USS Carl Vinson Sea-Ready After Months of Routine Maintenance

After several months of maintenance and modernization and two days of sea trials, the Coronado-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is ready for service again, the Navy has announced.

The carrier, known being the place from which Osama bin Laden was sent to his final resting place in May 2011, was tied up at Naval Air Station North Island Monday after nearly two days of sea trials. The Vinson's last deployment concluded in late May 2012.

Rear Adm. T.K. Shannon, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 1, sent the ship's crew a message posted on the Vinson's Facebook page.

“The hard work demonstrated by Carl Vinson's sailors over these last seven months is greatly appreciated by our strike group, our Navy and our nation,” Shannon wrote. “Your teamwork and collaborative efforts with all fleet and shore support elements truly set a new standard.”

While Shannon did not mention a specific deployment, he noted that “there is no shortage of global demand for our Navy's aircraft carrier fleet.”

The aircraft carrier announced on its Twitter account that it completed months of maintenance and upgrades with testing of its weapons systems for “close-in” combat.

– City News Service contributed to this report.