U.S. Aircraft Carrier Harry S. Truman Is In Coronavirus Limbo Because It Is A 'Clean' Ship

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman transits the Strait of Gibraltar, April 7, 2020.(MC3 Maxwell Higins/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Maxwell Higgins)

Reuters: Exclusive: Too risky to come home, crew of 'clean' U.S. warship in coronavirus limbo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On any given day, the U.S. aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman can be found off the Atlantic coast of the United States, probably somewhere between Virginia and Florida. Its crew would love to come home to their families. But they can’t. They’re just too valuable right now.

That’s because the Truman is a “clean” ship, free from the coronavirus thanks to a longer-than-expected deployment at sea that started in November. The deployment has kept its battle-ready 4,500 crew out of reach of a pandemic that is wreaking havoc elsewhere in the Navy.

Captain Kavon “Hak” Hakimzadeh and members of his crew described to Reuters in exclusive interviews the mixed emotions of being so close to home, but too precious to pull into port, as the Truman settles into a pandemic-driven operational limbo.

“This is a really weird situation for us,” Hakimzadeh told Reuters by phone, the only way to speak to anyone on board given a ban on visitors.

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WNU Editor: This is a unique quarantine bubble.

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