US Navy turns aircraft carrier into $5B floating car transport with sweet rides and surprising choices

The aircraft carrier has long served as the backbone of the US Navy.

The service currently boasts 11 aircraft carriers, compared to the three of China and Russia’s sole offering.

That being said, the US Navy has shown its ingenuity with its fleet in the recent past.

And it did just that by converting one of its carriers into a car transport.

DISCOVER SBX CARS – Bid now on supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie

US aircraft carrier becomes flagship

The USS Ronald Reagan is a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

First ordered in 1994, the Ronald Reagan cost $4.5 billion to build.

It got its first commission in 2003, and since then the aircraft carrier has made multiple deployments abroad.

The ship’s first deployment came in the Persian Gulf in 2006, supporting engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ship, of course, bears the name of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

In October 2015, it replaced the USS George Washington as the Navy’s flagship.

Specifically, it became the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, which is based in Yokosuka, Japan.

USS Ronald Reagan briefly becomes car transport

We recently covered cars and the US Navy, because a car was found in the wreckage of the USS Yorktown.

Thankfully, though, this story doesn’t involve a legendary ship that’s been sunk.

But, it does still involve cars – albeit in a similar fashion to the Yorktown over 80 years ago.

Back in October 2020, the USS Ronald Reagan was switching home ports, from Bremerton in Washington to San Diego, California.

This was just prior to being deployed, as the forward-based carrier to Japan.

So the commanding officers decided to help out the crew along the way, by bringing their cars for them.

The aircraft carrier was mostly empty, because none of the air wing was being transported at that time.

So, the sailors and crew onboard got an entire aircraft carrier to themselves – as well as their cars.

The crew also had pretty excellent taste in cars, too.

From the photos – big thanks to Communications Specialists 3rd Class Charles D. Gaddis IV and Shawn J. Stewart – we can see:

A plethora of very cool trucks, which appear to be extremely popular with those currently serving.

We also spotted a very cool – and underrated – Audi TT, and a Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Thankfully, the cars were all clamped down to avoid any damage as they made their journey across the water.

It appears that cars and the United States Navy are more closely linked than we ever thought.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie