The U.S. Navy will replace its sole forward-deployed aircraft carrier — the Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture-based USS Ronald Reagan — with the USS George Washington in 2024, it announced Friday.
The Ronald Reagan is known for playing a key role in Operation Tomodachi, the U.S. military's response to the March 11, 2011, earthquake and ensuing nuclear crisis in the Tohoku region.
The George Washington, which was deployed to Yokosuka from 2008-2015 until it was replaced by the Ronald Reagan, will be returning after a complex overhaul in the U.S. The multiyear overhaul is performed only once during a carrier's 50-year service life and includes the refueling of the ship's two nuclear reactors, as well as significant repairs, upgrades, and modernization.