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CSG ships home for holiday — except 1

SAN DIEGO — The nuclear carrier Ronald Reagan and most of its strike group are heading home to San Diego on the tail end of a six-month deployment, just in time for Thanksgiving. But one ship will miss the holiday.

More than 5,500 sailors with the carrier and four ships of the Reagan Expeditionary Strike Group, led by Carrier Strike Group 7, will return to San Diego on Tuesday, 3rd Fleet officials said Friday. But the crew of the destroyer Howard, which also deployed with the strike group, will have to delay their turkey dinner plans.

Problems with the controllable pitch propeller system forced the ship to slow down in the transit home, officials said in a statement in a response to a question from Navy Times.

The ship is expected to return Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving, officials said. The problem stems from what officials said was “a degradation” in the system. Howard will stop to refuel in Hawaii before continuing on to San Diego.

During its deployment, the strike group provided critical air logistics support and humanitarian assistance to the Philippines, which had been devastated in July by Typhoon Fengshen. The strike group’s helicopters delivered more than 519,000 pounds of fresh water, rice and medical supplies to the region around Panay, officials said.

Carrier Air Wing 14’s C-2A Greyhound airplanes also helped in hauling medical supplies, food and water. In late August, operating in the Persian Gulf region, the strike group’s tactical aircraft flew more than 1,150 missions over Afghanistan supporting ground troops, officials said.

The strike group’s warships joined in maritime security patrols and operations in the region as part of Task Force 50. On Oct. 27, while at sea, the carrier strike group commander, Rear Adm. James “Phil” Wisecup, handed over command of CSG-7 to Rear Adm. Scott Hebner. Wisecup will become president of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. The air wing includes Strike Fighter Squadrons 22, 25, 113 and 115; Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113; Electronic Attack Squadron 139; Carrier Logistics Support Squadron 30; and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4.

Also Tuesday morning, the cruiser Chancellorsville, frigate Thach and destroyers Decatur and Gridley will slide into their berths at San Diego Naval Base, officials said.