US aircraft carrier moves away from Iran war for repairs after fire
By Haley Britzky, CNN
(CNN) — The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is moving away from operations tied to the Iran war and sailing to the US Navy’s base in Crete for repairs after a fire broke out in the ship’s laundry area last week, a US official said.
The movement of the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier comes as military operations against Iran are still in full swing, particularly as the US is seeking ways to reduce Iran’s threat to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The carrier has served as a ready platform for American fighter jets to participate in the campaign.
The fire on March 12 was not combat-related, the US military said at the time. Two sailors received medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and were in stable condition.
The US official said the Ford, which was sailing in the Red Sea, would be at Souda Bay in Crete “for a brief period to conduct repairs,” which would determine what can be fixed immediately and what may need to be fixed when the ship goes back to its home port after its deployment. The other ships within the Ford Carrier Strike Group are remaining where they are in the region and not joining the Ford at Souda Bay.
USNI News first reported that the Ford was heading to Souda Bay for repairs.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Friday that the Pentagon was aware of the fire on board the Ford.
“We’re thinking about the crew there who were injured in the fire,” Caine said during a Pentagon press briefing. “We believe and hope that everyone will be OK and we’re grateful for that.”
The Ford — the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier — has been deployed for months, first to the Caribbean as part of the US military’s buildup in the region amid heightened tensions with Venezuela. In February, President Donald Trump said he was sending the carrier strike group to the Middle East in a move to apply more pressure on Iran.
The strike group entered the Mediterranean Sea in late February. The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group has also been deployed in the region.
The Ford could break a record for the longest carrier deployment post-Vietnam if it remains deployed through mid-April, according to USNI News. It left for deployment to the Caribbean on June 24, 2025, according to US Southern Command.
The fire last week followed reports of consistent plumbing issues aboard the carrier, though the Navy said those issues had no impact on the carrier’s operations.
The New York Times reported this week that it took more than 30 hours to put out the fire, and that 600 crew members lost their beds. The US official said, however, that the entire effort in responding to the fire took 30 hours — putting out the fire, cleaning up water damage or other substances used to put out the fire, and ensuring there were no flare-ups — not that the fire itself burned for 30 hours.
The official also said that slightly more than 100 beds were damaged in the fire, as some sleeping areas are adjacent to the laundry area. But they acknowledged roughly 600 sailors total were displaced from their sleeping areas or bunks. Displacement could happen because their bed specifically was impacted — beds are sometimes shared by service members who are on opposite shifts — or because the entire space is deemed uninhabitable because of smoke or water damage to some of the beds.
The Ford strike group consists of the carrier and its carrier air wing, as well as Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers the USS Mahan, USS Bainbridge, and the USS Winston S. Churchill.
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