26 April 2015 © David Eyre

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and its escort ships Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG-101) arrived in Fremantle this morning (26 April 2015), for a rest and recreation break, on the long journey home to their home port of San Diego, California having left the waters around the Middle East after combat duties against ISIS.

USS Carl Vinson is anchored at Gage Roads anchorage between Fremantle and Rottnest Island, whilst the USS Bunker Hill and USS Gridley were docked at Victoria Quay, Fremantle.

Other ships in the Vinson Strike Group included guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG-104) and USS Dewey (DDG-105), but these must have docked at other ports.

The ships have been on deployment for nearly eight months, six months of which was spent conducting combat operations against ISIS/Islamic State, in the Middle East.

The Vinson Strike Group was relieved on 13 April 2015 in the Arabian Gulf by the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and its strike group.

Aboard the USS Carl Vinson were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17). The US Navy announced that aircraft aboard the USS Carl Vinson conducted 12,300 sorties, including 2,383 combat missions and dropped 869 precision guided bombs, landing 9,220 aircraft. Carrier Air Wing 17 includes the following aircraft and squadrons:

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code Aircraft Type Squadron 100 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet VFA-22 Fighting Redcocks 200 Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet VFA-81 Sunliners 300 Boeing F/A-18C(N) Hornet VFA-113 Stingers 400 Boeing F/A-18C(N) Hornet VFA-94 Mighty Shrikes 500 Boeing EA-18G Growler VAQ-139 Cougars 600 Northrop-Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000 NP VAW-116 Sun Kings 610 Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk HSC-15 Red Lions 700 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk HSM-73 Battle Cats 23 / 33 Grumman C-2A Greyhound VRC-40 Detachment 5

The two C-2A Greyhound aircraft visited RAAF Pearce and Perth Airport a few times before the carrier’s arrival off Fremantle.

The ships will conduct operations in the Western Pacific Ocean while on the way home, according to the Navy.

Security was extremely tight as ISIS had reportedly released the names and addresses of 100 US Navy personnel on the internet, including four people in charge of aviation on USS Carl Vinson. No public tours were arranged, and the only visitors authorised were guests of the US Consulate.

AAWA was unable to obtain a visit aboard.

Some of our members were able to obtain photos of the carrier from onshore at Fremantle as it arrived at the Gage Roads anchorage.

Some also flew in an aircraft nearby to obtain aerial photos. However, we could not get close, due to a 1 nautical mile/2,000 feet altitude security exclusion zone around the ship. Although we planned to fly parallel to the ship at above the minimum altitude, air traffic control turned us away before we even got anywhere near the exclusion zone. Holding a long zoom lens in turbulence also made photography somewhat difficult.

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