The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on Thursday docked at NATO pier K14 in the Gulf of Souda near Chania, Crete.
The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and final Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy. She is named after the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II.
Construction began in 2003 at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard’s Dry Dock 12, the largest in the western hemisphere. She was completed in 2009 at a cost of $6.2 billion and her home port is Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.
George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier first docked in Crete in 2017
The supercarrier USS George H.W. Bush measures 1,092 feet (333 m) and displaces over 100,000 tons, making her one of the world’s largest warships (though she is slightly shorter than the USS Enterprise).
Her top speed exceeds 30 knots; powered with two nuclear reactors, she can operate for more than 20 years without refueling.
Her crew numbers 3,500 members and an additional 2,500 persons for the support of the aircraft she carries, as she can host up to 85 fighter jets, airborne radar aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, and helicopters.
The vessel is expected to remain in Souda until October 10th.
This is her second visit to Souda.
In December 2021, the Greek port hosted another massive aircraft carrier, the USS Harry S Truman.
Souda on Crete is the most important NATO base in Eastern Mediterranean
The Harry S Truman, which was named after the thirty-third US president, was first launched in 1996. It is the eighth of the ten Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the US Navy.
Crete’s Naval Base, located at Souda Bay, is the only deep water port suitable for such large aircraft carriers in southern Europe and in all of the Mediterranean Sea.
The only other similar bases available to the US Navy are the Norfolk, Virginia Naval Station, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in the state of Washington and the naval base in Dubai.
The base is the second-largest base for the Hellenic Navy and the largest and most important naval base for NATO in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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