The USS Carl Vinson transits the Philippine Sea on Feb. 2, 2024. (John A. Miller/U.S. Navy)
(Tribune News Service) — The USS Carl Vinson will return Friday to San Diego Bay from the Indo-Pacific, where the carrier and its strike group operated amid deepening tensions with China.
The carrier will be wrapping up a four-month deployment that included a headline-grabbing moment in January when the ship and the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, also based in San Diego, sailed in formation in the Philippine Sea with ships from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The formation was intended as a show of power to China, which has been threatening to invade Taiwan, a partner of the U.S. The Biden administration has said it will come to Taiwan’s aid if such an invasion occurs.
Sailors render honors to the USS Arizona Memorial as Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) pulls into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for a scheduled port visit on Feb. 13, 2024. Vinson, flagship of Carrier Strike Group ONE, was underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. (Larissa T. Dougherty/U.S. Navy)
The Chinese Navy also has been shadowing and harassing American warships working in the South China Sea, the Defense Department said.
The Vinson strike group included, among other ships, the cruiser USS Princeton and the destroyer USS Sterett, both based in San Diego.
Flight deck crew members stand by during recovery as several E-2 Hawkeye aircraft return to land on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) on July 12, 2023. (Nelvin C. Cepeda, The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)
The Roosevelt is still operating in the Indo-Pacific. The Navy has not indicated when it will return. A third San Diego carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, is preparing to deploy and will likely leave in the spring.
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