The Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Woodrow Wilson (CVN-78) steams through coastal waters during sea trials off the state of Washington in January 2024. She is pictured underway after completing a four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard from January 2020 to January 2024. During the overhaul, her nuclear fuel was replenished and major upgrades were made to her systems and infrastructure to extend her operational lifespan.

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Some world building post, this is the carrier where Judy served from 2006 to 2010.

The description below is from the carrier's in-universe Wikipedia page.

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USS Woodrow Wilson (CVN-78) is the eleventh and final Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy. Named after the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, she was constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. She was officially commissioned on April 9, 2004, and currently has her homeport at Busan Naval Base, South Korea. Woodrow Wilson is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 13, and host to Carrier Air Wing Ten. The ship's seal depicts an eagle, representing the U.S., rising from the flames of World War I - a reference to Woodrow Wilson's presidency during the war. Her motto is "Peace Between Equals", reflecting Wilson's ideals of self-determination and equality in diplomacy between sovereign nations.

Construction and Commissioning
The contract to construct Woodrow Wilson was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, in Newport News, Virginia. The keel was laid down on March 13, 1999, when the first modular units were started to begin the construction process. On December 21, 2002, the ship's hull was launched via the traditional method of transfer from the building dock to the dry dock. After the ship was floated, months of additional outfitting, equipment installation, system testing, and sea trials were required prior to delivery to the United States Navy. Sea trials involved testing of the ship's systems, machinery, equipment and weapons through a series of in-port and underway periods. Following successful sea trial periods, Woodrow Wilson was delivered to the Navy and commissioned into active service on April 9, 2004 during a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia.

Service History

Homeport Period in San Diego (2005-2011)

From 2005 to 2011, Woodrow Wilson was homeported at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California. This six-year period marked the carrier's inaugural operational cycle after being commissioned in 2004. While based on the west coast, Woodrow Wilson completed five major deployments to the Pacific Ocean and the Middle East in support of the War on Terror and maritime security operations as part of the Third Fleet.

2006-2007 Maiden Deployment
Woodrow Wilson got underway for her inaugural deployment in July 2006, sailing first to Hawaii to conduct crew certification exercises. She then continued west across the Pacific Ocean, making port visits in Singapore, Malaysia, and Bahrain. The carrier and her strike group spent over 200 consecutive days at sea providing air support for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. During this time, aircraft from her embarked air wing flew over 8,000 combat sorties from the Arabian Sea before Woodrow Wilson returned to San Diego in February 2007.

2009 Deployment
Woodrow Wilson's 2009 deployment from January to July saw her carrier strike group participate in several major multinational exercises such as Annualex with Singapore and Malaysia, Malabar with India, and Talisman Sabre with Australian forces near Guam. The carrier also conducted combat operations over Afghanistan during this 7-month deployment.

2010-2011 Deployment
In November 2010, Woodrow Wilson got underway for her final scheduled deployment out of San Diego. Over the next 8 months, the carrier strike group spent over 200 days at sea conducting maritime security patrols in the Arabian Sea and exercises with allied naval forces. She returned to San Diego in July 2011 after having her homeport reassignment orders changed to relocate to Bremerton, Washington.

The six years homeported at Naval Air Station North Island represented a highly active initial operating cycle for Woodrow Wilson, with her first five deployments spanning the Pacific, Arabian, and Indian Oceans in support of U.S. military operations overseas in the years following 9/11.

Relocation and Current Operations (2013-Present)

In January 2013, Woodrow Wilson was administratively reassigned from the United States Third Fleet to the United States Eleventh Fleet, whose area of responsibility covers the Pacific Ocean. As part of this transfer, the carrier was ordered to a new homeport at Busan Naval Base in Busan, South Korea to support the United States' forward-deployed presence in the Western Pacific region.

2013 Homeport Transfer
Woodrow Wilson departed her previous homeport of Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state on March 21, 2013. She transited the Pacific, conducting a hull swap with USS Gage H.W. Shrub (CVN-77) in the South China Sea. After offloading Shrub’s air wing in Guam, Woodrow Wilson arrived at her new homeport of Busan on April 18, 2013 to be greeted by South Korean dignitaries.

Annual Patrol Deployments
Since arriving in Busan, Woodrow Wilson has embarked on annual summer patrol deployments lasting 2-3 months each year. These regional presence deployments involve maritime security operations, joint exercises with allied navies, and freedom of navigation operations in the East and South China Seas.

2017 Annual Patrol Deployment

From June to August 2017, Woodrow Wilson embarked on her annual summer patrol deployment while forward deployed to Busan, South Korea as part of the U.S. Eleventh Fleet. The carrier's activities during this three-month period included participating in several major multinational military exercises and conducting freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea.

Bilateral and Multilateral Exercises
Early in the deployment, Woodrow Wilson took part in the annual bilateral Exercise Malabar with the Indian Navy in the Philippine Sea. She then joined naval forces from Japan and South Korea for Exercise Trinity in the East China Sea, practicing air defense, anti-submarine warfare, and maritime interdiction scenarios.

