Image Credit: Anadolu / Contributor / Getty Images 
Federal law-enforcement officers have initiated an investigation into the fire that forced the USS Gerald R. Ford to retreat from combat operations against Iran earlier this month.
A fire broke out aboard the aircraft carrier on 12 March, while it was supporting joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury.
The carrier was forced to leave the Red Sea to undergo repairs, arriving at Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Greece on 23 March.
The ship has since left Greece after repairs were completed and has relocated to the Croatian city of Split.
On Saturday, the 6th Fleet revealed that military and federal law-enforcement officers are investigating the fire, which originated in the carrier’s laundry rooms.
So far, investigators have not revealed whether deliberate arson is suspected.
In 2020, a sailor was charged in connection with a fire that broke out on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship.
The sailor was acquitted, and the vessel was scrapped.
Prior to recent operations in the Gulf, the Gerald R. Ford was in the Caribbean, supporting strikes on local drug traffickers and the US raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The carrier was sent to the Gulf along with the USS Abraham Lincoln, another carrier, and its strike group in the weeks before Operation Epic Fury began.
On Friday, an amphibious assault group, led by the USS Tripoli, arrived in the US Central Command area of operations, in preparation for a potential ground invasion of Iran.
Around 3,500 sailors and Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are aboard the Tripoli.
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