Coronavirus stricken aircraft carrier simulates being at sea in preparation for returning to operations

The simulation, known as a "fast cruise," comes as the Navy continues to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic aboard that ship, recently removing 15 sailors from the aircraft carrier that tested positive for coronavirus after they had been returned to the ship as part of the effort to make the ship operational again.

Despite those setbacks the Navy is proceeding with the simulation.

"During the simulation, or "fast cruise," the crew will simulate normal underway conditions while testing the critical systems required to sustain the ship during its upcoming underway operations," the US Navy's Seventh Fleet said in a statement Sunday.

"Our Sailors have tested all of the ship's systems individually, but this is our opportunity to integrate all of that together and show that Theodore Roosevelt is ready and able to go back to sea," Capt. Carlos Sardiello, the ship's commanding officer, said in a statement.

Sardiello was made captain of the ship after Capt. Brett Crozier was fired for too widely disseminating a warning about the spread of coronavirus among Navy officials.

Crozier's ouster and the circumstances surrounding the outbreak aboard the ship are currently part of a Navy inquiry that is due to be submitted to Navy leadership at the end of the month.

Some 2,900 of the ship's nearly 4,900 complement have returned to the ship.

"Following a successful fast cruise, the ship will commence underway training and carrier qualifications to support the air wing's return to operational readiness. During the underway, the ship will leave Sailors ashore that are not required for these evolutions," the statement said.