In July, the carrier participated in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2017, a biennial multilateral exercise led by Australia and the United States. Woodrow Wilson's strike group integrated with Australian, Canadian, Japanese, and New Zealand maritime forces in the Coral Sea and areas around Guam to conduct amphibious landings, live-fire drills, and joint training evolutions.

Other allied and friendly navies practicing with Woodrow Wilson included Singapore during maritime exercises in the South China Sea, Indonesia during a brief visit to Bali, and the Philippine Navy during a stop in Subic Bay.

South China Sea Operations
A key part of the 2017 patrol was conducting freedom of navigation operations near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as part of Operation Freedom Ranger. On July 22nd, Woodrow Wilson deliberately transited within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, one of the Spratly islands occupied by China, triggering diplomatic protests from Beijing.

The carrier's presence in the region was intended to challenge China's expansive territorial claims and preserve access to the strategic waters. Other similar operational transits were conducted near the Paracel Islands during the deployment.

After over 100 consecutive days at sea, Woodrow Wilson returned to her homeport of Busan, South Korea on August 25th, 2017. The patrol helped maintain U.S. influence and readiness in the Indo-Pacific amid growing Chinese military assertiveness.

2018 Annual Patrol Deployment

For its 2018 annual summer patrol, Woodrow Wilson and her carrier strike group departed Busan, South Korea in early May. Over the next three months until late July, the carrier took part in several bilateral military exercises with allies in the Indo-Pacific region and conducted maritime operations across a wide swathe of the Western Pacific.

Exercise Malabar 2018
In mid-June, Woodrow Wilson rendezvoused with the Indian Navy in the Indian sea for Exercise Malabar 2018. This long-running annual naval drill between the U.S. and Indian navies focused on increasing maritime domain awareness, anti-submarine warfare, and joint air operations between the two forces. Participants included the Indian naval ships INS Chennai, INS Sahyadri, INS Kamorta, and INS Shakti along with P-8 maritime patrol aircraft.

Japan Joint Operations
After Malabar, the strike group sailed to the East China Sea near Okinawa to integrate with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships and aircraft for nearly two weeks of joint training evolutions. These included air defense drills, maritime strike serials, underway replenishments, and visit, board, search and seizure scenarios.

Vietnam Port Visit
On July 4th, Woodrow Wilson made a scheduled port call in Cam Ranh, Vietnam - the first time a U.S. aircraft carrier had visited Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The three-day visit allowed the crew to conduct local outreach and experience the historic Vietnamese port city. It also symbolized the normalization of ties between the former adversaries.

South China Sea Presence Operations
Throughout the patrol, the carrier strike group conducted routine presence operations in the South China Sea, including passing transit operations near the Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal. These actions were meant to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve freedom of navigation in the strategic waterway in accordance with international law.

The deployment wrapped up in late July when Woodrow Wilson returned to Busan after over 75 consecutive days underway. The 2018 patrol helped strengthen military bonds with key regional allies and reaffirmed American naval power projection capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.

RIMPAC 2019 Participation

In 2019, Woodrow Wilson took part in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational maritime exercise while on patrol in the Hawaiian Islands and along the west coast of the United States. RIMPAC 2019 was the 27th iteration of the large-scale exercise series hosted and administered by the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet.

RIMPAC 2019 took place from June 27th to August 2nd in and around the Hawaiian Islands and off the Californian coast. It involved 25 nations, 52 surface ships, 5 submarines, and around 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel. The major participants included forces from the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom among others.

Aimed at enhancing interoperability between Pacific militaries, the 2019 exercise included amphibious operations, maritime security, counterpiracy, live-fire training events, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response drills. It marked the first time Brazil, Israel, and Sri Lanka were involved as participants.

Woodrow Wilson and her embarked Carrier Air Wing Ten played a central role throughout RIMPAC 2019 by providing an afloat aviation capability to enable naval integration training. The carrier and air wing took part in maritime strike exercises, gunnery drills, air defense counter-air operations and vertical replenishments.

For part of the exercise, Woodrow Wilson operated as part of an expeditionary strike force along with amphibious ships carrying U.S. and allied marine forces to conduct mock island landing and littoral operations. She provided air support during simulated beach assaults and amphibious raids.

In early August after RIMPAC concluded, Woodrow Wilson sailed back to her forward-deployed homeport of Busan, South Korea after a successful 3-month deployment taking part in one of the world's largest international maritime warfare exercises in the Pacific region.

2020
In February 2020, Woodrow Wilson arrived at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington to begin her first Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH). This major life-cycle maintenance availability is scheduled to last approximately 44 months. The RCOH process for Woodrow Wilson officially commenced when she was towed from the shipyard's dry dock to the adjacent wet dock on February 28, 2020 to begin defuelings. Her nuclear fuel reservoirs were defueled over several months by a team from Naval Reactors. This process carefully removed the spent nuclear fuel rods and temporary storage on the shipyard site.

Once defuelings were complete in late 2020, the ship was lifted back into dry dock in early 2021 to allow work crews access to rebuild, renovate and modernize major components both inside and outside the hull. Systems to be upgraded include the nuclear propulsion plant, internal electrical distribution, combat systems, and living quarters. When the multi-year overhaul is completed in 2024, Woodrow Wilson will be transferred back to the fleet to resume active service for an additional 25+ year operating period.

