I heard that US has 11 carriers but only 4 operational???
One carrier is required to stay in some Japanese port. Is that one of the 4?
No, there are only 3 as hard outs - CVN-74 Stennis is in RCOH into FY 26 I am guessing (these tend to run longer than planned), CVN-77 Bush just entered PIA maybe available July this year & CVN-78 Ford is in PIA after its maiden deployment and also expected back July this year.
There are 4 in various stages of workups and qualifications - CVN-72 Lincoln, CVN-73 Washington, CVN-75 Truman (coming out of PIA has made sorties into VA Capes) & Reagan, the forward deployed carrier based in Yokasuka that will make several sorties but is currently in port. Of these the most readily deployable in order would be Reagan, Lincoln, Washington & Truman.
CVN-68 Nimitz is probably the next up for deployment as it has been in homeport since last deployment and is scheduled for decommission in FY25, so it has one last deployment coming. I think it could sortie in an emergency.
And 3 are currently deployed - CVN-69 Eisenhower in Red Sea deployed 10/14/23, CVN-70 Vinson deployed 10/12/23 & CVN-71 Roosevelt deployed Jan 12th...the latter two currently in the PI Sea along with LHA-6 America (with the other Amphib out being the Bataan LHD-5 currently in Souda Bay).
So if pushed we could sortie up to 8, along with 3-4 more Amphibs as far as capital ships go. Interestingly, the number of ships Deployed/Underway has jumped significantly as late from 52 to 73, many of which will be support vessles supporting carriers & amphibs along with the lone wolfs dispatched here and there. The number of attack subs and boomers is classified but there is almost always one attack sub near battle groups and the rest are prowling.
