BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — The Navy says the USS Stennis will arrive at its Bremerton home port on Friday, after a seven-month deployment in which it launched planes into Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lt. Cmdr. Cindy Fields says aircraft carrier is expected to dock at 11:30 a.m.
The carrier left San Diego on Tuesday, after dropping off its air wing, including a Prowler squadron, VAQ 133 for Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.
The Kitsap Sun reports (http://is.gd/hzxUG90 ) the Stennis is carrying more than 500 family members and friends on what’s known as a Tiger cruise.
During the deployment a plane from the Stennis flew the last Navy air mission over Iraq in December. In January, the Stennis brig held 15 pirates who had seized an Iranian fishing boat in the northern Arabian Sea.