July 4 marks the 34th anniversary of the commissioning of USS George Washington (CVN 73). Constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding and named after America’s first president, CVN 73 is the sixth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and a symbol of naval strength and shipbuilding excellence.

The ship was christened at NNS on July 21, 1990, and returned for its mid-life refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) in 2017. After being redelivered to the Navy in 2023, the carrier returned to service as the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier in Japan.