Where Aircraft Carriers Were For Iraq War

On April 12, 2003, as Iraqi forces abandoned Mosul, the last major Iraqi city they held, and U.S. Marines closed on Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, the U.S. had six of its twelve active aircraft carriers deployed in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean in connection with the war.

The Nimitz had just arrived in the Gulf to relieve the Abraham Lincoln.

Five more carriers were back in the states for maintenance.

Only one, the Carl Vinson, was in the Pacific.

***

American carrier battle groups constantly prowl the seas, ready to intervene-or intimidate-in conflicts at all times. They usually carry around 80 planes. Aircraft carriers are unable to defend themselves effectively from enemy attack, so they never travel alone. A typical Carrier Strike Group consists of:

The Carrier Strike Group is often accompanied by an Amphibious Ready Group with more ships and helicopters designed to place hundreds or thousands of U.S. Marines ashore quickly.