“Choppy waters” as virus strikes aircraft carrier

The Navy, the military service hit hardest by the coronavirus, scrambled Friday to contain its first at-sea outbreak, with at least two dozen infected aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of 11 active aircraft carriers whose mission is central to the Pentagon’s strategy for deterring war with China and Iran.

The Roosevelt and its contingent of warplanes may be sidelined for days, sitting pier-side in Guam as the entire crew — more than 5,000 — is tested. Navy leaders say the carrier could return to duty at any time if required, but the sudden setback is seen as a harbinger of trouble to come.

“The Navy is headed into choppy waters in terms of readiness in the months ahead,” says retired Adm. James Stavridis, a former ship commander who rose to become NATO’s top commander in Europe.

In Asia, a carrier presence is central to what the Pentagon has identified as a fundamental shift from fighting insurgent and extremist conflicts in the Middle East to a return to “great power competition.” That means, principally, a bigger focus on China, including its militarization of disputed areas of the South China Sea.

The carrier is, as other Navy ships are, vulnerable to the spread of infectious diseases, given its close quarters. The massive ship is more than 1,000 feet long; sailors are spread across a labyrinth of decks linked by steep ladder-like stairs and narrow corridors. Enlisted sailors and officers have separate living quarters, but they routinely grab their food from crowded buffet lines and eat at tables joined end to end.

Stavridis fears that sleeping quarters, where a dozen sailors are often packed into spaces not much larger than an average kitchen, will become “birthing compartments” for the virus.

Although the Navy is much smaller than the Army, it accounts for at least one-third of all reported COVID-19 cases in the military. None has been reported among submarine crews.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. John Aquilino, said in an Associated Press interview late Thursday that it’s not clear how long the Roosevelt will be kept in Guam and that its schedule will be adjusted “as needed.” He said no infected sailor is a “critical health risk” but some have been hospitalized.

“We’re clearly interested in ensuring that the ship and the crew are healthy” said Aquilino, speaking from his Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, base. “But let there be no doubt the ship’s ready to respond if needed.” He said worried family members at home should know that everything possible is being done for crew safety.

Family members of Roosevelt sailors have been reaching out to each other on social media. Expressing shock and anxiety, they alternately worried about their family members on the ship and their children at home.