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:
| Nose 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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Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Keith Anderson
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Keith Anderson
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Keith Anderson
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit, before returning home to San Diego after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf. Aboard were aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 17, which conducted strike operations against ISIS in the Middle East.
Photo © Jonathan Williams
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © David Eyre
USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser. It arrived on 26 April 2015 for a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © Matt Hayes
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived 26 April 2015 on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © Geoff Selby
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © David Eyre
Arrived today on a rest and recreation visit before returning home to San Diego, after an eight-month deployment, including six months of combat operations in the Arabian Gulf as part of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson’s Strike Group.
Photo © David Eyre
I’m looking for a presentation lithograph of the U.S.S. VINSON AND BATTLE GROUP can you help.
Hi John,
Not quite sure what a lithograph presentation is, but there’s plenty of information on the USS Carl Vinson on the internet for example: http://www.navysite.de/cvn/cvn70.html.
Regards,
David
Thank you for the wonderful photos of my son’s floating home for the last 10 months. Just getting to see the ship in such detail and knowing that he is aboard is a treat.
Australia is such a grand country and loyal friend to the US. After many months of being in the Persian gulf I was so glad my boy could be safe and among friends in Perth.
Thank you again,
Mike Roads, Navy dad
Great shots! Were you guys actually allowed to fly that close to the carrier group?
Hi Kelvin,
Our photographers used telephoto lenses to zoom in, whilst flying as close as we were permitted to.
Regards,
David
Fantastic David. Great photos. Thanks.