Norfolk Naval Shipyard undocks USS George H.W. Bush carrier on time.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) undocked USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) on time Aug. 29, a key milestone in the carrier’s Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA).
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) is underway in the Atlantic Ocean. George H.W. Bush is underway conducting a composite training unit exercise. (Picture source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas Hall)

Bush has been on blocks the past 18 months, undergoing the most extensive maintenance period in the carrier’s history and one of NNSY’s most complex CVN CNO availabilities ever. This drydocking period marked the first time Bush had not been waterborne since 2006.

For the first time in NNSY history, two aircraft carriers will be sharing a pier. Bush is now neighbors with USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75), currently undergoing an Extended Carrier Incremental Availability which began in July.

NNSY has been implementing a number of 21st-century capabilities and innovations to facilitate work throughout the availability, including the use of cold spray to repair components in the U.S. Navy’s first organic cold spray repairs conducted at any of the four public shipyards. Laser scanning was used to facilitate installation of sponsons onboard, supporting first time quality in the fit-up. Burchett added the shipyard’s special emphasis group developed unique weight handling equipment using electric winches for servicing components while in the dry dock.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) undocked USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) on time Aug. 29, a key milestone in the carrier’s Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA). (Picture source: Daniel DeAngelis)

In addition to working innovatively, the team is also working safely. Bush currently has the best safety record of the past three DPIAs at NNSY.

Now that the carrier is pierside and the team turns to testing work and restoration of habitability, Burchett looks forward to the availability’s final phase and getting the crew back onboard.

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is the tenth and final Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy. She is named for the 41st President of the United States and former Director of Central Intelligence George H. W. Bush, who was a naval aviator during World War II. The vessel's callsign is Avenger, after the TBM Avenger aircraft flown by then-Lieutenant George H.W. Bush in World War II. Construction began in 2003 at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard's Dry Dock 12, the largest in the western hemisphere. She was completed in 2009 at a cost of $6.2 billion and her home port is Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.