EVERETT, WA – Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released a report outlining why Naval Station Everett (NSE) is the ideal location for future U.S. Navy and Coast Guard homeporting. In the report, Larsen highlights NSE’s location, natural deep-water port, modern infrastructure and new shipyards as unique and vital fits for future Navy and U.S. Coast Guard missions.

“Naval Station Everett is still “the Sailor’s Choice,” but I am working to make it the Pentagon’s Choice,” said Larsen. “For more than twenty years, NSE has played a crucial role in keeping the country safe and protecting U.S. interests worldwide. Everett is ready, willing and able to support more and larger ships. I look forward to continue working with local leaders to make that case to the Navy and the Coast Guard.”

Larsen cited several advantages to NSE as an ideal future homeport for Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels:

• As a natural deep-water port, NSE has no tidal restrictions, bridges or other obstructions between port and the open ocean and does not require dredging to maintain depth.
• The Navy will need every available pier in order to reach its 355-ship goal by 2049. NSE hosted Navy frigates in the past and has the capability to do so in the future.
• NSE is in the center of the Pacific Northwest transportation network.
• Location and ease of access make NSE an ideal location for U.S. Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter Homeporting.

Larsen has long pushed to homeport more Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels at NSE. In 2012, Larsen worked to bring three destroyers to the base and in 2013, pushed the Navy to avoid a gap between retiring frigates and bringing in the new destroyers. In 2015, Larsen supported homeporting three destroyers at the base. Larsen has also continually advocated for the return of the USS Nimitz since it left for Bremerton in 2015.

Conceived as an aircraft carrier homeport, NSE is now home to six Navy destroyers and two U.S. Coast Guard ships. Since its commissioning in 1994, NSE has functioned as one of the country’s premier naval bases and is the most modern base in the Navy. The base has served as the homeport for two aircraft carriers, the USS Abraham Lincoln, from 1997 to 2011 and the USS Nimitz from 2012 to 2015. In 2015, the Navy affected a temporary homeport shift for the Nimitz from NSE to Bremerton to prepare the ship for a planned maintenance period.

Subsequently, Navy planning documents did not return to Nimitz to NSE and did not homeport any other carrier at NSE. This year, Vigor Marine LLC was awarded a contract for long-term repair work on two cruisers, the USS Chosin (CG 65) and USS Cape St. George (CG 71). While the cruisers will be located in Seattle, the crew and families will be homeported in Everett.

With the loss of the carrier mission, Rep. Larsen will continue to engage with local leaders and the Navy to develop strategies to ensure NSE continues to play a vital role in national security.

To read the full report, click here.

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