The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) will leave the Red Sea and transit to the Mediterranean Sea, as another U.S. carrier stationed in the Pacific is set to head to the Middle East to maintain the U.S. presence in the region, according to USNI News.
While Eisenhower and its cruiser escort will move to the Mediterranean, its destroyer escorts will remain in the U.S. 5th Fleet. Flight spotters tracked Eisenhower’s C-2A Greyhound detachment moving from the U.S. 5th Fleet base in Bahrain to the Mediterranean.
This move follows Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s decision not to extend the deployment of the Navy’s second-oldest carrier for a third time. Eisenhower has been deployed for over eight months and has accumulated more deployment days than any other U.S.-based carrier in the past five years. “Time to bring them home,” a U.S. official said.
The specific Pacific carrier set to replace Eisenhower in the Middle East has not been confirmed. However, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), which deployed from San Diego in January, is the closest according to USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker.
The departure coincides with rising tensions between Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel, though the move is reportedly not connected to this escalation. The carrier has been part of a mission to protect Israel and its allies’ interests amid Israel’s conflict with Gaza.
There are unconfirmed reports that the USS Eisenhower may have been damaged by a Yemeni missile attack. Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement claimed to have launched a missile in the direction of the Eisenhower as part of their campaign against the U.S. and Britain in regional waters. A social media post suggested that the carrier’s deck might have been affected, awaiting confirmation.
