CVN-78 Locations

Last update on May 10, 2023

Aircraft Carrier Locations
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

Huntington Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding

Locations and Remarks

Actual construction is to begin in 3 January 2007
at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News shipyard.

11Aug2005, construction began

16Jun2006,

An amendment added

to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2007

proposes that CVN-78,

the first ship in the CVN-78 class,

be named for the 38th president "Gerald Ford"

05Sep2006,

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)

and the Program Executive Officer (PEO)

held a signature and awards ceremony

at the Washington Navy Yard
to commemorate the certification

of the ship specifications

16Jan2007,

held the official naming ceremony

of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78),

the first aircraft carrier in the Ford class of carriers

10Sep2008,

The Navy awarded Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding

a $5.1 billion contract to begin construction

14Nov2009,

the keel laying and authentication ceremony

24May2012,

The final keel section,

680-metric-ton, 60-foot-tall lower bow unit

was joined to the other keel sections

and was the last major section of the ship installed

below the waterline

11Jul2013,

welded a time capsule inside the flight deck control room

11Oct2013,

flooded Dry Dock 12 to float the first in PCU Gerald R. Ford

09Nov2013,

held a christening ceremony

at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding

in Newport News

17Nov2013,

launch and transit to Newport News Shipyard pier 3

for the final stages of construction and testing

12May2015,

completed 22 no-load tests

of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)

08Apr2017,

departed Huntington Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding

08Apr-14Apr2017,

Builder's Sea Trials, off the coast of North Carolina

14Apr2017, returned to Newport News Shipbuilding

24May2017, departed Newport News Shipbuilding

24May-26May2017,

acceptance trials by the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) in the Atlantic Ocean

26May2017, returned to Newport News Shipbuilding

31May2017, delivered to the U.S. Navy

CVW not assigned

Locations and Remarks

Home Port : Norfolk, Va.

22Jul2017,

45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump

christened the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) at the christening ceremony

at Newport News Shipbuilding

28Jul2017, departed Norfolk

29Jul2017, returned to Norfolk

02Aug2017, departed Norfolk

02Aug-16Aug2017,

testing and evaluation operations off the Virginia coast

17Aug2017, returned to Norfolk

30Sep2017, departed Norfolk

30Sep-08Oct2017,

testing and evaluation operations off the Virginia coast

09Oct2017, returned to Norfolk

CVW-3 (AC)

Locations and Remarks

Home Port : Norfolk, Va.

31Oct2017, departed Norfolk

01Nov-09Nov2017, carrier qualifications with CVW-3 off the coast of North Carolina

10Nov2017, returned to Norfolk

03Dec2017, departed Norfolk

03Dec-16Dec2017, off the coast of Virginia

17Dec2017, returned to Norfolk

11Jan2018, departed Norfolk

11Jan-26Jan2018, test and evaluation operations off the coast of Virginia

27Jan2018, returned to Norfolk

18May2018, departed Norfolk

18May-22May2018, off the coast of Virginia

23May2018, returned to Norfolk

31May2018, departed Norfolk

31May-07Jun2018, off the coast of Virginia

08Jun2018, returned to Norfolk

CVW not assigned

Locations and Remarks

Home Port : Norfolk, Va.

15Jul2018,

moved to Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS)

to begin a Post Shakedown Availability (PSA)

25Oct2019, departed HII-NSS for sea trials

25Oct-29Oct2019, sea trials, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

30Oct2019, returned to Norfolk

06Nov2019, departed Norfolk

06Nov-24Nov2019,

Independent Steaming Exercises, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

25Nov2019, returned to Norfolk

04Dec2019, departed Norfolk

04Dec-11Dec2019, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

12Dec2019, returned to Norfolk

CVW-8 (AJ)

Locations and Remarks

Home Port : Norfolk, Va.

16Jan2020, departed Norfolk

16Jan-30Jan2020,

Aircraft Compatibility Testing (ACT) to

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG),

off the East Coast

31Jan2020, returned to Norfolk

03Feb2020, departed Norfolk

03Feb-11Feb2020,

aircraft compatibility testing (ACT) off the East Coast

12Feb2020, returned to Norfolk

11Mar2020, departed Norfolk

11Mar-19Mar2020,

Flight Deck Certification (FDC) and Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (CATCC) Certification,

