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.
Named after a Navy vet president; OK by me. Surprised it wasn’t sooner.
I fully support naming the ship after JFK. He was a hero. But, today in the WSJ I read a blistering book review about how Kennedy’s inexperience almost got us into nuclear war.
Must read: When Kennedy Blinked ...
“on coming to the end of Frederick Kempe’s molecule-by-molecule deconstruction of the Kennedy reputation for toughness, vigor, smarts and unshakable cool, are more likely to breathe a sigh of relief that civilization somehow survived the confrontation. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704816604576335594159928256.html
That would be a submaerine shaped like an Oldsmobile.
Sooner? The last USS John F Kennedy was just decommissioned in 2007. I have no problem with his name on a carrier, I just wish they had gone with a more historical name this time around.
Kennedy already had a carrier named after him - the disasterous oil burner Jimmy Carter made the Navy build.
Over on DUmmyworld they are complaining that it took 50 years to have a carrier named after JFK
However, I do not see a need to name another carrier after him. It breaks my heart to think that our country's namesake, USS America (CV-66) was towed out to sea and used for Tomahawk practice. This new ship should be named USS America before she is named USS John F. Kennedy.
JFK wound up in PT boats because he was banging a Danish woman correspondent Hoover believed was a Nazi agent. So JFK was transferred from Naval Intelligence [at the behest of Daddy] to the PT boat school down in the Carolinas. Miss Copenhagen followed, the affair resumed and JFK wound up in the Pacific on [surprise] a PT boat.
His first accomplishment as a skipper [which should have been his last], was to destroy a dock. The incident that made him famous started out with the PT 109 as part of a picket line, with ourders to keep both engines idling and one [or two, I forget which] lookouts. Kennedy only had one engine on, and no lookout, which explains how a slower Japanese destroyer could cut his boat in half.
And yes, his actions after the collision were heroic. But if he’d done his job, they wouldn’t have been necessary, and no injury or loss of life probably wouldn’t have taken place.
Throw my bid in for another USS Independence.
OMG, I almost thought you were being facetious. But sure enough, there are several dolts there showing their ignorance.
It must not be forgotten that POTUSA Kennedy bucked the Fed Reserve monopoly on USA money. He had over 200 million dollars of USA Treasury notes printed to serve as legitimate currency exchange for USA citizens and I think backed by USA gold. Obviously the international bankers who are the real power of the misnamed /deceptive named Federal Reserve were upset by his audacity. I still have thoughts that his action caused his demise.
OK but first there must be another “Big E”.
Excellent. Future CVN-82.
Carter had nothing to do it it. USS JOHN F KENNEDY CV-67 had been in service nearly a decade before Peanut entered the White House Commission Date: 09/07/1968 Decommission Date: 08/01/2007
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