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On February 12 of this year, the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, hit Besiktas-M, a merchant vessel while on mission in the Mediterranean. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported and the Harry S. Truman did not sustain any serious damages that impeded any of the ship's functions, per a statement from the United States Navy.
Fast-forward to November, however, and the cosmetic damage to the ship still hasn't been repaired. You'd think with a piece of equipment as expensive and as vital to U.S. military operations as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the damage would be stitched up fairly quickly. It doesn't appear to have gone that way. The Navy did note to "The War Zone" that new bulkheads were installed to prevent the damage from getting worse. The bigger repair to the large hole that's currently in the side of the ship, however, won't be completed until the ship's Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH), where other major work will also be completed.
The ship is waiting to refit and refuel
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Aircraft carriers like the Harry S. Truman have a very long service life, upwards of 50 years (or more) as its nuclear power plant allows it to run incredibly efficiently for long periods at sea without the need to refuel. Halfway through that service life is when Nimitz-class carriers are typically refueled and given a several billion dollar tune-up and overhaul, as was the case with the U.S.S. George Washington in 2023, to the tune of $2.8-billion. It's more than a fresh coat of paint. Reportedly, every single system, nut, and bolt, on the George Washington was updated or refreshed. The John C. Stennis, another Nimitz-class, is currently undergoing its RCOH.
While a date hasn't been announced, the Harry S. Truman's RCOH process is upcoming. Then the damage it sustained will be repaired, along with both the removal of nuclear waste generated by its nuclear reactors and the delivery of new nuclear fuel. The George Washington's RCOH took five years and nine months, so the Harry S. Truman has a long recovery time ahead of it. Think of it as a spa day, but potentially several years long and, you know, for an aircraft carrier.
