US Aircraft Carriers: Where All 11 Are and What Comes Next
Two aircraft carriers are in the Arabian Sea and Theodore Roosevelt is off Japan. See where each of the Navy’s 11 carriers is and what comes next.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2026 — Three of the Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers are deployed this week, two of them in the Arabian Sea, according to the USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker of Oct. 19. The other eight are working up, training, back from deployment or in the shipyards. Positions below come only from Navy statements and public trackers, with the date of each report. Anything older than Oct. 14 is marked “last reported.”
Summary table
| Carrier | Homeport | Status and position (date) | Strike group / air wing | Deployed since | Next reported step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USS Nimitz (CVN-68) | Norfolk, Va. | Training platform off Virginia; last reported back in Norfolk Oct. 8 | None assigned | Not deployed | Inactivation, March 2027 |
| USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) | Norfolk, Va. | In port after a Sept. 28 mishap; last reported Oct. 5 | CVW-3 | Not deployed | Equipment assessment before flight operations resume |
| USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) | San Diego | In port; last reported Sept. 9 | CSG 1 / CVW-2 | Not deployed | Not announced |
| USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) | San Diego | Deployed; left Yokosuka, Japan, Oct. 19 | CSG 9 / CVW-11 | Sept. 27, 2026 | Exercise Keen Sword 27 |
| USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) | San Diego | Home since Oct. 8 | CSG 3 / CVW-9 | Returned (Nov. 21, 2025–Oct. 8, 2026) | Homeport shift to Bremerton for maintenance, later in 2026 |
| USS George Washington (CVN-73) | Yokosuka, Japan | Deployed; Arabian Sea, Oct. 19 | CSG 5 / CVW-5 | May 23, 2026 | Not announced |
| USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) | Norfolk, Va. (during overhaul) | Refueling and Complex Overhaul at Newport News; last reported Oct. 6 | None | Not deployed | Redelivery; budget documents point to October 2026 |
| USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) | Norfolk, Va. | Refueling and Complex Overhaul at Newport News since Sept. 30 | None | Not deployed | Overhaul ends November 2031 |
| USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) | Bremerton, Wash. | In San Diego since Oct. 13 | Not stated in opened sources | Not deployed | Not announced |
| USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) | Norfolk, Va. | Deployed; Arabian Sea, Oct. 19 | CSG 10 / CVW-7 | March 31, 2026 | Not announced |
| USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) | Norfolk, Va. | Planned Incremental Availability at Norfolk Naval Shipyard since July 7 | None embarked | Not deployed | About six months of yard work, per the shipyard |
Middle East
The region again has two carriers. USNI News reported on Oct. 19 that George Washington, with Carrier Air Wing 5 and the destroyer USS Shoup, and the George H.W. Bush strike group were both operating in the Arabian Sea “in support of U.S. operations in the Middle East.”
Washington, the Navy’s only forward-based carrier, left Yokosuka on May 23 for what Stars and Stripes described as an approximately six-month patrol. It reached the Arabian Sea in August and relieved Abraham Lincoln, according to The War Zone (TWZ).
Bush left Norfolk on March 31 with Carrier Air Wing 7 and three destroyers, the Navy said. TWZ reported that the carrier sailed around Africa, made a five-day port call in Phuket, Thailand, and left on Oct. 9 to return to the 5th Fleet area. The Navy has not announced a return date for either carrier.
Indo-Pacific
Theodore Roosevelt arrived in Yokosuka on Oct. 16, the first visit there by a non-resident U.S. carrier in more than four years, TWZ reported. USNI News, citing ship spotters, said it left on Oct. 19. TWZ reported that the carrier left San Diego at the end of September and will take part in Keen Sword 27, a U.S.-Japanese exercise.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said at the AUSA convention that the strike group deployed with a medium unmanned surface vessel, the first carrier group to do so, TWZ reported. TWZ said the vessel, Seahawk, left San Diego separately on Oct. 8 and was crossing the Pacific on Oct. 16. In its Oct. 6 tracker, TWZ wrote that several outlets had reported Roosevelt would continue on to the Middle East; the Navy has not announced that.
