The $13 Billion Carrier With a Plumbing Problem Is Home. Now Come the Costly Repairs.

After nearly a year at sea with a failing sewage system, the USS Gerald R. Ford has returned to Norfolk and the Navy's most advanced carrier is about to teach the home services industry something about maintenance at scale.

A Ship Came Home With a Broken Sewage System On May 16, 2026, the USS Gerald R. Ford glided into Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, ending a deployment that had stretched to nearly eleven months the longest aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War. The ship carried 4,600 sailors who had spent much of that time dealing with a sewage system that would not stop failing. Now, finally, the carrier is alongside a pier in familiar waters, and the real work begins. The country's newest and most expensive aircraft...