Did Exhausted Sailors Set Fire to USS Gerald R Ford?
21st March 2026
When Donald Trump boasts that America’s military is bigger and better than anyone else’s in Nato, he can point to the USS Gerald R Ford. Costing nearly £10bn, the 100,000-tonne aircraft carrier is the largest and most expensive warship in the world. Its 25 decks carry 4,500 personnel and 75 aircraft, allowing it to project US air and sea power anywhere in the world.
It does, however, appear to have a weak spot: its laundry and toilet facilities. Having been sent to the Red Sea to act as a launch platform for Trump’s bombing campaign against Iran, it has now been diverted to Crete for repairs, following a fire in the ship’s launderette which raged for more than 30 hours before it was extinguished.
There are also reports that sabotage may have been involved – not by Iranian undercover operatives, but by crew members disgruntled that their standard six-month tour of duty has been extended for the Gulf operation. To make matters worse, the ship’s toilets have been constantly breaking down and clogging up with sewage.
The U.S. needs more carriers, and can’t afford to build more gold-plated crap like the Ford.