World’s largest warship sets course for Mallorca: holiday for the 4,500 crew members or NATO exercise?
The USS Gerald R. Ford is expected to arrive in the Bay of Palma on Friday morning (3 October 2025). She will be accompanied by around 4,500 crew members and other crews from the escort boats (destroyers). Holiday or NATO exercise - THAT is the big question.
The largest and most modern warship in the world is to anchor in the bay of Palma for a whole six days. According to the island’s ministry, the crew will also go ashore, which could look like a short holiday for the approximately 4,500 soldiers. Protests have already been announced in advance by the 2 left-wing regional political parties at the harbour.
"Mallorca must not be misused as a backdrop for the threatening behaviour of the superpowers," explained a spokesperson for Més.
Once again, the caterers and traders in the island’s capital are delighted. Everyone hopes that the soldiers will also bring a lot of money into the coffers.
The dimensions of the ship are breathtaking.
337 metres long, a draught of over twelve metres, 4500 marines and 90 aircraft, including F/A-18s and F-35s. The Gerald R. Ford is equipped with state-of-the-art electromagnetic catapults, which enable more launches per day and require fewer crew.
The ship left Norfolk base at the end of June with the task of deterring Iran from attacking Israel. On 13 August, it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, patrolled the Atlantic and has now returned to the Mediterranean. From 3 to 8 October, it will be moored off Palma - escorted by destroyers and a submarine.
Anchoring warships off Mallorca is nothing new
Since the 1950s, US Navy ships have regularly called at the island - initially veterans of the Second World War, later modernised giants of the Essex and Forrestal class. Between 1952 and 2022, around 25 aircraft carriers visited Mallorca around 200 times.
