| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Farewell to a proud warrior |
| 2007-02-27 |
| USS John F. Kennedy in last visit to Boston The USS John F. Kennedy, the aircraft carrier famously named for the nation's 35th president, launched fighters that shot down two threatening Libyan MiGs over the Mediterranean Sea in 1989. It helped start Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and was among the first warships to respond to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, targeting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. After nearly 40 years of service in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, the majestic steel ship is being decommissioned after making one last port call this week in Massachusetts, native state of its namesake. Along with members of the Kennedy family, other dignitaries, and former sailors, tens of thousands of residents are expected to take a final tour of the 1,052-foot-long carrier, which will dock at the North Jetty in South Boston's Marine Industrial Park from Thursday through Sunday. The public is invited on board over the weekend. On the vessel's last visit to Boston, for two days in May 2005, about 60,000 people lined up as early as 2 a.m. in queues that grew to a half-mile long. After leaving Boston next Monday, the ship is to be officially decommissioned on March 23 and mothballed in Mayport, Fla., its home port. The Navy is retiring the carrier because, unlike other modernized aircraft carriers that run on nuclear power, the USS John F. Kennedy runs on oil. Lieutenant Paul Brawley, a Navy spokesman based in Boston, said the Navy would save $85 million annually by decommissioning the ship. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #9 USN, ret: Any possibility about that India sale? I'm reminded of how the Russians sold China that carrier for them to reverse engineer; and US selling the Kennedy to India would definitely give them a boost in aircraft carrier tech. Or would it? |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-27 22:45 |
| #8 TBH I'm definitely NOT comfortable wid the idea of the Navy sinking warships while the Nation is in a War = War for Survival. Ala CHENEY incidnet yesterday, IMO the US Navy-USDOD gonna be missing the JFK, America, SPRUANCES, and other ships once Radical Islam succeeds in sendng up mushroom clouds over Washington; or anti-US-West "WAR IS DESIRED" Russia-China starting in Year 2014 thru 2020. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-02-27 22:36 |
| #7 Re: Moose: taking the flight deck cert thingy first; when I was @ PAX River, part of our josb was to take several specially instrumented aircraft out with a CV following a yard period, along with a gang of maintenance types and a gaggle of engineers. We then certified the flt deck and all landing aids as well as calibrating the cats. Not a cheap proposition. To help in spreading the costs, we would usually combine several projects in one at sea period. Some rather interesting ones thta really tested the limits of the aircrew and the machines; like deliberately seeing just how slow you could set the catapults to launch an aircraft and still fly, rather than float check it. Unnerving watching the aircraft disappear completely below the level of the flight deck and not see ejection seats appear....JFK is getting long in the tooth and I suspect that, plus being an oil burner vs. nuke had a lot to do with decision to mothball. Regarding comment about knocked up sailorettes: all I can say is that several careers went down the tubes due to nookie. I have no direct experience with shipboard based / caused pregnancies, but i do know that several marriages went mammaries skyward when the rabbit dies.. Regarding the Oriskany: it has a new home, off the coast of Florida; sunk as an artificial reef. Discovery did a superb show on the preparation and sinking. Google up the ship and you should find a link to the event. And don't forget that some time back the USS America CV-66 was deliberately sunk by weapons unknown. Part of a test for damage control and what type of weapons were necessary to do it. results have been held very close, and I would not want to be the one that leaked it to the Slimes. However I am extremely curious as to just what it did take to put her under.... |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2007-02-27 21:58 |
| #6 I'm curious about why the Kennedy is being mothballed, unlike the Oriskany. It would seem that unless the US intends to sell it to India, so that they can reverse-engineer it to make larger carriers for their fleet, then it is an expensive derelict. Several interesting comments: "Originally scheduled to become the fourth KITTY HAWK class carrier, the JFK received so many modifications during construction that she forms her own class." "The Navy initially wanted to decommission the KENNEDY in mid-2005 because the carrier was in bad shape and was in need of expensive repairs that just did not seem to be cost-effective. However, the Congress decided to keep the KENNEDY in service to have a total of 12 active aircraft carriers... Her flight deck is not certified for aircraft operations and the Navy is just waiting to finally decommission the ship." I would be interested in what the more naval oriented Rantburgers would think about the subject. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-27 20:34 |
| #5 correct, JFM |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-02-27 18:04 |
| #4 Didn't a bunch of women get knocked up on the the first coed cruise? knocked up = pregnant? |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-02-27 17:53 |
| #3 Men AND Women tangled on a Warship? What has the Navy become? LOL J/K I lucked out some how on barracks space because with the exception of Korea I rarely had to share a room. Alas I was always in a male only barracks. Been aboard the Carl Vincent and I can't imagine the JFK being more cramped but I guess it was. Didn't a bunch of women get knocked up on the the first coed cruise? |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-02-27 17:26 |
| #2 USN- Tis okay, I lived in the first coed barracks in the USAF. I know EXACTLY what it was like, and we had a lot less room than you did on the JFK. :) Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-02-27 14:48 |
| #1 JFK was the last ship I cruised on before retirement in '97. It was a Med cruise and my first experience at sea with a mixed crew. We didn't call it the Love Boat for nothing.... Constantly chasing tangled couples out of the passageway by my space. Tried to get id cards, yeah, good luck with That!!! And for those USAF types out there, the couples wer of opposite sex. (beat ya to it :)) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-02-27 14:43 |