Virginia Capes Operating Areas

20Mar2020, completed FDC and CATCC Certification

21Mar-24Mar2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

25Mar2020, returned to Norfolk

26Mar2020, departed Norfolk

27Mar-12Apr2020,

Fleet Replacement Squadron Carrier Qualifications (FRS-CQ),

Virginia Capes Operating Areas

13Apr2020, returned to Norfolk

09May2020, departed Norfolk

09May-24May2020,

Fleet Replacement Squadron Carrier Qualifications (FRS-CQ),

Virginia Capes Operating Areas

25May2020, returned to Norfolk

28May2020, departed Norfolk

28May-06Jun2020,

Post Delivery Test and Trials (PDT&T) operations with CVW-8,

Virginia Capes Operating Areas

07Jun2020, returned to Norfolk

25Jul2020,

departed Norfolk

for Post Delivery Test and Trials (PDT&T) phase of operations

25Jul-29Jul2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

30Jul2020,

completed an Air Intercept Control (AIC) event

in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

31Jul-04Aug2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

05Aug2020,

completed 11th independent steaming event (ISE 11)

06Aug2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

07Aug2020, returned to Norfolk

01Sep2020, departed Norfolk

01Sep-08Sep2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

09Sep-17Sep2020,

TAW-1 and TAW-2 Carrier Qualifications in the WestLant

18Sep-05Oct2020,

post-delivery test and trials (PDT&T) phase of operations in the WestLant

06Oct2020, returned to Norfolk

27Oct2020, departed Norfolk

27Oct-02Nov2020,

Carrier Qualifications for Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

03Nov2020, returned to Norfolk

05Nov2020, departed Norfolk

05Nov-19Nov2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

20Nov2020, returned to Norfolk

05Dec2020, departed Norfolk

05Dec-14Dec2020, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

15Dec2020, returned to Norfolk

28Jan2021, departed Norfolk

28Jan-02Feb2021,

FRS Carrier Qualifications in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

03Feb2021, WestLant

04Feb-07Feb2021,

TRACOM Carrier Qualifications off the coast of Florida

08Feb-09Feb2021, WestLant

10Feb2021, returned to Norfolk

07Mar2021, departed Norfolk

07Mar-20Mar2021,

Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT) in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

21Mar2021, returned to Norfolk

14Apr2021, departed Norfolk

14Apr-29Apr2021,

Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT) in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

30Apr2021, returned to Norfolk

07Jun2021, departed Norfolk

07Jun-12Jun2021, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

13Jun-17Jun2021, off the east coast of Florida

18Jun2021,

completed the first scheduled explosive event as part of Full Ship Shock Trials (FSST)

19Jun-21Jun2021, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

22Jun2021, returned to Norfolk

27Jun2021, departed Norfolk

27Jun-02Jul2021, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

03Jul2021, returned to Norfolk

13Jul2021, departed Norfolk

13Jul-18Jul2021, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

19Jul2021, returned to Norfolk

04Aug2021, departed Norfolk

04Aug-05Aug2021, WestLant

06Aug-09Aug2021, Full Ship Shock Trials off the coast of Florida

10Aug-12Aug2021, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

13Aug2021, returned to Norfolk

20Aug2021,

moved from Naval Station Norfolk to Newport News Shipyard

for a six-month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA)

25Feb2022, departed Newport News Shipyard

25Feb-27Feb2022, sea trials in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

28Feb2022, returned to Norfolk

21Mar2022, departed Norfolk

21Mar-03Apr2022, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

04Apr2022, returned to Norfolk

08Apr2022, departed Norfolk

08Apr-23Apr2022, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

24Apr2022, returned to Norfolk

06Jun2022, departed Norfolk

06Jun-10Jun2022, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

11Jun2022, returned to Norfolk

06Jul2022, departed Norfolk

06Jul-14Jul2022, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

15Jul2022, returned to Norfolk

01Aug2022, departed Norfolk

01Aug-05Aug2022, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

06Aug2022, returned to Norfolk

16Sep2022, departed Norfolk

16Sep-27Sep2022,

Tailored Ship's Training Availability and Final Evaluation Problem (TSTA/FEP),

conducted ammo onload,

in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

28Sep2022, returned to Norfolk

03Oct2022,

scheduled to leave Norfolk

for what the Navy has called a "service retained" deployment,

but was delayed by a weather front

04Oct2022, departed Norfolk for a "service retained" deployment

04Oct-27Oct2022, off the east coast

28Oct-31Oct2022,

anchored off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

01Nov-13Nov2022,

operating in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean

and is expected to make its next port call in Portsmouth, UK

14Nov-17Nov2022,

anchored off the coast of Portsmouth, United Kingdom

18Nov-21Nov2022, Eastern Atlantic Ocean

22Nov-25Nov2022, en route to Norfolk

26Nov2022, returned to Norfolk

08Feb2023, departed Norfolk

08Feb-15Feb2023, Virginia Capes Operating Areas

16Feb2023, returned to Norfolk

02Mar2023, departed Norfolk

03Mar-01Apr2023,

Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) in the Virginia Capes Operating Areas

02Apr2023, returned to Norfolk