page_title: USS George Washington (CVN-73)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: USS George Washington (CVN-73) / History
caption_attribution_description: Sailors work to put out a fire from a position in Hangar Bay 3. PACIFIC (May 22, 2008) Sailors work to put out a fire from a position in Hangar Bay 3 aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73). The comprehensive firefighting effort extinguished all fires while limiting shipboard damage and preventing any serious injuries for the crew. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are currently under investigation as the ship continues on course for San Diego.
context_page_description: USS George Washington (CVN-73) is a United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the sixth carrier in the Nimitz class and the fourth US Navy ship named after George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and the first president of the United States. The contract for George Washington was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding on 27 December 1982. Her keel was laid on 25 August 1986, she was christened on 21 July 1990 by First Lady Barbara Bush, and she was commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on 4 July 1992.
  In 2008, USS George Washington became the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier to be forward-deployed at naval base Yokosuka, Japan.
  Since August 2017, the carrier has been in her four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul, which is expected to be completed by August 2021.
context_section_description: 2001
  George Washington was deployed to protect New York City after the September 11 attacks.
  2004
  On 20 February, on a sixth deployment, George Washington entered the Gulf of Aden, and a week later, was conducting operations in the Persian Gulf.
  2005
  On 28 January 2005, she entered the shipyard for Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA). Many ship's systems were upgraded and maintenance was done to the hull. Her four jet blast deflectors were removed and upgraded to handle the increased heat generated by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. One defensive Phalanx CIWS mount and one Sea Sparrow launcher were replaced by two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers. During the 11 months she was drydocked, the crew contributed 20,000 hours of volunteer community service to the city of Newport News, Virginia. The work was completed on schedule, and George Washington returned to her home port of Norfolk on 17 December 2005.
  On 1 December 2005, the United States Navy announced that George Washington would replace Kitty Hawk as the forward-deployed carrier at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, becoming the first nuclear-powered surface warship permanently stationed outside the continental U.S. In an attempt to explain the carrier's mission to the Japanese public, the U.S. Navy printed a manga about life aboard GW, titled "CVN-73".
  2006
  George Washington and CVW-17 left Norfolk on 4 April for a scheduled two-month deployment to operate as part of SOUTHCOM's "Partnership of the Americas". This deployment included counter-drug operations in the Caribbean Sea, crew exchanges and exercises with Latin American and South American navies, and port visits for the carrier and strike group, which consisted of the cruiser Monterey, the destroyer Stout, and the frigate Underwood. The first of these port visits took place from 14–17 April in St. Maarten, and Antigua from 15–18 May. She returned to Norfolk on 24 May.
  2008
  On 7 April 2008, George Washington, with CVW-17 and Carrier Strike Group 8 embarked, departed Norfolk en route to Yokosuka, Japan to replace Kitty Hawk, taking a route around South America as she is too large for the Panama Canal; she took part there in the Gringo-Gaucho maneuvers with Argentine Naval Aviation. After the planned turnover with Kitty Hawk at NS Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, CVW-17 and Carrier Strike Group Eight were to return to their home ports in the U.S. to be replaced by Carrier Air Wing 5, based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, and Carrier Strike Group Five based at Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan.
  During the South American transit, the George Washington Battle Group participated in U.S. Southern Command exercises Partnership of the Americas and Unitas, a joint military exercise between the United States, Brazilian and Argentine navies. On 22 April 2008, George Washington arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for her first port visit to that country. The ship traversed the Strait of Magellan on 9–10 May.
caption: Firefighting in Hangar Bay 3
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "080522-N-5188B-009 \nPACIFIC (May 22, 2008) Sailors work to put out a fire from Hangar Bay 3. The comprehensive firefighting effort extinguished all fires while limiting shipboard damage and preventing any serious injuries for the crew. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are currently under investigation as the ship continues on course for San Diego. U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Peter Blair (Released)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D2H", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "360", "Image YResolution": "360", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2008:05:23 16:30:23", "Image Artist": "Peter Blair", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "716", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1490", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3560", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:05:22 09:33:59", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:05:22 09:33:59", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-5/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Strobe return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2520", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1800", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1364", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Soft", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}