World’s Largest Aircraft Carrier Arrives in Souda Bay

Sgt Sheri Lynn
"The U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), and embarked staff from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12 arrived in Souda Bay, Crete for a scheduled port visit, Dec 2, 2023.

This port visit is the capital ship’s sixth stop while deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR) area of operations. The port call will offer Gerald R. Ford Sailors the opportunity to experience the rich history and culture of Greece and enhance the strong partnership between the U.S. and Greece.

“The crew has been laser-focused on the mission, and I am really proud of our Sailors’ work and efforts these past couple of months as our nation’s capital ship has remained on scene and prepared to do our duty,” said Capt. Rick Burgess, Commanding Officer of Gerald R. Ford. “The team has earned some time off and looks forward to taking in Greek culture and exploring Souda Bay, Chania, and the surrounding area. Earlier this summer, Gerald R. Ford visited Piraeus and Athens, and the port visit remains one of the highlights of our deployment because of the hospitality of our cherished Ally.”...

I remember in the 80s when an Aircraft Carrier would come into Subic Bay in the Philippines. A bunch of the Pilots would take off from the Carrier and land at Subic NAS, and nearly every time one of them would declare an Emergency, close their Airfield and all of them had to divert to Clark AB.

Without fail several would declare Emergency Fuel along with other problems. Once I remember that we had an F-4 take the Barrier for No Brakes on the departure end of the runway and another F-4 with 10 mins fuel caught the approach end barrier. Tower had to tell them, "Unable to issue landing clearance, F-4 in Departure end Barrier, landing will be at your own risk." By Golly that is what they did. Closed Clark's only runway for about 15 minutes till they got both aircraft out of the Barriers and towed off the runway. Air Traffic Control gets a bit hairy now and again.