A U.S. sailor searches for a target Aug. 2, 2025, during an exercise on the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Nimitz has since pulled into Bahrain for a port call. (Franklyn Guage/U.S. Navy)

MANAMA, Bahrain — Nearly half a century after its first deployment, the U.S. Navy’s oldest active aircraft carrier pulled into Bahrain over the weekend, marking a rare visit that could be among its last.

USS Nimitz arrived for a port visit Sunday at the home of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet, along with Carrier Strike Group 11, Carrier Air Wing 17, and the destroyers USS Gridley and USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee.

The visit “underscores our long-standing partnership with Bahrain and the importance of working together to promote maritime stability, freedom of navigation, and regional security,” Rear Adm. Frederic C. Goldhammer, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, said in a Navy statement. 

An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on July 30, 2025. The ship made a port call in Bahrain over the weekend. (Franklyn Guage/U.S. Navy)

Initially operating with the U.S. 7th Fleet in the Indo-Pacific, the Nimitz strike group was redirected in mid-June as tensions rose between Israel and Iran.

Nimitz, which deployed for the first time in 1976, is slated to begin deactivation next year, with completion expected in 2027. The ship’s service life was lengthened amid delays in production of Ford-class carriers, which will replace the Nimitz class

The Nimitz and its crew are scheduled to shift homeport to Norfolk, Va., by April 2026, ahead of deactivation.

Of the new class, only USS Gerald R. Ford is in service, having deployed in 2022 following its commissioning in 2017. The second Ford-class carrier, the future USS John F. Kennedy, is slated for delivery in 2027, according to Navy budget documents.