The U.S. Navy warships John S. McCain and Curtis Wilbur are moving to new West Coast homeports following more than two decades forward-deployed to Japan, the Navy announced this week.
John S. McCain has been based with U.S. 7th Fleet out of Yokosuka, Japan, since 1997,
Following the 2017 at-sea collision that killed 10 sailors, the destroyer went through extensive repairs and returned to operations in the summer of 2020.
It left Japan Friday and is headed to its new home at Naval Station Everett, Washington, where it will now fall under the command of U.S. 3rd Fleet.
Meanwhile, Curtis Wilbur arrived at its new San Diego homeport on Thursday after more than 25 years in Japan, making it the longest forward-deployed ship in recent history, according to a Navy release.
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The destroyer will undergo maintenance and upgrades before joining 3rd Fleet.
Replacing them are the destroyer Dewey, which arrived at its new homeport in Japan earlier this month, while fellow destroyer Ralph Johnson also recently departed Everett to join 7th Fleet.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
