Aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia today

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Henry J. Holcomb

[Robe]

The ship, which entered service in 1968, was modernized at a cost of $600 million as the last project of the old Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in the mid-1990s. It was decommissioned in August.

Am I the only one to see something wrong with that bit?

Not only that but she underwent a $300Mil workover in 2003... must have cost a bundle to keep her running, too bad you can't convert her to a nuc....

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The JFK had some many modifications from the time her keel was laid till the time she sailed that she became a class of her own. A review of her history shows numerous fires in port and at sea.

[magslinger]

Did you have your wife and five kids with you?

A VNAF Major landed a Birddog with his family aboard the Midway during the evacuation of Saigon.

[PAR35]

Enterprise was the first nuclear carrier, built in 1965.

Need to brush up on that Google. The Big E was launched in 1960, and commissioned in 1961. (Laid down in early 1958). Yes, parts of the carrier celebrate their 40th birthday this year.

The Kennedy was always problematical, and it ruined several careers.

[spanalot]

F Kennedy - he gave away our bases in Turkey in the 60’s and just think how much that has cost us!

[Joe Boucher]

A guy at the airpark I live at has a bird dog.
He’s going to sell it when he completes his new legend cub.

Bird dog is getting very tired and I think he’s a little apprehensive of it at this point.

[lowbuck]

True, so true!

Many, many years ago I took a last walk through a USN ship I had sailed on for a couple of years. The next day she was going to be decommissioned. It felt like a tomb as I walked through it. It was almost as if it had died and it's soul had departed.

I can imagine sleeping on the JFK in winter under tow with all the ghosts wondering about.

[19th LA Inf]

I would like to recommend to all CV lovers the greatest novel about the life and near-death of a carrier. Check out “Hero Ship” by Hank Searls. He was on a different ship at Okinawa and witnessed the fight to save USS Franklin. A lot of that went into the climax of the novel.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I’ll defer to your superior knowledge on this issue. 1960 seems awfully early.

[PAR35]

http://www.enterprise.navy.mil/About_the_Big_E.htm

http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/surface.htm#cv

The Enterprise was based on contemporary conventional carriers, with 8 submarine reactors substituted for the conventional boilers.

On the other hand, Kennedy was supposed to be nuclear with what has become a more standard reactor setup, but the idiots in the White House decided to make it conventional.

Both the Kennedy and the Enterprise completed major overhauls in 1995.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Need to brush up on that Google. The Big E was launched in 1960, and commissioned in 1961. (Laid down in early 1958). Yes, parts of the carrier celebrate their 40th birthday this year.

Need to brush up on that math. Parts of the carrier celebrate their 50th birthday this year.

[A.A. Cunningham]

080322-G-7444G-006 PHILADELPHIA (March 22, 2007) The decommissioned aircraft carrier EX-John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is towed Saturday, March 22, 2008 into the Port of Philadelphia, Penn. to join other decommissioned ships at the Navy Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ann Marie Gorden (Released)

080322-G-7444G-005 PHILADELPHIA (March 22, 2007) The decommissioned aircraft carrier EX-John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is towed Saturday, March 22, 2008 into the Port of Philadelphia, Penn. to join other decommissioned ships at the Navy Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility. Kennedy was commissioned in May 1967 by the late President John F. Kennedy's 9-year-old daughter Caroline. The 1,050-foot-long carrier served nearly 40 years and saw combat action in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and the war on Terrorism. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ann Marie Gorden (Released)

080322-G-7444G-003.jpg PHILADELPHIA (March 22, 2007) The decommissioned aircraft carrier EX-John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is towed Saturday, March 22, 2008 into the Port of Philadelphia, Penn. to join other decommissioned ships at the Navy Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility. Kennedy was commissioned in May 1967 by the late President John F. Kennedy's 9-year-old daughter Caroline. The 1,050-foot-long carrier served nearly 40 years and saw combat action in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and the war on Terrorism. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ann Marie Gorden (Released)

080322-G-7444G-001 PHILADELPHIA (March 22, 2007) The decommissioned aircraft carrier EX-John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is towed Saturday, March 22, 2008 into the Port of Philadelphia, Penn. to join other decommissioned ships at the Navy Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility. Kennedy was commissioned in May 1967 by the late President John F. Kennedy's 9-year-old daughter Caroline. The 1,050-foot-long carrier served nearly 40 years and saw combat action in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and the war on Terrorism. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ann Marie Gorden (Released)

[PAR35]

You are correct.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

What’s with the 2007/2008 dates on the photos ?

[A.A. Cunningham]

You’d have to ask whoever wrote the caption and their editor.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Its a consistent mistake, at least.

[PAR35]

Because no one uses competent copy editors any more. They rely on spell checkers and computers.