USS Kitty Hawk says sayonara

The oldest active ship in the U.S. Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, 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.

After leaving Japan, the Kitty Hawk will make a stop at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and then travel on to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, to be decommissioned.

The ship, commissioned in 1961, became the first forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the Navy when it was assigned to Japan in 1998. It has since made 20 deployments in the western Pacific and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq.

"Since it arrived in August 1998, the Kitty Hawk has been a visible symbol of strength in a rapidly changing world," U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said. "Goodbye Kitty Hawk, hello George Washington."

CNN


I didn't realize she was still in service today. Great ship

Served on the Coral Sea, Ranger and Kitty Hawk as a P/C.
Great boats, better memories.
Sayonara.

Problem is, GW has had a fire, and will not be going to Japan any time soon. It'll be interesting to see how the Navy juggles things due to this unexpected issue.

reply to post by elevatedone

The USS Kitty Hawk was not the first foward deployed, the first forward deployed was the USS Midway. Which was replaced by the USS Independence in 1992 or 93, which was then replaced by the USS Kitty Hawk in 1998. I should know, I was aboard the Indy from 95 to 98.