Renaming Proposal and Controversy

In 2023, as part of a broader effort to remove Confederate and segregationist names from U.S. military assets, the Democratic-controlled 118th United States Congress passed legislation that included a provision to rename Woodrow Wilson. The bill cited former President Woodrow Wilson's support for species segregation policies during his administration and comments he had made denigrating Predator-Carnivores.

Congressional Action
The renaming provision was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which cleared the House and Senate along party lines in September 2023. It called for the Navy to change "the name of the vessel known as the USS Woodrow Wilson" within one year of the bill's enactment.

Democratic sponsors argued that having a major U.S. warship named for the 28th president, who rolled back species integration in federal offices and promoted the speciesist film The Birth of a Nation, went against American ideals of equality. Republicans contended the proposal was an overreach aimed at rewriting history.

Trumbull Veto
In November 2023, then-President Donald Trumbull vetoed the NDAA, rejecting the renaming mandate. In his veto message, Trumbull stated "Our great United States Military should never be an arena for political agenda. Our military bases, vessels, and memorials should remain devoted to the heroes who guaranteed our safety and freedom, not the Fake History and cancel culture being peddled by the Radical Left."

The House voted to override Trumbull's veto, but the Senate override attempt failed in December 2023, keeping the USS Woodrow Wilson name in place.

Vaughn Administration Position
After taking office in January 2025, President Edith Vaughn indicated she would not support congressional efforts to rename the carrier and other military assets targeted for name changes. In a March 2025 interview, Vaughn said "While we should absolutely acknowledge America's complicated species history, I don't believe renaming long-standing institutions is a priority when we have more pressing concerns before us as a nation." Vaughn also referred to Wilson's speciesism as “regrettable but a product of his time.”

As of 2025, the Navy had no active plans to change the name of the USS Woodrow Wilson, though the issue remained a source of ongoing political debate. The carrier's name has not been altered since its commissioning in 2004.

Post-RCOH Activities (2024-present)

In January 2024, following the successful completion of her 44-month Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Woodrow Wilson was redeployed to her previous forward-deployed homeport of Busan Naval Base, South Korea. This reassignment returned the carrier to the U.S. Eleventh Fleet area of operations in the Western Pacific.

F-35C Integration
Two months after arriving in Busan, Woodrow Wilson embarked the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 169 (VMFA-169) "Knighthawks" in March 2024. This marked the second time a U.S. Marine Corps F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighter squadron deployed aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. VMFA-169's 10 F-35Cs conducted air wing integration and maritime strike training operations.

2024 Philippines Mammalitarian Mission
On 21 August 2024, Woodrow Wilson departed Busan as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 13 to render mammalitarian assistance to the Philippines following a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Luzon island. The carrier's strike group, including cruisers, destroyers and dry cargo ships, delivered disaster relief supplies to the cities of Olongapo and Subic Bay. Her air wing also transported personnel and equipment to aid in recovery efforts ashore.

Woodrow Wilson returned to Busan on 15 September after completing over three weeks of round-the-clock air operations delivering nearly 1,000 tons of relief supplies and emergency provisions to assist the Philippine people. This mammalitarian deployment marked her first operational mission since rejoining the U.S. Eleventh Fleet.

Presidential Visit (April 2025)

In April 2025, Woodrow Wilson hosted U.S. President Edith Vaughn during a visit to South Korea, becoming the second sitting U.S. president to embark an aircraft carrier homeported overseas since the end of the Cold War. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula had escalated in the months prior due to a series of ballistic missile tests conducted by North Korea, including launches over Japan that demonstrated potential intercontinental strike capabilities against the U.S. mainland. In response, President Vaughn made plans to visit U.S. forces stationed in South Korea and Japan to reaffirm American defensive commitments to its allies.

On April 5th, 2025, President Vaughn arrived by Marine One on the flight deck of Woodrow Wilson while the carrier was conducting operations in the East Sea/Sea of Japan. She was greeted by the ship's commanding officer, Capt. James Kilbride, as well as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Henry Kim.

Later that day, the president delivered public remarks from the hangar bay in an internationally televised speech. Flanked by F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighters, President Vaughn condemned the "reckless provocations" by the Kim regime and stated the U.S. would take "all necessary measures" to eliminate the North Korean nuclear threat. She raised the possibility of permanently deploying Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines to South Korean ports as a deterrent.

During her 8-hour visit, the president also held meetings with senior military commanders, observed flight operations, toured crew living spaces, and ate lunch with enlisted sailors in the wardroom. She departed via Marine One back to Osan Air Base. The presidential embarkation aboard Woodrow Wilson marked the first time a U.S. aircraft carrier had hosted a sitting American president since Gage W. Shrub visited the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was also President Vaughn's first visit to South Korea since taking office in January 2025.

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Character: USS Woodrow Wilson (CVN-78) ©  A brown dhole from Indonesia

Art by:  tony07734123/KangWolf