4 decades, still evolving: Inside USS Theodore Roosevelt at RIMPAC 2026 - The Korea Times

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is moored at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, Monday. Korea Times photo by Bahk Eun-ji

HONOLULU — Standing beneath rows of fighter jets on the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), Capt. William Mathis greeted visiting reporters with a smile before introducing the warship in a few simple words.

“This is a floating city.”

The Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier carries about 3,000 sailors assigned to the ship and another 2,000 with Carrier Air Wing 11.

“We go out to sea and we run four and a half acres (1.8 hectares) of sovereign U.S. territory,” Mathis said. “It’s a floating airport, and really it’s a floating city.”