Naval Station Everett Naval Station Everett is located next to the marina area of the city of Everett , WA , 25 miles ( 40 km ) north of Seattle . The Navy Support Complex is located between Marysville and Arlington , 11 miles north of the naval station . Naval Station ( NAVSTA ) , Everett is located on the northeast side of Puget Sound . NAVSTA Everett was designed as a homeport for a US Navy Carrier Strike Group . NS Everett is home to two destroyers , three frigate s , one nuclear - powered aircraft carrier , and a Coast Guard buoy tender . There are about 6 , 000 Sailors and Civil Service persons assigned to commands located at Naval Station Everett . The naval station itself has about 350 Sailors and Civilians assigned . History . Naval Station Everett ' s history began in 1983 when Secretary of the Navy John Lehman first proposed a new Puget Sound - area naval base as part of the Strategic Homeport concept . In the early 1980s Congress approved the strategic homeporting initiative to build additional bases and disperse the fleet from the main concentration areas . The strategic homeport program enjoyed the support of not only of the House and Senate but of the Reagan Administration and the Department of Defense . It was decided in 1985 that the strategic homeport program was the best method for implementing the militarily - sound principles of dispersal , battlegroup integrity , and increasing the naval presence in the geographic flanks . Facilities . On April 17 , 1984 , Everett was selected from among 13 ports as the ideal location for the new homeport . Congress approved the first funds for construction on October 2 , 1986 and the official ground breaking ceremony was November 9 , 1987 . On September 9 , 1988 the Navy awarded the $ 56 million construction contract for the carrier pier , which is 1 , 620 ft ( 494 m ) long , with a width of 120 ft . In June 1992 , three Navy ships participated in the formal opening of the new pier . A second ground breaking ceremony was held August 30 , 1993 for the Naval Station Everett Support Complex , located off 136th Street in Smokey Point . The Navy acquired the 52 acre ( 210 , 000 m² ) site to build a commissary , exchange , family service center , thrift shop , education offices , Bachelor Officer Quarters , craft shop / gear issue , chapel and religious education center , an auto hobby shop , ball fields and courts , fleet parking for personnel assigned to deployed Everett - based ships and a 50 - room Navy Lodge . During the first week of 1994 , Naval Station Puget Sound personnel began transitioning to the new Fleet Support and Administration buildings and officially began operations at Naval Station Everett . On April 8 , 1994 , an official dedication ceremony was conducted with over 1 , 000 guests in attendance . Initial complement . On September 3 , 1994 , and arrived as the first of seven ships to be assigned here . On November 22 , 1995 , arrived at the naval station . On that same date , the Navy officially announced the assignment of , , and to Naval Station Everett . " David R . Ray " arrived July 29 , 1996 and " Callaghan " and " Chandler " both arrived September 27 , 1996 . To complete the complement of ships at Naval Station Everett , made a change of homeport from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton to Everett on January 8 , 1997 . In March 1998 , " Callaghan " was decommissioned , and two ships based in Japan , and , made their official change of homeport to Everett on May 5 , 1998 . In Sept . 1999 , the " Chandler " was decommissioned . In July 1999 the Navy completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement ( EIS ) designed to determine the appropriate homeports for three " Nimitz " - class nuclear - powered aircraft carriers in the Pacific Fleet . The EIS examined four locations : Bremerton , Wash . ; Everett , Wash . ; San Diego ; and Pearl Harbor . The Navy ' s decision was to develop facilities to homeport two " Nimitz " - class carriers at Naval Air Station North Island , Calif . in addition to , and to maintain NS Everett , Wash . , as a homeport for one " Nimitz " - class aircraft carrier . The successful completion of " Abraham Lincoln " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s six - month maintenance period at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton , Wash . , validated the Navy ' s preference to keep a carrier homeported in Everett . The in - depth EIS process began in December 1996 . Following public scoping meetings held in communities at each of the four alternate locations in February 1997 , the Navy spent more than 18 months examining the ports to determine how well they satisfied the CVN Homeporting Objectives and Requirements as they pertain to Operations and Training ; Facilities and Infrastructure ; Maintenance ; and Quality of Life .