Historic aircraft carrier floats by for last time
Published 1:30 am Friday, March 13, 2026
A local photographer captured a historic moment floating by Whidbey Island last week.
The USS Nimitz, the Navy’s oldest serving aircraft carrier, left Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton on March 7 for the final time before being decommissioned.
That same day, Sarah Geist, a well-known South Whidbey photographer, located the 97,000-ton nuclear-powered vessel on a boating app — which she usually uses to follow whale-watching boats — after her mom sent her a message that the storied aircraft carrier would be traveling nearby. She went to Bush Point and captured photos of the ship on her Canon R5 Mark II as it passed surprisingly close to shore. Then, she followed it to Fort Casey, joining a crowd of around 10 people admiring the vessel.
“It was ginormous,” she remembered. “You can see the little people standing on it.”
Nimitz’s namesake comes after the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. The vessel, deemed the “Pacific Northwest Carrier,” has sailed across the world to deter aggressors and ensure maritime safety since it was commissioned on May 3, 1975, according to a press release.
The ship will visit several countries along its circumnavigation of the continent of South America enroute to its new homeport, Public Affairs Officer Lt. Cmdr. Peter Pagano told the News-Times. The ship will also be deployed to the U.S. Southern Command Area, he wrote in an email.
Still, it is scheduled to be deactivated later this spring, he said, since the lifespan of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers is meant to be approximately 50 years.
“This ship and her crew could not be more thankful to the people of Washington State for their decades of hospitality, friendship and trust,” Capt. Joseph Furco, the commanding officer of Nimitz, said in a press release.
Nimitz has aided with several underway replenishments, over 8,500 sorties and even conducted strikes against ISIS targets in Somalia, Pagano said. When asked what its greatest accomplishment has been over the years, Pagano explained it would be hard to narrow it down to just one.
“For over five decades, the ship has exemplified the U.S. Navy’s commitment to forward presence, ensuring maritime security, deterring aggression and protecting the American way of life,” he said. “Nimitz and her crew have also demonstrated the U.S. Navy’s enduring commitment to fostering collaboration and ensuring mutual security and trust, conducting joint exercises, port visits and multinational engagements with allies and partners throughout these five decades of deployments.”
Geist said the experience of seeing the vessel in person was a stunning experience. Having spotted the ship leaving its port several times before, she was still shocked by how fast it was moving, estimating it was close to 20 knots.
“It was definitely bittersweet that it was leaving for the last time,” she said.
Geist’s photos can be found on Facebook or at sarahgeist.smugmug.com.
