Key Points and Summary – The USS George Washington is the sixth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier built for the U.S. Navy. Named after the first president of the United States, the George Washington holds a special place due to its symbolic value.
-First entering service in 1993, the carrier has been in operation for over 30 years and is expected to remain in the fleet for many more.
-However, from 2017 to 2023, the George Washington was taken out of commission for a Refueling and Complex Overhaul.
-Originally planned to stay in drydock for four years, technical difficulties, logistical hurdles, and other issues kept the carrier out of service for almost two years longer than scheduled.
What is an Aircraft Carrier RCOH?
The USS George Washington, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was taken out of action for nearly six years due to a prolonged and troubled Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH).
This process is a critical mid-life maintenance and modernization effort that every nuclear-powered aircraft carrier undergoes once in its 50-year service life. The RCOH is designed to refuel the ship’s nuclear reactors, upgrade its combat systems, overhaul its propulsion and electrical systems, and modernize living quarters and other infrastructure. Typically, this process takes about four years.
Still, in the case of the George Washington, it extended to almost six years due to a combination of logistical, technical, and human errors.
The first problem, stemming from many competing proposals, was what to do with the aircraft carrier. Around 2015, discussions within the Department of Defense began about possibly retiring the George Washington instead of refueling it.
This indecision disrupted early planning and procurement, pushing back the timeline for the overhaul. When the decision was finally made to proceed with the RCOH, the ship entered Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia in August 2017, already behind schedule in terms of preparation and logistics.
Once the ship was in the yard, inspections revealed that its condition was worse than anticipated. Components had deteriorated more than expected, requiring additional repairs and replacements. In some cases, parts from the George Washington were removed and used to support other carriers that were deemed higher priority, further complicating the overhaul. These unexpected findings added significantly to the time and cost of the process.
Pandemic Makes Things Worse
The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the situation. The shipyard faced workforce shortages, supply chain disruptions, and health-related restrictions that slowed progress dramatically. Huntington Ingalls Industries, which owns Newport News Shipbuilding, cited the pandemic as a significant factor in the delay.
The broader U.S. shipbuilding industrial base also contributed to the problem. Long-standing issues such as skilled labor shortages and aging infrastructure led to inefficiencies and rework. Some tasks had to be redone due to quality issues, adding to the already extended timeline.
Beyond the technical and logistical challenges, the human cost of the prolonged RCOH was significant. The crew of the George Washington endured poor living conditions while the ship was docked. Access to food, recreation, and mental health services was limited, and the monotony and isolation of shipyard life took a severe toll. Tragically, eleven sailors died by suicide during the six years.
Many of these deaths were linked to mental health struggles exacerbated by the environment. A Navy investigation revealed that by the time the ship left the yard in 2023, 85% of the crew had never been to sea. This lack of operational experience, combined with the stressful conditions, created a crisis in morale and mental health.
In response to these tragedies, the Navy implemented several reforms. These included improving housing and mental health resources during future RCOHs, limiting the time young sailors spend in shipyards, and building new facilities near shipyards to support crew well-being. These changes aim to prevent similar issues in future overhauls and ensure that sailors are better supported during long maintenance periods.
USS George Washington Finally Returns to Sea
The scope of George Washington’s overhaul was massive.
It involved approximately 26 million man-hours of labor. Major components such as the main mast, shafts, propellers, and rudders were refitted. Combat systems, aviation support equipment, and IT infrastructure were modernized.
Repairs were conducted on over 600 tanks, thousands of valves and pumps, and miles of piping. The total cost of the overhaul was around $2.8 billion, making it one of the most expensive and labor-intensive RCOHs in U.S. Navy history.
After completing sea trials in May 2023, the George Washington was officially redelivered to the Navy and returned to active service. It resumed its role as a forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka, Japan, replacing the USS Ronald Reagan. Its mission includes maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific region, deterring aggression from adversaries such as China and North Korea, and supporting humanitarian and disaster relief operations. Now the carrier is better than ever, but the road to get there was anything but easy.
The Navy and its contractors took several lessons from the George Washington’s troubled RCOH. These include conducting earlier inspections to assess ship condition before overhaul, adopting progress-based contracting to incentivize timely work, using 3D scanning and digital tools to streamline inspections and repairs, and expanding spare parts inventories to reduce delays caused by cannibalization.
These improvements are intended to make future RCOHs more efficient and less disruptive to both operations and personnel.
About the Author: Isaac Seitz
Isaac Seitz, a Defense Columnist, graduated from Patrick Henry College’s Strategic Intelligence and National Security program. He has also studied Russian at Middlebury Language Schools and has worked as an intelligence Analyst in the private sector.
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