USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63 / CV-63)

History of USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63 / CV-63)

The USS Kitty Hawk traveled the world, supporting U.S. military operations and building relationships, completing numerous exercises, and participating in the Vietnam War and future invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. After nearly 50 years of service, the U.S.

Navy decommissioned the Kitty Hawk and placed it in reserve status, replacing it with a newer, more powerful supercarrier. The ship has proven itself on the voyage and is one of the best of its kind in U.S. naval history.

USS Kitty Hawk was ordered 1 October 1955 and built on 27 December 1956 by the New York Shipbuilding Company. She was launched on May 21, 1960, and officially commissioned on April 29, 1961, with Captain William F. Bollinger at the helm. The ship's official homeport is at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, but there is also plenty of activity in San Diego, while also operating off the coast of the Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan.

Kitty Hawk was eventually replaced by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington before returning to the United States for decommissioning in late 2008. Known by the nickname "Sh@tty Kitty," the Kitty Hawk was the second U.S.

Navy ship to bear his name, North Carolina - the site of the Wright Brothers' first manned flight.

Returning to Battle Group Bravo in July 1985, Kitty Hawk received more recognition for her level of operational quality - a direct testament to her crew and senior officers. During the thousands of hours that aircraft were regularly launched and recovered, not a single employee was fatally injured. On January 3, 1987, Kitty Hawk set sail for a six-month circumnavigation.

Upon her return, she was modernized at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on the US East Coast as part of the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), where she arrived on July 3. On August 2nd, she was ready again, followed by other awards, including a black "E." She joined the Argentine Naval Air Force for exercises in December 1991, circling the Horn of South America on her way back to Santiago. In November 1992, Kitty Hawk was deployed to the Western Pacific and spent over a week supporting U.S. naval forces in Somalia during Operation Restoring Hope.

In December, the ship was called to the Persian Gulf to enforce UN sanctions on Iraq, and in January 1993 took part in offensive operations against southern targets. Beginning in mid-1994, Kitty Hawk was deployed in the waters of the Far East to deter North Korean action.

She completed her 18th deployment in October 1996, when she completed her voyage back to San Diego for another overhaul.

In 1998, Kitty Hawk succeeded USS Independence as the forward-deployed aircraft carrier and was based in Yokosuka, Japan. In March, the Kitty Hawk returned to the Persian Gulf region to enforce Iraqi repeated violations of the southern no-fly zone. She then returned to Japan and established relationships in Australia and Thailand. More exercises followed, including joint operations with Singapore and Thailand.

She was the first aircraft carrier to dock at Changi Terminal in Singapore. On June 11, 2001, Kitty Hawk celebrated its 40th anniversary and finally returned to Yokosuka for another joint exercise with the Australian and Canadian navies.

In October, during a resupply operation at sea, two Russian planes flew over the carrier in a shallow channel about 200 feet above the carrier.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States, the Kitty Hawk was deployed to the Arabian Sea to support operations related to Operation Enduring Freedom to overthrow the terrorist-backed Taliban government in Afghanistan. In 2003, Kitty Hawk, who was on standby in the global war on terror, recalled her to Iraq, first enforcing the southern no-fly zone in Operation Southern Watch, and then supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq through Operation Iraqi Freedom. In March 2008, Kitty Hawk ended its service in the Pacific Ocean and left Japan for the last time.

The USS George Washington took her place early.

USS Kitty Hawk was withdrawn from active U.S. Navy service on January 31, 2009, and officially retired on May 12, 2009. CV-64), USS America (CV-66), and USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) - Kitty Hawk itself was the first of the group to come on line and the last to remain in service, which became in 1998 When the USS Independence was decommissioned, it was the second longest ship in the U.S.

Navy after the Constitution. The USS Kitty Hawk has officially been replaced in the U.S. Navy inventory by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush (CVN-77), the tenth and final ship in Nimitz's powerful family of supercarriers.

The US Navy intends to keep Kitty Hawk until 2015. Kitty Hawk's future is uncertain as the USS Gerald R. Ford enters service. Wilmington, North Carolina, is a frontrunner in preserving the aircraft carrier as a floating museum alongside the WWII battleship USS North Carolina.

October 2017 - The US Navy decides to dismantle and scrap the USS Kitty Hawk. She was removed from the Naval Register on October 20, 2017, in case of emergency.

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