Commissioning of Incomplete Carrier

According to a report from The Virginian Pilot, the George H.W. Bush, the 10th and final aircraft carrier in the Nimitz class, will be pulled by tugboat to its January commissioning. The big carrier was planned to have sailed under its own power from the Newport News shipyard to Norfolk Naval Station for the Jan. 10 ceremony. The $6.3b ship was originally scheduled for completion in April, but Northrop Grumman, the sole builder of nuclear-powered carriers for the Navy, has delayed it three times due to labor shortages, late material deliveries the company said. The Navy said changing the commissioning ceremony’s date now would be too costly and difficult.

(Source: The Virginian Pilot)