The USS Gerald Ford is headed for service repairs in Crete days after experiencing an hourslong fire while deployed in the Red Sea for service in the Iran war.
The aircraft carrier will spend over a week in port at the Naval Support Activity Souda Bay for repairs, according to the U.S. Naval Institute. The ship’s move from the Middle East comes after a fire that started in the laundry area on Thursday reportedly burned through part of the ship’s sleeping quarters and lasted about 30 hours before it was extinguished.
The fire damaged the beds of about 600 sailors, displacing about 13% of the carrier’s 4,500 sailors and crew members. The incident left many crew members unable to do laundry and affected dozens of members aboard the aircraft carrier who inhaled the smoke, the New York Times reported.
The Navy moved about 1,000 mattresses from the USS John F. Kennedy to the Gerald Ford and has also collected clothing items for the affected crew, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
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As the USS Gerald Ford departs for repairs in Crete, it will be leaving the Red Sea for the first time since it transited the Suez Canal in early March. In February, the aircraft carrier left for Operation Epic Fury from the Caribbean Sea, where it was stationed after spending time at sea in the Mediterranean.
The ship has been at sea for almost nine months.
