USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
The USS Nimitz is rounding South America on its way from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and the last legs of the aircraft carrier’s journey to its new homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
Photographs released by the Navy on Monday show the Nimitz, with about 5,000 sailors and air crew aboard, as its transits the Strait of Magellan, a 350-mile route pioneered in 1520 by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
The strait snakes from the Pacific between the mainland of South America and the island of Tierra del Fuego to the Atlantic.
The crew was able to go out on the flight deck during some of the narrow passages through the strait and photograph the far southern sunrise.
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
The Nimitz left Naval Station Kitsap, in Bremerton, Wash., on March 7, headed for Norfolk to begin its retirement. Commissioned in 1975, it is the oldest of the Navy’s 11 carriers.
The Navy announced the ship would instead deploy to the Southern Seas 2026 exercises, accompanied by its carrier air wing and the Arleigh Burke destroyer USS Gridley.
The Nimitz’s retirement was pushed to early 2027, when the fleet replacement, the new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, is expected to be commissioned.
During the Southern Seas 2026 exercises, the Nimitz held exchanges and joint exercises with the militaries of El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador and Chile.
The Nimitz is expected to host more visits as it proceeds north along the east coast of South America and crosses the Caribbean before arriving at Norfolk in May.
The Strait of Magellan offers a shorter, more sheltered passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic at the southern edge of South America. Prior to the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the strait was the main commercial and military route between the oceans.
Nimitz- and Ford-class aircraft carriers are too large to pass through the Panama Canal, so they must continue south to the Strait of Magellan or go around Cape Horn. The Nimitz will log more than 8,000 nautical miles between Bremerton and Norfolk.
USS Nimitz, the Chilean Navy guided-missile frigate CNS Capitan Pratt, and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Gridley steam together during a bilateral maritime engagement in the Pacific Ocean, April 21, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Magellan route between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on April 26, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
