Posted on 05/29/2011 5:36:19 PM PDT by Tatze
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the next Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier will be named the USS John F. Kennedy.
The selection John F. Kennedy, designated CVN 79, honors the 35th President of the United States and pays tribute to his service in the Navy, in the government, and to the nation.
“President John F. Kennedy exemplified the meaning of service, not just to country, but service to all humanity,” said Mabus. “I am honored to have the opportunity to name the next aircraft carrier after this great sailor and inspirational leader, and to keep the rich tradition and history of USS John F. Kennedy sailing in the U.S. Fleet.”
Born in Brookline, Mass., May 29, 1917, Kennedy graduated from Harvard in 1940 and entered the Navy in October 1941.
During World War II, Kennedy took command of PT 109 at Tulagi Island in the Solomons with a mission to intercept Japanese ships attempting to resupply their barges in New Georgia. In the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 1943, Kennedy’s ship was inadvertently struck by an enemy ship and split in half. Over the course of the next six days, Kennedy led his crew members to safety and an eventual rescue. Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for the rescue of his crew and a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained when his ship was struck.
After his military service, Kennedy became a congressman representing the Boston area, he was elected to the Senate in 1953, and in 1961 became the youngest person to be elected president.
One previous ship, the USS John F. Kennedy, CV 67, was named in his honor and was decommissioned in 2007 after nearly 40 years of distinguished service, including Operation Desert Storm.
The USS John F. Kennedy and other Ford-class carriers will be the premier forward asset for crisis response and humanitarian relief and early decisive striking power in a major combat operation. The aircraft carrier and the carrier strike group will provide forward presence, rapid response, endurance on station, and multi-mission capability throughout its 50-year service life.
The USS John F. Kennedy will provide improved warfighting capability, quality of life improvements for sailors and reduced acquisition and life cycle costs. The ship will be constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding, Va., a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
No just the opposite, we removed Pershing missiles from Turkey in exchange for them removing or ceasing the deployment of missiles to Cuba.
Kennedy in no way intimidated Khrushchev.
No, we placed Jupiter missiles in Turkey, then the Soviets decided that they would deploy theirs in Cuba. We objected, the Missile Crisis took place, and both sides removed their missiles.
I remember the live feed of Kruschev beating his shoe on the desk at the UN. JFK made statements.
And we had lots of siren practices and emergency signals on TV.
We ate in the basement for 3 days.
Jupiters.
In my twenty years Navel service I made one deployment on the Forestall, two deployments on the Kennedy and three on the America. Short qual periods on the Enterprise the Constellation and the Kitty Hawk. Was aboard two or three others to pick up or deliver parts.
With one exception, The enterprise, they are all decommissioned or sunk for reef building.
And the Marilyn Monroe would be a bomber. Or rather a pair of bombers. MM-1 and MM-2. OK, MM-L and MM-R.
Thanks for posting that, very good article.
Nope, that'd be bad juju. Invites a collision, dontcha know?
oh, yeah?
Well, EVERY ship I ever deployed on is either a coral reef or razor blades!
and I was on the MAIDEN WESPAC on the USS BElleau Wood, too! Hrumpf!
well, I must admit, i delieverd mail to the Coral Sea in 1980 and delivered BEEER to the Nimitz in 1980, too, and both of them are still afloat...I think...
I don't think the US Navy needs a ship named after someone who is famous because they, > ahem <, sucked.
I think a new Bunker Hill, WASP or Lexington would be nice
I surrender! But DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES call off that bombing run. ;^)
How about an oil skimmer?
we had B-47’s line the runways of the local airport 1.5 miles away. My Dad refused to take me to see the airoplanes because he was afraid of them being bombed while we were there. I said , “So what? If we die, we go to be with Jesus, so, lets go see the airplanes, besides, if they bomb them, we die here anyways.”
“How do you know that?”
I heard them say so on the news, you said we live 1 mile away from the airport, and those bombs destroy everything within 10 -20- miles, so, if we get bombed we die here anyways, so can we go see the airplanes or not?
I was 3 and he was shocked.
Whatever she did, she was pilloried by the left and by the MSM. I thought her sacrifice of her entire adult life on behalf of BJ Clinton wouuld be seen by the left as worthy of naming a ship after her.Maybe a submarine, after all she was a bit of a diver. :-)
I remember the B-47s at Mac Dill.
I’m a little shocked myself. Did he take you to see the planes or not? lol
The earlier poster who suggested USS Lewinski needs to be a sub nailed it.
In fact, it needs to be the lead boat in the next class that is known for going down better than any of the others.
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