USS Kitty Hawk CV-63
The second Navy vessel to carry the name Kitty Hawk, the USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 is the very last aircraft carrier in her class, and is still serving proudly today. Built at New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey, the Kitty Hawk CV-63 was commissioned in 1961 at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard with Captain William F. Bringle, a four-star Admiral and Naval commander, aboard. The Kitty Hawk CV-63 carries the distinction of being the vessel with the second-longest active status in the U.S. Navy, and held the position as one of two aircraft carriers to be able to fly the First Navy Jack (a flag that was traditionally flown in the very first years following the establishment of the U.S. as a nation). She is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2009.
In 1961 the Kitty Hawk CV-63 began her service in Brazil, then headed to Chili, Peru and then back to San Diego, where the former Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral George W. Anderson, came aboard in November to view a number of antisubmarine demonstrations. In 1963, the vessel was once again visited by an important U.S. figure when President John F. Kennedy came aboard to watch a carrier task force demonstration right off of the coast of California. President Kennedy later wrote that he was "impressed" during his time aboard the Kitty Hawk CV-63 and credited the vessel with protecting the freedoms of nations all over the world.
The Kitty Hawk CV-63 served during the Vietnam War conflict, providing aircraft off of the coast of North Vietnam. During that time, several more famous Americans came aboard, including Dr. Billy Graham, popular Evangelical Christian preacher who also served as the spiritual advisor for several U.S. presidents, and John Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath. In 1972, while heading towards a station in the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial argument that involved over 100 sailors occurred onboard, and almost half were injured. The brawl led to congressional inquiries into the Navy’s discipline policies.
She continued service during the Vietnam conflict until 1979. In 1980, the Kitty Hawk CV-63 was filmed for a small appearance in the movie The Final Countdown, which starred Charlie Sheen and Kirk Douglas. She made her way to the South Pacific again in 1981 and was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal, as well as the Humanitarian Service Medal after she aided in the rescue of Vietnamese refugees who were stranded in the South China Sea. The vessel also assisted in enforcing the No-Fly Zone over Southern Iraq in 2000, and she also traveled to the North Arabian Sea following the September 11, 2001 attacks to support U.S. forces in Operation Enduring Freedom. Later this year, the ship will be replaced by the USS George Washington and will be decommissioned by the end of January 2009.
The crew aboard the USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 was instrumental in protecting U.S. freedoms and assisting people from nations all over the world, and they obviously faced a great number of dangers, including that of exposure to asbestos while onboard. Asbestos exposure has been linked to the onset of mesothelioma cancer, a fatal disease that has affected countless numbers of Navy vets.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
