Posted on 08/30/2008 11:19:33 AM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
Former crew members take part in Kitty Hawk's final voyage
By Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 29, 2008
Gary Jaynes won't forget his first voyage aboard the supercarrier Kitty Hawk, a builder's cruise before the ship's 1961 commissioning in Philadelphia.
“The ship was literally empty,” said Jaynes, 69, who now lives in Cardiff. “We ran into one of the worst storms ever to hit the East Coast. We were rolling around like a cork.”
Nearly half a century later – and 45 years after he left the Navy – he's back aboard the Kitty Hawk for what probably will be its final cruise.
Jaynes was one of 65 Kitty Hawk veterans who joined a shrunken crew of 1,650 yesterday as the ship shoved off from North Island Naval Air Station, the ship's home base for more than three-quarters of its 47-year career.
“It will be very nostalgic for them,” said Capt. Todd Zecchin, the ship's decommissioning skipper. “They're coming back to something they've been away from for a long time.”
The Navy's longest-serving aircraft carrier is headed for Bremerton, Wash., where shipyard workers will strip its useful gear in preparation for long-term storage. The ship is scheduled to be decommissioned early next year.
The Kitty Hawk pulled away from its pier without fanfare: no brass bands, no cheering, no banners and balloons. Just a few misty-eyed veterans waving goodbye. The haze-gray sky matched their somber mood.
“There's a tear running down my cheek,” said retired Rear Adm. Denny Wisely, 67, of Scottsdale, Ariz., a former fighter pilot who launched 350 Vietnam War combat missions during seven years aboard the Kitty Hawk. “You see a ship like this going away, and it's sad.”
Jaynes and the other Kitty Hawk vets expect a bittersweet cruise before the ship reaches Bremerton on Tuesday. The voyage reunites him with two of his closest Navy buddies, Glenn Gipson of San Bernardino and Howie Drourr of Bradenton, Fla.
All three were members of the commissioning crew – “plankowners,” in Navy parlance – who worked together on the ship's surface-to-air missile systems.
“We had a button that controlled the firing of the missiles,” said Gipson, 68. “I was sweating bullets. I didn't want to start World War III.”
The Kitty Hawk originally was supposed to pass through San Diego in early July, but a fire aboard the carrier George Washington – slated to replace the Kitty Hawk in its most recent home port, Yokosuka, Japan – delayed the handoff for two months. After $70 million worth of repairs, the George Washington left for the Far East on Aug. 21.
Even on short notice, the three Navy buddies said they wouldn't have missed this trip.
“When they assured us it was on, my bags were packed, and I was ready to go,” Gipson said.
“It's a chance to recapture our youth,” said Drourr, 67. “We were 20 years old. We didn't understand the historical significance of what we were doing.”
The Kitty Hawk's long-term future isn't clear. A group in Wilmington, N.C., hopes to bring the ship there as a museum piece, like the Midway in San Diego. The 800-member Kitty Hawk Veterans Association is hoping that happens.
“Just looking at her now, she's still a great ship,” said Jerry Warren, 67, of West Seneca, N.Y., the association's vice president. “Just older.”
Steve Liewer: (619) 498-6632; steve.liewer@uniontrib.com
Goodbye to a Great American warship. Kind of a sad moment.
Sad to see such a true warrior finally go home. She was faithful to the end.
It's sad that most Americans, through no fault of their own, don't realize what a wonderful and powerful thing a modern US warship is. It's the people that make them what they are though.
Despite all the whining that comes from our enemies, and not-friends, around the world the simple truth is they know full well just how magnificent the US military is and other than occasional kick in the shin once in a great while they have no stomach for taking it on. I'm convinced that's why they run their mouths as much as they do. Especially the radical Muslims, the more they talk, the less they do.
That first picture is a masterpiece! The layout of the boats against the background looks like a master painting.
Bon Voyage, lady!
I shared the same waters on a few occasions, I was on the Saratoga CV-60. Sad to see these grand ladies go out of service but time goes on and the Navy’s needs change.
The metal of this great ship maybe forged for another purpose, but, the honor and memories live forever.
She's a couple years shy of 50 years old. A long time of service for any carrier conventional or nuke. This is the end of the conventionals. She was the first built in her class of three {KITTY HAWK, CONSTELLATION, & AMERICA} and the last of them to muster out outlasting even the single carrier class JFK. Not a bad record at all.
One of my ships, USS Juneau (LPD-10) recently left Sasebo, Japan for San Diego to be decommed. After that I’m looking at four of the seven ships I was on gone, with another LPD probably following shortly.
She was my home for 4 years and my last seagoing Navy adventure, where I really met my Wife (on dependents day cruise).
Sad to see her go
....in warm, dry weather.
I heard that we offered the Kitty Hawk to India, free, provided they bought new planes for it from the US.
India has had trouble getting a carrier it ordered from Russia (late, and way over cost).
So, the Kitty Hawk may yet sail, just under another name.
Does anyone else remember this?
Hand Salute to a great Lady.
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So long (Kitty Hawk) ago I was on her Maiden Voyage around the Horn of South America.Thank You Lord for all these wonderful years you have given Her and the country She protected.
And I should care why?
The reason the sub surfaced and gave away it’s location is a bigger story. Kitty Hawk does not operate alone.
Have fun with that any way that you want, I was a sub hunter on board Kitty Hawk, the fact that the Sub sailed away speaks volumes to me (since Jimmy Carter was not President)...
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