laststandonzombieisland

Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) render honors as the ship passes the USS Arizona Memorial while arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 29 November 2025. The Nimitz made the scheduled port visit while operating in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations during an eight-month deployment as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 11.

Credit: Navy Seaman Matthew C. Wolf. VIRIN: 251129-N-AW546-1141P

U.S. Navy sailors man the rails on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) while pulling into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Nov. 29, 2025. Nimitz is underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations on a scheduled deployment, demonstrating the U.S. Navy’s unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jaron Wills)

The photo is appropriate as ADM Chester Nimitz, the supercarrier’s namesake, was dispatched to Pearl Harbor to assume command of the Pacific Fleet just nine days after Arizona went down, and would assume command of the seriously damaged and demoralized force in a ceremony aboard the submarine USS Grayling (SS-209) on 31 December 1941, as no battlewagons were availible since all eight dreadnoughts in the Harbor were sunk or severely damaged.

The carrier was christened on 13 May 1972 by Catherine Nimitz Lay, the daughter of the late admiral.

This is likely CVN-68’s final trip past Battleship Row, as she is scheduled to begin deactivation in early 2026, capping a 51-year career.

Her first port call at Pearl was back during RIMPAC 1988– as OPFOR against the USS Missouri Battleship Battle Group, no less– and she has been back at least 11 times since then.

And, of course, she will live on as Pearl Harbor’s strongest yet unsuccessful defender, ala 1980s The Final Countdown.

The Navy granted access to Nimtz during production of the movie, so when you see those stunning shots of the “Big 6-8 haze gray and underway,” it is not stock footage.