USS Kitty Hawk (hull number CV-63), formerly CVA-63, was a United States Navy supercarrier. She was the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers' first powered airplane flight. The lead ship of her class, Kitty Hawk was the first of the three s to be commissioned and the last to be decommissioned.
Kitty Hawk was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, on 27 December 1956. The ship was launched on 21 May 1960, sponsored by Mrs. Camilla F. McElroy, wife of Defense Secretary Neil H. McElroy. Kitty Hawk was launched by flooding her drydock; the conventional slide-down method was ruled out because of her mass and the risk that she might hit the Philadelphia shore on the far side of the Delaware River.
The ship was commissioned 29 April 1961, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain William F. Bringle in command.
With the decommissioning of on 30 September 1998, Kitty Hawk became the United States warship with the second-longest active status, after the sailing ship ( passed her in 2012; these two aircraft carriers were two of the three carriers to fly the First Navy Jack).
For ten years, Kitty Hawk was the forward-deployed carrier at Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan. In October 2008, she was replaced in this role by . Kitty Hawk returned to the United States and had her decommissioning ceremony on 31 January 2009. She was officially decommissioned on 12 May 2009 after 48 years of service. Kitty Hawk was replaced by . She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 October 2017, and was designated for disposal by dismantling a few days later. On 15 January 2022 Kitty Hawk left Puget Sound Naval Shipyard under tow en route to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping, arriving there on 31 May 2022.
Service history
1961 to 1964
Following shakedown in the Western Atlantic, Kitty Hawk departed Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia on 11 August 1961. After a brief stop at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she embarked the Secretary of the Brazilian Navy for a demonstration during an exercise at sea with five Brazilian destroyers, the attack carrier rounded Cape Horn on 1 October. She steamed into Valparaíso, Chile, on 13 October and then sailed two days later for Peru, arriving in Callao on 20 October where she entertained the President of Peru. At San Diego, Admiral George W. Anderson, Chief of Naval Operations, landed on her deck 18 November to witness antisubmarine demonstrations by and , a Terrier missile demonstration by and air demonstrations by Kitty Hawk.
Kitty Hawk entered San Francisco Naval Shipyard on 23 November 1961 for alterations. Following operations out of San Diego, she sailed from San Francisco on 13 September 1962. Kitty Hawk joined the United States Seventh Fleet on 7 October 1962, relieving as the flagship.
After participating in the Philippine Republic Aviation Week Air Show, Kitty Hawk steamed out of Manila Harbor on 30 November 1962 and welcomed Admiral Harry D. Felt, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet, for a demonstration of modern naval weapons on 3 December. The ship visited Hong Kong early in December and returned to Japan, arriving at Yokosuka on 2 January 1963.
In conjunction with Commander, Carrier Division Seven, Kitty Hawk carried out several exercises in January and February 1963. On 4 January 1963, Operation Checkertail saw Kitty Hawk and three other attack aircraft carriers launch practice airstrikes against the Okinawa Air Defense Command. From 27 January – 2 February 1963, 'Picture Window III' saw 'foreign aircraft' intercepted and visually identified in the Northern Japan area. Though the official ship's papers released in 2011 do not identify the nationality, the 'foreign aircraft' in question were likely from the Soviet Far Eastern Military District or Soviet Naval Aviation. From 16–19 February 1963, Exercise 'Red Wheel' was conducted around Southern Japan also under the direction of Commander, Carrier Division Seven. It aimed to improve the United States Seventh Fleet's ability to conduct conventional and nuclear warfare while maintaining defense against air and submarine attack. It also aimed to evaluate the capability of 'the HUK [Hunter-Killer] Group' to protect two CVA Task Groups. During these exercises, the ship visited Kobe, Beppu, and Iwakuni before returning to San Diego on 2 April 1963.
On 6 June 1963, President John F. Kennedy, with top civilian and military leaders, boarded Kitty Hawk to witness a carrier task force weapons demonstration off the California coast. Addressing the men of the task group from Kitty Hawk, President Kennedy told them that, as in the past, control of the seas still means security, peace, and ultimate victory. He later wrote to President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek who had witnessed a similar demonstration onboard : "I hope you were impressed as I was, on my visit to Kitty Hawk, with the great force for peace or war, which these mighty carriers and their accompanying escorts provide, helping to preserve the freedom of distant nations in all parts of the world."
An F-4B Phantom II, aircraft no.401, while assigned to VF-114, made the ship's 16,000th trap on 17 August 1963.
