USS Kitty Hawk, Navy's Oldest Active Ship, Leaves Japan to Be Decommissioned

Fox News ^ | May 28, 2008 | Associated Press

[MissouriConservative]

The oldest active ship in the U.S. Navy, the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, made its final departure from Japan on Wednesday to be decommissioned after nearly half a century of service.

*****

The Kitty Hawk, the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier in the Navy, is to be replaced later this summer by the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered carrier. The decommissioning date for the ship is set for Jan. 31.

[MissouriConservative]

Godspeed to you Kitty Hawk. Thank you for your years of valiant service to the cause of freedom and being on the edge of the spear in defense of our country.

I salute you.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

There is a bitter fight going on the scenes, where some want to sell the Kitty Hawk to India, and the pro-China lobbyists are pulling out all the stops to prevent that from happening.

[BGHater]

Any ideas what they are gonna do with it? Turn into a reef or use it for target practice?

[NormsRevenge]

USS KITTY HAWK

Mission Accomplished. ;-)

[arthurus]

My LCDR dad’s best friend in the Navy served on the Kitty Hawk in the sixties and I remember as a 16 year old getting a private tour of the ship in Norfolk when it was the most advanced thing the Navy had.

[EagleUSA]

Another valiant warrior of our time, hangs up its guns. She earned her place in history.

[MissouriConservative]

She could probably serve another decade in the service of India. She could carry on the fight under another flag. Hate to see good warships end like this.

I’m just glad that my favorite, the USS Missouri is watching over the graves of the brave men on the USS Arizona.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

I guess this means they de-commissioned the Prairie?

[Eurale]

The Kitty Hawk appears to be much smaller than, for example, the Ronald Reagan. Does anyone have the size and capacity comparative data?

[NormsRevenge]

USS Kitty Hawk CVA/CV-63 Veterans Association Website
http://www.kittyhawkvets.com/

[Sybeck1]

I read somewhere The Enterprise will be leaving around 2014 or 2015.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

That fly by or fly over kinda looks weird. At first glance hard to tell what is on the deck and what is flying by or perched precariously on the edge.

[ThomasThomas]

Will it make a stop in Hawaii to pick up for one last tiger cruise. It would be a popular one. I spent two weeks on the USS Juneau, From San Diego to Juneau and back with my brother in-law.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Just checked.....Prairie was Decomm. in 93

[Tallguy]

India doesn’t have the fleet infrastructure to support large deck carriers at the present time. Buying the Kitty Hawk is a pipe dream. India would settle for getting the Russians to finish the Gorshkov.

[A.A. Cunningham]

080528-N-7883G-055 YOKOSUKA, Japan (May 28, 2008) The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) departs Yokosuka, Japan for the final time. Kitty Hawk, the oldest carrier in the U.S. Navy and the only conventional-powered aircraft carrier, will be replaced this summer by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kyle D. Gahlau (Released)

[NormsRevenge]

List of US carriers http://www.navy.mil/navydata/ships/carriers/cv-list.asp

[MissouriConservative]

It’s supposed to make a stop in Pearl Harbor, then onto San Diego, it’s former port, and then to Puget Sound for decomissioning.

[MissouriConservative]

She is certainly a beautiful lady, even after all these years.