are the largest weapons ever built. They are overwhelmingly massive when viewed up close, yet when viewed from afar they are just tiny specks on a vast ocean, as you can see in this amazing photo.

The USS Ronald Reagan, pictured above, ended up in Japan due to the previous American nuclear super carrier based there, the USS George Washington, needing a complex refueling and overhaul. This task can only be performed in Norfolk, Virginia and will take four years to accomplish. As such, the USS Ronald Reagan, previously based in San Diego, took up the USS George Washington’s duties in Japan, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt took the USS Ronald Reagan’s place in San Diego. It was a three-way carrier swap, a feat that was logistically incredibly complex to say the least.

The USS Ronald Reagan has been busy since arriving at its , makingand training with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts.

History was made yesterday as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the USS Ronald Reagan…

With the USS George Washington having sailed through the Straits of Magellan at the bottom of South America on her way to Virginia, the USS Ronald Reagan is settling in as the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed carrier and the tip of America’s spear in the Eastern Hemisphere.

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Photos via US Navy