The ship departed for an Asian deployment on 2 February 2011 . On 11 March 2011 , '' Ronald Reagan '' was in the Korean peninsula region for a long-planned exercise off Korea , but was redirected towards Japan to provide support after the massive 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . The ship , stationed off Sendai , served as a refueling station for Japanese coast guard and military helicopters on relief missions in the area . US Navy helicopters also flew relief missions from the carrier . On 13 March 2011 , the ship measured 0.6 mR/hr direct gamma shine from clouds 130 miles ( ≈ 210 km ) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant . Members of the crew blamed their cancers on the event . On 14 March 2011 , the ship was forced to relocate to avoid a radioactive plume from the Fukushima I nuclear accidents which had contaminated 17 crew members of three helicopter crews . On 23 March , '' Ronald Reagan '' s crew performed radiation decontamination by scrubbing down any surface that could have been contaminated , including the island superstructure and flight deck , to remove any potential radiation hazards . On 4 April 2011 , Japan 's minister of defense , Toshimi Kitazawa , accompanied by US ambassador to Japan John Roos , visited the ship to thank the crew for their assistance as part of Operation Tomodachi . Said Kitazawa , " I have never been more encouraged by and proud of the fact that the United States is our ally . " The ship returned to San Diego on 8 September 2011 . In January 2011 , the Navy announced that the aircraft carrier would be transferred to the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard in Bremerton , Washington , for scheduled repair and maintenance beginning January 2012
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
USS Ronald Reagan