The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its carrier strike group recently departed San Diego and is heading to the Indo-Pacific.
But U.S. 3rd Fleet declined to clarify the carrier’s deployment status to Navy Times, or when the ship and its strike group left San Diego, and no public notice was made regarding Carl Vinson’s departure.
“Carrier Strike Group 1, led by its flagship, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), is currently underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 3rd Fleet are[a] of operations,” U.S. 3rd Fleet public affairs said in a statement to Navy Times. “U.S. 3rd Fleet works together with our allies and partners to advance freedom of navigation, the rule of law, and other principles that underpin security for the Indo-Pacific region.”
While the strike group’s departure date has not been officially confirmed, the volunteer San Diego Web Cam group that posts live views of San Diego Bay on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, shared footage of the carrier heading out on Oct. 12.
#LIVE: USS Carl Vinson Deployment (CVN-70)https://t.co/YqMEbNVO4W
— San Diego Web Cam (@SanDiegoWebCam) October 12, 2023
Carrier Strike Group 1 includes Carrier Air Wing 2, the cruiser Princeton, and destroyers from Destroyer Squadron 1.
The Vinson concluded its last deployment to the 3rd and 7th Fleets in February 2022 — the first strike group to include the F-35C Lightning II fighter jet and the CMV-22 Osprey under the Navy’s vision for the “air wing of the future.”
Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan is also conducting operations in the Indo-Pacific and pulled into port in Busan last week, after wrapping up maritime exercises with South Korea and Japan.
“The U.S. Navy and our carrier strike groups have a long and productive history with our Korean allies, and our port visit here is the latest opportunity to strengthen the relationships between our people and navies,” Rear Adm. Pat Hannifin, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, said in a Navy news release.
