads, Va., at the end of 2011 for a three-year refueling of its nuclear reactors. “This is absolutely wonderful news,” Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson told the Daily Herald of Everett. “I think Everett got its Christmas present early this year.” Both Murray and fellow Democrat Rep. Rick Larsen, who represents the Everett area, had urged Navy leaders to station another carrier at Everett to replace the Lincoln. Stephanson and other local officials also lobbied the Pentagon. “We know having a carrier in Everett is vital to the economy,” Larsen told the newspaper. “And it’s the right move for national security.” Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in a news release that locating the Nimitz at the established carrier base in Everett would save an estimated $100 million while ensuring the operational readiness of the fleet. The Nimitz will receive improvements to its water, electrical, navigation and other systems while at Bremerton. The carrier USS John C. Stennis is stationed at Bremerton’s Naval Base Kitsap.