The U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford left Split, Croatia, on Thursday after a five‑day port call, the service said, without specifying its next destination.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier “remains poised for full mission tasking in support of national objectives in any area of operation,” the Navy said, adding the ship completed scheduled repairs and took on supplies to sustain operations.
The stop in Croatia followed a maintenance visit to Souda Bay, Greece, after a noncombat fire broke out aboard on March 12, injuring sailors and damaging berthing spaces. The Navy said the routine investigation into the blaze is ongoing.
The carrier’s departure reduces the number of U.S. supercarriers in the region, where it had played a role in operations tied to tensions with Iran, although the USS George H.W. Bush strike group has also left port on a scheduled deployment