Ship History
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) is the ninth nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth in the Nimitz class. Named after the 33
rd president of the United States, Newport News Shipbuilding laid the keel for the $4.5 billion warship on Nov. 29, 1993. The ship’s sponsor, the late President’s daughter Margaret Truman Daniel, christened the ship on Sept. 7, 1996, and the ship was launched on Sept. 13, 1996.
On July 25, 1998, President Bill Clinton commissioned the ship during a ceremony attended by an estimated 20,000 people at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Having adapted President Truman’s renowned assurance that “the buck stops here,” Clinton said during the ceremony that the U.S., as the world’s lone superpower, “must continue to be responsible, to say the buck stops with the United States.”
In November 1998, Truman hosted the U.S. Navy Blue Angels at sea, marking the first time a Blue Angels’ jet ever landed aboard an aircraft carrier. The ship departed on its maiden deployment on Nov. 28, 2000. During the deployment, aircraft from Carrier Air Wing THREE (CVW-3) flew 869 sorties, totaling 2,700 flight hours, supporting Operation Southern Watch. After nearly 180 days and traveling more than 44,000 nautical miles, the ship completed its first deployment on May 23, 2001.
USS Harry S. Truman entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) for its first Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) on Sept. 5, 2001, where the crew watched the terrorist attacks on 9/11 unfold a week later. With ship-wide internet installed for the first time and the nation now at war, the ship departed the shipyard six months later to begin deployment preparations. In 2002, Truman set a record for most arrested landings in a single day at 335. On Dec. 5, 2002, Truman departed for her second deployment, where the ship took up station in the Eastern Mediterranean to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
At 10:16 p.m. on March 19, 2003, CVW-3 launched the first combat missions of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Over the next 30 days, CVW-3 aircraft dropped over 1.4 million pounds of ordnance on targets in Northern Iraq in direct support of U.S. infantry and special operations forces on the ground. Truman spent 89 consecutive days at sea without a port call, including the first replenishment-at-sea while simultaneously launching combat-loaded aircraft since the Vietnam War. On the 90
th day, Truman dropped anchor in Portsmouth, England, where the crew made local news headlines for drinking the pubs dry. The ship returned from deployment on May 23, 2003.
In August 2003, Truman entered NNSY for her second PIA. In May of 2004, U.S. Fleet Forces awarded Truman the Battenberg Cup, naming her the best all-around ship in the Atlantic Fleet after earned her first Battle “E” and sweeping the departmental “E” awards. In October 2004, the ship departed for her third deployment to the U.S. 5
th Fleet area of responsibility. The ship and CVW-3 launched 2,577 combat sorties, totaling nearly 13,000 flying hours, and earned the Battle “E” for the second consecutive year. Truman returned from deployment in March 2005.
In September 2005, Truman got underway with detachments embarked from 13 helicopter squadrons and headed for the Gulf of Mexico to provide disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina. As Joint Task Force Gulf Coast’s flagship, the crew remained anchored in the gulf for five weeks, where helicopters delivered desalinated water for the relief effort. Truman earned a third consecutive Battle “E” for performance in 2005.
In January 2006, the ship entered NNSY for its first Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA), lasting 12 months. In June 2007, to honor President Truman’s recognition of Israel in 1948, the ship received a historic Holocaust-surviving Torah, the only known religious artifact that remains from the Lithuanian Jewish population where less than 5% survived. In November 2007, Truman departed Norfolk for her fourth deployment to conduct maritime security operations in the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf. The ship and airwing completed 2,459 combat sorties and expending 77,500 pounds of ordnance supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom missions. The crew earned their fourth Battle “E” award for their deployment and performance in 2008.
The ship completed a third successful PIA following seven months at NNSY in February 2009. During workups for the ship’s next deployment, the crew earned their fifth Battle “E” award and hosted the EA-18G Growler’s first at-sea carrier-arrested landing. The ship deployed in May 2010 for seven months, where the crew celebrated the 100,000
th arrested landing, flew 2,915 combat missions, and expended 25,000 pounds of ordnance supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn. The ship returned to Norfolk on Dec. 21, 2010, and earned her sixth Battle “E” award. In February 2011, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye made its first carrier takeoff aboard Truman.
USS Harry S. Truman underwent a second DPIA at NNSY, including a new mast and significant combat systems upgrades that finished in March 2012. During the maintenance period, Capt. Tushar Tembe, Truman’s seventh commanding officer, passed away from natural causes after collapsing on the pier. To honor his memory, a golf tournament he’d helped plan became an annual event named the Captain Tembe CVN Golf Tournament, and the ship’s Wardroom III lounge was named the Tembe Room. In November 2012, Truman served as the first carrier-based test platform for the X-47B unmanned aircraft.
In July 2013, the ship departed Norfolk for her sixth deployment. The ship and airwing flew over 2,900 combat missions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The crew received their seventh Battle “E” award and returned to Norfolk on April 18, 2014. The ship finished a seven-month Continuous Incremental Availability (CIA) at NNSY in May 2015.
In November 2015, Truman departed Norfolk on her seventh deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a rising terrorist organization. CVW-7 flew 2,054 combat missions that expended over 1.3 million pounds of ordnance on ISIS targets. The ship returned to Norfolk on July 13, 2016. The crew received its eighth Battle “E” award, and all Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) units received the Meritorious Unit Commendation medal. On July 21, 2017, the ship completed a 10-month PIA at NNSY.
On April 11, 2018, Truman departed Norfolk for her eighth deployment, which included a five-week Continuous Maintenance Availability (CMAV) in Norfolk mid-way before continuing the second half of deployment and returning home in December 2018. During deployment, the ship participated in the NATO exercise Trident Juncture, marking the first carrier to operate above the Arctic Circle in nearly three decades. During the exercise, Boreas Rex, the King of the North, inducted the crew into the Order of the Blue Nose during the time-honored maritime tradition of the crossing-the-line ceremony. Truman received its ninth Battle “E” award for performance in 2018.
Truman finished a three-month CMAV and departed on its ninth deployment in November 2019. As the global COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, the ship remained at sea for an additional two months to minimize the potential spread of the virus during the post-deployment period that keeps a certified and ready carrier force on standby for response to emergent world events.
In 2021, Truman received her ninth Battle “E” award after sweeping the departmental “E” awards, earned the 2020 Battenberg Cup award for the second time, and the Admiral Flatley award for aviation safety as the Navy’s best ship and air wing team. The ship entered NNSY for an Extended Carrier Incremental Availability (ECIA) in July 2020 and finished in May 2021.
Truman departed in December 2021 for her 10
th deployment, extending over three months in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Throughout the deployment, NATO took tactical command of the ship during several NATO-led exercises and vigilance activities, an action not seen since the Cold War, and marked the longest continuous operation of a U.S. aircraft carrier in U.S. European Command in over 20 years. The HSTCSG composition included the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F310) as a cooperative deployer. The ship returned from deployment in September 2022.
Truman entered NNSY in December 2022 for a 10-month PIA, where the ship conducted major maintenance and modernization projects, celebrated her 25
th birthday, and installed WiFi for the crew to enjoy greater connection with loved ones during future underways. She is scheduled to complete one more deployment cycle before entering Newport News Shipbuilding for her mid-life RCOH maintenance availability. During Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH), the ship will replace expended nuclear fuel and undergo extensive maintenance and renovation.