Atlantic and Europe
No carrier is deployed in the Atlantic or Europe. The USNI tracker lists only independently deployed destroyers in the Mediterranean.
Home waters
Abraham Lincoln returned to San Diego on Oct. 8 after 321 days away, the Navy said. On Oct. 19, Naval Air Forces announced that the ship will shift its homeport to Bremerton, Wash., “later this year to complete a long-planned maintenance availability.”
Ronald Reagan returned to San Diego on Oct. 13, according to USNI News. TWZ reported that it had left Bremerton on Sept. 30 after a 17-month drydock maintenance period and first reached San Diego on Oct. 5.
Carl Vinson is in San Diego. A ship-log site reported it returned on Sept. 9 from air wing qualifications and training off Southern California. Naval Air Force Pacific lists Carrier Air Wing 2 with Carrier Strike Group 1 and Vinson.
On the East Coast, Dwight D. Eisenhower returned to Norfolk on Oct. 5, TWZ reported. On Sept. 28, an EA-18G Growler went over the side when an arresting wire failed, and four sailors were injured. Naval Air Force Atlantic said technical experts would assess the launch and recovery equipment “before flight operations resume,” USNI News reported.
Nimitz, the oldest carrier, is based in Norfolk as a training ship. USNI News reported that the Navy plans to inactivate it at Newport News Shipbuilding in March 2027. A ship-log site last reported it returning to Norfolk on Oct. 8 after landing-system certification at sea.
The yards
Harry S. Truman moved to Newport News Shipbuilding on Sept. 30 to begin its midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul. The Navy said the $5.1 billion job is scheduled to finish in November 2031.
John C. Stennis is finishing the same overhaul at the yard, which it began in 2021. TWZ reported on Oct. 6 that budget documents point to an October 2026 redelivery, with no announcement yet.
Gerald R. Ford entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard on July 7, after a 326-day deployment that ended in May. Shipyard commander Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh told reporters he would deliver the ship back in six months, with fire damage repaired in a separate availability, Breaking Defense reported.
The future John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), not yet in the fleet, is at Norfolk after the Navy took preliminary acceptance on Sept. 29, with delivery planned for spring 2027, TWZ reported.
Sources
- USNI News: Fleet and Marine Tracker, Oct. 19, 2026
- U.S. Navy: USS Abraham Lincoln to shift home port to Bremerton (Oct. 19, 2026)
- U.S. Navy: USS Harry S. Truman to Undergo Midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul (Sept. 30, 2026)
- The War Zone: Where Are The Aircraft Carriers? Oct. 17, 2026
Related coverage
- Taiwan Security Oct 19, 2026: Keen Sword 27 Opens on Ishigaki
- Iran War Update Oct 21, 2026: Uranium Stays Put, Tanker Hit Off Oman
- Virginia-Class Submarine: Anduril’s $2.9B Push to Build Faster
Additional sources
- USNI News: Carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to Return to Port After Growler Mishap (Oct. 3, 2026)
- The War Zone: Where Are The Aircraft Carriers? Oct. 6, 2026
- U.S. Navy: USS Abraham Lincoln returns to San Diego after 10-month combat deployment (Oct. 9, 2026)
- U.S. Navy: George H. W. Bush Carrier Strike Group Departs for Deployment (March 31, 2026)
- Naval Air Force Pacific: Carrier Air Wing 2
- USNI News: Navy Extends USS Nimitz to 2027 (March 14, 2026)
- Breaking Defense: Navy expects only six-month maintenance for USS Ford (Sept. 14, 2026)
- Stars and Stripes: Navy’s only permanently deployed carrier begins annual Indo-Pacific patrol (May 23, 2026)
- KPBS: Fleet announces USS Lincoln leaving San Diego for maintenance (Oct. 20, 2026)
- GoNavy.jp: CV Locations ship-log compilation (accessed Oct. 21, 2026)
