USS Nimitz completes sea trials

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has successfully completed sea trails following 20 months of maintenance, repairs and upgrades, the U.S. Navy reports.

CVN 68 pulled into San Diego, Calif., Oct. 10, after completing a successful 6-day sea trial and officially marking the completion of a 20-month extended planned incremental availability.

Nimitz got underway for the first time since January 2015 when it pulled away from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Oct. 5 to begin the sea trials phase.

Sea trials of the Nimitz were to assess the ship's readiness by evaluating the crew's performance, and testing the operability of the ship's equipment and upgrades.

Major evaluations included the execution of high-speed turns, an activation of the ship's countermeasure washdown and aqueous film forming foam systems, sea and anchor and precision anchoring exercises, testing of the ship's self-defense weapons, and man overboard drills.

The ship's MK-38 25mm machine gun, MK-15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, and .50-caliber machine guns were also tested as was the ship's catapults, which received extensive work and upgrades during the maintenance period.

The Navy said the Nimitz will soon be joined by Carrier Strike Group 11 and Carrier Air Wing 11 to begin conducting flight operations and begin working on flight deck certification upon returning to sea.

A series a series of inspections and multi-ship exercises as a part of a work-up cycle twill also be conducted in preparation for the ship's deployment next year.