The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is at last making its way home after an eventful extended deployment that saw the ship participate in combat operations against the Iran-backed Houthis but also lose three aircraft.
A US defense official told Business Insider on Monday that the Truman had left the Red Sea and is now in the Mediterranean Sea on its way home. It’s unclear when, exactly, the carrier will arrive back at its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia.
NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples wrote on social media earlier that Truman and its strike group were participating in maritime exercises in the Mediterranean. Open-source intelligence accounts spotted the carrier heading north in the Suez Canal over the weekend.
The Truman entered the Middle East in December and experienced a string of unfortunate mishaps over the following months, including the loss of three F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, which are estimated to cost roughly $60 million apiece.
In late December, the missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, part of Truman’s strike group, shot down an F/A-18 over the Red Sea in what the US military described as an “apparent case of friendly fire.” The details of that incident remain limited.
US Navy photo
In mid-February, the Truman collided with a large commercial vessel in the Mediterranean, near Egypt’s Port Said. The carrier was damaged and had to sail to a US naval base for repairs. That incident led to the firing of the ship’s commanding officer.
Several months later, in late April, when Truman was back in the Red Sea, an F/A-18 and a tow tractor fell overboard while the fighter jet was actively under tow in the carrier’s hangar bay. A sailor was forced to jump from the cockpit just before the plane went into the water. Some reports indicated the ship was taking evasive action at the time of the incident.
A little over a week later, in early May, an F/A-18 was landing on the flight deck of the Truman when the arresting cable, the thick black wires used to catch the tailhook on the back of carrier-based aircraft and slow them down, unexpectedly failed. The fighter jet went overboard. Both naval aviators safely ejected and were rescued by a helicopter.
The Truman was one of two Navy aircraft carriers that participated in combat operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen during the military’s weekslong bombing campaign known as Operation Rough Rider, which the Trump administration abruptly put on pause earlier this month.
Truman’s departure from the Red Sea means that only one aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, is left in the Middle East. The Vinson features a mixed air wing that includes the fifth-generation F-35C, a stealth fighter made for carrier operations.
