Sailors reach for a pallet of surplus equipment being unloaded from the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The Kennedy is being decommissioned March 23. (AP Photo/Oscar Sosa)
Posted on 03/23/2007 10:16:17 AM PDT by Paul Ross
Carrier USS Kennedy decommissioned
By RON WORD, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER,
The Seattle Intelligencer, Friday, March 23, 2007.
Sailors reach for a pallet of surplus equipment being unloaded from the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The Kennedy is being decommissioned March 23. (AP Photo/Oscar Sosa)
MAYPORT, Fla. -- Sailors in blue lined the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy on Friday as guns boomed to commemorate the decommissioning of "Big John" after nearly 40 years of service.
Officers gathered in front of a screen displaying a large American flag, and speakers echoed the words of the carrier's namesake, including the famed line from President Kennedy's 1961 inauguration: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
"What a bittersweet day," said Capt. Todd Zecchin, the Kennedy's final commanding officer. "It is a glorious breath of life we've filled the ship with."
The Kennedy was active in both Iraq wars and launched aircraft into hot spots around the globe during its service. At 1,050 feet long, it carried a crew of about 4,600 and 70 combat aircraft.
Lt. Cmdr. Vince U. Webster, the ship's administrative officer, born a month before President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, served two tours on the carrier and asked to come back for the final chapter in the Kennedy's legacy. He said the decommission brought mixed emotions.
"Happy that a lot of sailors on board will have closure so they can move on to their next career, but sad because this great warship will never be under way again," he said.
The warship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year.
Its in-port cabin was designed by the first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, and is the only room on a U.S. Navy ship with wood paneling, officials said. Among its pictures is one showing the president sailing with his daughter.
The cabin will be headed to a Navy museum. The carrier will be towed to Philadelphia, where it will be placed on inactive status.
Chief Petty Officer Aaron Shelenberger, 39, plans to retire shortly after the Kennedy is decommissioned. The Philippines native became a U.S. citizen earlier this month and sang the national anthem at a naturalization ceremony aboard the Kennedy.
"I'm part of history," Shelenberger said. "With the Kennedy, it's special. You are part of the closing of this chapter."
One of two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, the ship supported Operation Desert Shield in Iraq in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
It also supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004, and its airwing dropped more than 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.
The Kennedy, based in Florida since 1995, recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualification. The Navy suspended the ship's flight operations about a year ago, citing faulty landing equipment.
---
On the Net:
USS John F. Kennedy: http://navysite.de/cvn/cv67.htm
Maybe Teddy & Joe Kennedy will get a law passed transferring it to Chavez in return for more reduced cost fuel oil.
Hmmm... I remember watching the launching. but aren't there other carriers in the fleet much older?
ping
Dang! When I heard today that Kennedy was decommissioned, I hoped it was Teddy!
Is that blind "activist" still getting the tour?
IIRC..the Kennedy was originally supposed to be a nuke, but because of some political pressures the Navy was forced, over strenuous objections..to use fossil fuel...had it been a nuke boat, the ship's life would have been far longer..
It's not fair to compare Teddy to his elder brother.
The family was different then.
JFK...the last non-communist Kennedy.....
JFK...the last non-communist Democrat president
I wasn't comparing Teddy to his older brother (whom I consider to be an overrated president). I was comparing Teddy to the boat named after his brother. Both appear to have the ability to float better than an Oldsmobile and both seem to have about the same displacement though the flight deck on the boat is more useful than the "deck" on Teddy.
Kennedy decommissioned - do you have a better picture of the old blubbering tank?
The Navy Brass have said for some time that we should have 15 carriers. But the White House is giving their opinion the tin ear treatment.
"... aren't there carriers in the fleet much older?"
The Enterprise and the Kitty Hawk are older than the Kennedy, and still active as I recall.
The USS Kennedy had a suite near the Captain's quarters for female guests. The head was painted hot pink, and was outfitted with a bidet - the first one (at age 18) I had ever seen. It doesn't seem quite right that the Kennedy is retired before I am!
I think Kitty Hawk and Enterprise are older, with Kitty Hawk the remaining non-nuclear carrier.
I suppose they need to keep one non-nuke available for port calls where the locals are sensitive about such things.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
This is a low volume pinglist.
oh!!!sorry I gave you the wrong picture....
"... aren't there carriers in the fleet much older?"
_______________________________________
The Kitty Hawk (CVA64) and Enterprise (CVN65) are older. Carrier hull numbers denote their age. It represents the year the keel was laid. JFK's sister ship, The America (CVA66), was decommissioned several years ago.
I don't remember reading that before.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.