America’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is pulling away from the Middle East region as it nears a record-long deployment and after it suffered a major fire which damaged living quarters and other areas. Bloomberg reports in a fresh update Wednesday, “The US Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier is retreating from the Red Sea after a fire broke out in its laundry room, scuttling plans for the 100,000-ton nuclear-powered vessel to project power in the war with Iran.” It is planning to temporarily pull back into Crete in the southern Mediterranean, and hopefully outside the reach of Iran’s feared long-range ballistic missiles. The Ford had already docked there in late February after being called from Caribbean operations into the CENTCOM region of responsibility. “Following the incident, which left at least two of the ship’s 4,000 crew members with non-life-threatening injuries, the USS Gerald R. Ford will travel to the Greek island of Crete, according to a US official familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg continues. Bloomberg concludes, “The incident underscores how even the Navy’s most advanced assets are under strain as the US expands its military endeavors. The Ford — the most expensive warship ever built — has spent months […]