He USS Gerald R. Fordhe largest aircraft carrier and has had to withdraw from the key area facing Iran after a fire that lasted more than 30 hours and that has left the ship in a critical situation. What started as a fire in the laundry room ended up causing structural damage, chaos among the crew and internal doubts about possible sabotage.
The consequence is immediate: the US temporarily loses one of its Strait of Hormuzjust at a time of maximum tension with Iran.
A “minor” fire that unleashed a major problem
According to the initial version of the US Navy, the fire originated in the extraction system of a dryer. There was no combat or external attack. Two sailors were injured and several more suffered minor smoke poisoning.
But the reality, according to sources, is much more serious: the fire spread through the ventilation system, the smoke extraction failed and large areas were rendered useless by the smoke.
The fire lasted more than 30 hourssomething unusual in a ship with an extinguishing capacity equivalent to that of a medium-sized city.
600 sailors without a cabin and life on board collapsed
The consequences in daily life have been immediate. Approximately 600 of the 4,500 crew members have lost their accommodations.
The current situation on board, according to the leaks: sailors sleeping on tables or benches, cabins unusable due to smoke, laundry out of service and improvised hygiene conditions.
In parallel, The aircraft carrier has been forced to set course for Cretewhere it will be inspected at a NATO base.
The problem was not just the fire: previous structural failures
He USS Ford, operational since 2017was already accumulating technical incidents. The most striking: the bathroom system.
According to NPR investigations based on internal documents, up to 80% of toilets have failed. The vacuum system is prone to blockages and daily incidents have been recorded since 2023, requesting more than 40 external assistance. The jams included objects such as clothing, paper or even ropes.
Suspicions of sabotage within the ship itself
This point is key. Internal Navy reports suggest that some failures were not accidental. There is talk of deliberate use of “inappropriate materials” in the sanitation system. In other words: possible internal sabotage.
Now, after the fire, this hypothesis gains more strength. The Navy will investigate in Crete if the fire could also have been set.
Morale sunk: months of deployment and extreme attrition
Behind these problems there is an obvious human factor. The Ford crew has been under pressure for monthswith a longer deployment than usual, days of up to 19 hours for technicians, loss of family events and restrictions on communication with their families.
The result, according to reports, is extremely low morale. And that, on a warship, has operational consequences, although some may argue that if this is resistance and resilience, enemies will have it much easier, in countries like Iran where those “problems” do not occur or at least do not materialize.
Strategic impact: a vacuum vis-à-vis Iran
The withdrawal of the Ford is not a minor detail. This aircraft carrier is key to air defense in the regionthe projection of power in the Gulf and the protection of maritime traffic.
His departure leaves a gap that the US is trying to fill by sending the USS George HW Bush from the east coast. But it will take at least two weeks to arrive. In a scenario like the Strait of Hormuz, that time matters.
An uncomfortable question for the US
The case of Gerald R. Ford raises a fundamental question: to what extent is the global deployment of the US Navy sustainable? A fire in a laundry has been enough to put the world’s largest aircraft carrier out of action, affect thousands of crew members and temporarily weaken the US military position. And that in one of the most sensitive regions on the planet.
