USS Gerald R Ford fire, sewage problems expose strain on Trump’s Iran mission

The USS Gerald R Ford was diverted to Crete for repairs, following a fire in the ship’s launderette that burned for more than 30 hours. Photo / Costas Metaxakis, AFP

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 £10 billion ($22.8b), the 100,000-tonne aircraft carrier is the largest and most expensive warship in the world. Its 25 decks carry 4500 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 that 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 problems show that despite Trump’s boasting, the mighty US fleet is vulnerable to the same humdrum glitches as Britain’s – much of which is stuck in docks being repaired. Trump’s opponents, meanwhile, claim it also speaks to a wider malaise.

With 25 decks, 4500 personnel and 75 aircraft, the USS Gerald R Ford is the mightiest warship in the world. Photo / US Navy

“The Ford and its crew have been pushed to the brink after nearly a year at sea,” said Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic vice-chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, on Wednesday. “They have been paying the price for President Donald Trump’s reckless military decisions.”

Certainly, the carrier has been working around the clock in recent weeks, its aircraft mounting multiple daily sorties against Iranian military targets.

So what exactly has happened? Could it really be a case of mutiny in the laundry room? And what does it say about the effect of long deployments – which could soon also loom for other Western navies – if the current Gulf conflict escalates?

Thus far, the Pentagon has declined to say whether any sabotage has taken place, simply stating that the cause of the fire is being investigated. If, however, there is evidence of wilful damage, whoever was responsible will be in very serious trouble.

“You could easily get 20 years in jail for this, especially in a time of conflict,” says Chris Parry, a retired Royal Navy rear-admiral.

The fire erupted in a dryer vent in the laundry last week, leading to one sailor being taken to hospital and two suffering minor injuries. Smoke also spread through the ship’s internal ventilation systems, requiring 200 others to undergo medical checks and leaving several sleeping quarters unusable. As many as 600 personnel are now sleeping in temporary cots and awaiting back-up supplies of clothes. Repairs at a US base in Crete’s Souda Bay are expected to take at least a week.

However, while a Pentagon statement has praised the “resiliency and mental grit” of those on board, morale is reportedly at an ebb because of the ship’s extended deployment and the long-running toilet problems.

The Gerald R Ford first set off from Norfolk, Virginia, in late June, taking part in Nato operations in Europe and the Arctic. It then headed to the Caribbean for Operation Southern Spear – Trump’s “war on narco-terrorism”, which included the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.

In the second week of February, the crew were told they would be home by early March, only to learn soon afterwards that plans had changed, and they were to be redeployed to the Middle East. They have now been warned they may be at sea for a total of 11 months – the longest US naval deployment since Vietnam.

Even the US navy’s high command admits this is far from ideal. Speaking at an event in January, Admiral Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations, said: “I am a big non-fan of extensions … It disrupts things like funerals that were planned, marriages that were planned, babies that were planned.”

Adding to strains on the crew’s personal lives will have been the amount of time the ship has spent “going dark” during active operations, when communications with the outside world are forbidden.

“Sailors are trained to grin and bear it, up to a point,” says Gerry Northwood, a former Royal Navy captain. “For example, ships that went to the Falklands were turned around from other deployments. But it’s never popular and it tests the leadership on board.”

Aggravating matters is the issue with the toilets, or “heads” as they are known in naval language. The term dates from the days of sail, when a vessel’s open-air commodes were always located at the ship’s bow or head, the one place that was always downwind. Today’s conveniences are located within the decks and are rather more comfortable – but not if they block or flood, as has happened repeatedly on the Gerald R Ford.

The ship’s fancy Vacuum Collection, Holding and Transfer sewage system was adapted from civilian cruiser designs, but has not proved suitable for military vessels required to remain at sea for months. Engineers acknowledged as early as 2020 that it was undersized and poorly designed, but cannot replace it without extensive works.

During the current deployment, the sewage system has needed repairs almost every day, with videos purporting to show the ship’s toilet problems circulated on social media. They feature hapless sailors battling jets of “poop soup” spraying from ruptured pipes, and have prompted gleeful japes about Trump’s “Gulf s***storm”.

The Telegraph understands most of the footage is not genuine – although the real-life sewage problems on board have been just as bizarre. America’s National Public Radio (NPR), which obtained correspondence about the ship’s maintenance issues through freedom of information requests, said everything from T-shirts to a 1.2m-long rope had been recovered from the sewage system.

That prompted NPR to point out that the average age on board the carrier is “similar to a college campus”, and it may be that some sailors have frat-house attitudes to match.

But would a disgruntled rating really risk sabotaging the ship in the hope of cutting its tour short?

The fire has also raised the question of whether some might be uneasy with Trump’s mission, given the apparent lack of any game plan if Tehran’s regime falls.

John Cordle, a retired US navy commander, says sailors generally focus on the mission first, and mull wider issues after.

But he adds: “Everything is possible, and on a ship of nearly 5000 people there can always be some bad actors, especially when the crew has been ridden pretty hard. However, if I was a betting person, I’d say the fire was probably an accident. Laundries have lots of heat, electrics and moving parts, and people may have just got so worn out on this tour that they’ve made mistakes.”

Parry points out that moaning about conditions has long been a tradition of military life, and that “if people aren’t complaining, then there’s probably something wrong”. However, commanders are always on the alert for individuals with morale issues, who may pose a threat to the ship’s wider security. One British commander tells the Telegraph that officers even kept an eye out for “phantom s*******”, who leave odious deposits at random locations around the deck. Ostensibly a time-honoured naval prank, it is no longer viewed as a joke.

“If someone is prepared to do something as antisocial as that, then it may suggest they’ve lost the plot,” the commander said.

To that end, most naval ships do their best to keep crews’ spirits up. Royal Navy ships allow sailors to drink alcohol in moderation, and have the Ship’s Operatic And Drama Society, or Sods Opera, a traditional naval revue where crew poke fun at the officer class. US navy ships are largely “dry”, but have dedicated entertainments officers known as “fun bosses” who organise movie nights, bingo, and barbecues on deck, known as “steel beach picnics”. The Gerald R Ford even has a labrador named Sage, a therapy dog who joined the ship in 2023 as a pioneering “operational stress control canine”.

Given how tough naval life used to be in days gone by, a few broken toilets and a prolonged stay at sea may seem nothing much to complain about, especially if it gives sailors a chance to test their combat skills.

According to Cordle, scruples are not something that most sailors will have time for right now. He does, however, say that lousy toilets and long deployments are a serious problem, regardless of how many fun bosses and therapy dogs are on hand.

“Think of how you’d feel if the toilets in your house and office were shut? Just because I’m willing to give my life for my country doesn’t mean I shouldn’t expect a place to pee in and a bed to sleep in. Tours like this seem designed to push sailors’ resilience to the limits.”

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