Do US Navy Aircraft Carriers Really Have Starbucks On Board?

American service members on active duty have wildly different lifestyles compared to civilians. They adhere to extremely strict schedules, manage long periods of separation from the rest of the world, and often put their lives at risk. This doesn't just demand physical endurance, but also exceptional mental strength.

For aircraft carrier crews, these challenges are amplified by the intense, round-the-clock demands of maintaining what are essentially floating cities. For example, the USS Gerald R. Ford — which is the largest aircraft carrier in the world — is more than a 1,000 feet long and requires roughly 2,600 core crew members to operate effectively.

Normalcy, in a word, is what U.S. service members long for when deployed. This psychological burden can be eased by access to familiar comforts from back home — comforts like Starbucks coffee. But do U.S. aircraft carriers really have Starbucks on board, or is that just another unfounded internet rumor? In reality, the truth is a bit more complicated. Here's what you need to know.

The truth is that there are no Starbucks coffee shops aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, but it's easy to see why this misconception persists.

In 2013, for example, HuffPost reported that Starbucks was "opening shop aboard Navy warship." When you actually read the article, it says that there is a "fully functional new cafe" on the USS Boxer. There are indeed coffee shops aboard some aircraft carriers, and they may really sell Starbucks products, but they're not Starbucks coffee shops. Instead, these coffee shops are operated by Navy personnel. The personnel that operate them are trained by Starbucks itself to ensure the coffee is just as good as what you would find at any Starbucks location across the country.

It is unclear how many U.S. aircraft carriers have coffee shops that sell Starbucks. There appears to be one aboard USS Carl Vinson, as well as aboard USS George H.W. Bush, or at least there was at one point. More recently, the YouTube channel "Military all the way" reported in February 2024 that some U.S. navy aircraft carriers have coffee shops that sell Starbucks coffee.

The bottom line is this: American sailors may not have access to Starbucks coffee shops when aboard an aircraft carrier, but they do have access to Starbucks coffee.