USS Theodore Roosevelt departs Bremerton for San Diego after 18-month overhaul
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BREMERTON — USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) departed Bremerton around 9 a.m. on Friday after undergoing 18 months of repairs at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier will conduct sea trials and eventually return to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, its previous homeport before Bremerton.
Over 2,700 sailors, which is the majority of the carrier's assigned force, left Puget Sound with the ship. The Roosevelt will conduct "at-sea certifications of upgraded and replaced systems" on its way back to San Diego, said USS Theodore Roosevelt spokesperson Ben Anderson.
Most of the sailors' personal vehicles have been shipped to San Diego — via a vehicle processing center service — ahead of their owners due to the planned certification events, Anderson said.
The ship is due to arrive in San Diego early next week. While the Navy didn't reveal details regarding the carrier's upcoming operations, Anderson said the Roosevelt will conduct a deployment in 2024.
"USS Theodore Roosevelt and its crew look forward to being back at sea, and stand ready to serve our nation when called upon to do so," Anderson said.
DPIA overhaul
The 1986-commissioned aircraft carrier arrived in Bremerton in July 2021 for a scheduled docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) overhaul process at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which repaired, restored and upgraded the ship's systems.
The ship exited Dry Dock 6 at the shipyard in August last year. Some equipment repair work continued after the undocking and over 400 system and component tests were completed to ensure the ship is ready for operations, said Anna Taylor, a spokesperson at PSNS.
The maintenance and modernization completed at the shipyard provide military leaders more options and flexibility to respond to crises and win in combat, said Capt. Brian Schrum, Commanding Officer of USS Theodore Roosevelt, who received command from Capt. Eric Anduze in October 2022.
The ship is returning to the U.S. fleet with "necessary capacity and capability for the next two decades," Schrum said.
"There's been an incredible amount of work that has been put into this ship over the last 18 months," Capt. Schrum said in a statement to the Kitsap Sun. "Together, we had a common goal: to make this ship more combat-capable and operationally-ready than it's ever been. I can proudly say that goal has not just been reached, but surpassed."
With the departure of the Roosevelt, no aircraft carriers remain in Bremerton until USS Nimitz returns to Naval Base Kitsap from its global deployment this summer, said Ensign Bryan Blair, a spokesperson for Commander, Naval Air Forces in San Diego. USS Nimitz is scheduled to enter Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for maintenance in early 2024, according to Blair.
USS Theodore Roosevelt lost three sailors during its time homeported in Bremerton. On Aug. 13, 2021, a sailor assigned to the ship ended his life in a park in Bremerton, according to documents the Kitsap Sun received from Bremerton Police Department via a public record request. On Dec. 5, 2022, Electrician's Mate (Nuclear) 3rd Class Jacob Slocum died by suicide on the ship. On Jan. 18, another sailor assigned to the carrier took his own life in the enlisted barracks at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton.
Reporter Peiyu Lin covers the military for the Kitsap Sun. She can be reached at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: USS Theodore Roosevelt departs Bremerton after 18-month overhaul
