USS Theodore Roosevelt Turns 40 as It Prepares for Keen Sword Off Japan
The Nimitz-class carrier, docked at Yokosuka since 16 October with the cruiser USS Chosin and the destroyer USS Decatur, marks 40 years since its commissioning on 25 October 1986 ahead of the US-Japan exercise Keen Sword.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt marks 40 years in commission on Sunday, 25 October, and will spend the anniversary in Japan, where it docked last week ahead of the US-Japan exercise Keen Sword. The fourth ship of the Nimitz class was commissioned on 25 October 1986, according to the US Navy.
The San Diego-based carrier steamed into Tokyo Bay and docked at Yokosuka Naval Base on Friday, 16 October, Stars and Stripes reported. The cruiser USS Chosin, a Ticonderoga-class ship, sailed in with it. So did the destroyer USS Decatur, of the Arleigh Burke class. The carrier took the berth normally used by USS George Washington, the Yokosuka-based carrier currently deployed to the Middle East, and is the first US carrier not homeported at Yokosuka to visit the base since USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2022, according to Stars and Stripes.
The ships will resupply and undergo maintenance before Keen Sword, scheduled for 19-29 October, according to a Navy news release cited by Stars and Stripes. A 7th Fleet spokesman told the outlet that Carrier Strike Group 9 includes approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines. In the release, the carrier's commanding officer said port visits are "vital for crew morale and mission readiness."
The Navy named the ship in 1981 for Theodore Roosevelt, who supported early naval aviation as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, according to a 2023 Navy story published by the carrier's public affairs office. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the ship flew more than 4,200 sorties, more than any other carrier, the Navy said in the same story. As of 2023, it had completed 15 deployments.
Theodore Roosevelt is now the fourth-oldest carrier in the US Navy's carrier fleet, which GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory records at 11 active ships: 10 Nimitz-class carriers and one of the Gerald R. Ford class, USS Gerald R. Ford, commissioned in 2017. Only Nimitz (1975), Dwight D. Eisenhower (1977) and Carl Vinson (1982) have served longer. The six younger Nimitz-class ships entered service between 1989, with Abraham Lincoln, and 2009, with George H.W. Bush. The Ford class is set to expand: John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is fitting out, Enterprise (CVN-80) and Doris Miller (CVN-81) are on order, and two more hulls (CVN-82 and CVN-83) are planned.
At 40, the carrier is still taking on new roles. In August, GlobalMilitary.net reported that Theodore Roosevelt had become the first carrier ready to operate the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker.
After Keen Sword, the carrier is expected to deploy to the Middle East, where it could relieve George Washington, Stars and Stripes reported.
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