Film director John Frankenheimer filmed shots for the movie Seven Days in May on board the vessel in 1963.
Following a series of strike exercises and tactics reaching along the California coast and off Hawaii, Kitty Hawk again sailed for the Far East. While approaching Japan, she learned an assassin had shot President Kennedy. Flags were at half-mast as she entered Sasebo Harbor on 25 November 1963, the day of the President's funeral, and, as senior ship present, she had the sad honor of firing memorial salutes. After cruising the South China Sea and ranging to the Philippines in readiness operations with the 7th Fleet, she returned to San Diego on 20 July 1964.
1965 to 1972
Kitty Hawk was overhauled in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, then trained along the western seaboard. She sailed from San Diego on 19 October 1965, for Hawaii thence to Subic Bay, Philippines, where she prepared for combat operations off the coast of Vietnam.
Kitty Hawk returned to San Diego in June 1966 for overhaul and training until 4 November 1966, when she again deployed to serve in waters of Southeast Asia. Scenes from the 1966 Walt Disney comedy Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. were filmed aboard the warship.
Kitty Hawk arrived at Yokosuka, Japan on 19 November to relieve Constellation as flagship for Rear Admiral David C. Richardson, Commander Task Force 77. On 26 November, Kitty Hawk departed Yokosuka for Yankee Station via Subic Bay. On 5 December, aircraft from Kitty Hawk began their around-the-clock missions over North Vietnam. About this time Kitty Hawk — already accustomed to celebrities as guests – entertained several prominent visitors: William Randolph Hearst Jr.; Bob Considine; Dr. Billy Graham; Nancy Sinatra and John Steinbeck, among others. She remained in the Far East, supporting the U.S. in Southeast Asia until departing Subic Bay on 28 May 1968. Steaming via Japan, the carrier reached San Diego on 19 June and a week later entered the naval shipyard at Long Beach for maintenance. Kitty Hawk returned to San Diego on 25 August and began a rigorous training program to prepare her for future action.
Kitty Hawk was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for exceptionally meritorious and heroic service from 23 December 1967 to 1 June 1968, which included the Tet Offensive, while participating in combat operations in Southeast Asia, and the Navy Unit Meritorious Commendation for exceptionally meritorious service from 15 January 1969 to 27 August 1969 while participating in combat operations in Southeast Asia and contingency operations in Northeast Asia. Both awards noted that the officers and men of the Kitty Hawk displayed undaunted spirit, courage, professionalism, and dedication to maintain their ship as a fighting unit under the most arduous operating conditions to enable her pilots to destroy vital military targets in North Vietnam despite intense opposition and extremely adverse weather conditions.
While on deployment from November 1967 to June 1968, Kitty Hawk experienced a fire in while in port at Subic Bay and went to general quarters for 51 hours. On 16 January 1968 year, a C-1A Trader swerved off the wet deck. Four personnel aboard were lost along with the aircraft and could not be recovered. After a deployment from November 1968 to June 1969, Kitty Hawk returned to San Diego for a month and then went to Puget Sound shipyard in September 1969 for dry dock.
On 12 October 1972 during the Vietnam War, Kitty Hawk was en route to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin when a race riot involving more than 200 sailors broke out. Nearly 50 sailors were injured in this widely publicized incident. This incident spread racial violence to other US Navy ships, such as the aircraft carrier USS Constellation and the replenishment ship USS Hassayampa. Tensions among the crews resulted in a Congressional inquiry into discipline in the Navy.
1973 to 1977 From January through July 1973, Kitty Hawk changed home ports from San Diego to San Francisco. Kitty Hawk moved into dry dock on 14 January 1973. Work began to convert the ship from an attack (CVA) to a multi-mission carrier (CV). The "CV" designation indicated that Kitty Hawk was no longer strictly an attack carrier, in that anti-submarine warfare would also become a major role. Kitty Hawk became the first Pacific Fleet carrier to carry the multi-purpose "CV" designation. The conversion consisted of adding ten new helicopter calibrating stations, installing sonar/sonobuoy readout and analysis center and associated equipment, and changing a large portion of the ship's operating procedures. One of the significant equipment/space changes in the conversion was the addition of the Anti-Submarine Classification and Analysis Center (ASCAC) in the CIC area. ASCAC worked in close conjunction with the anti-submarine warfare aircraft assigned aboard Carrier Air Wing 11. The Engineering Department underwent a significant change in its propulsion plant during the yard period. The Navy Standard Oil (black oil) fuel system was completely converted to Navy Distillate Fuel. The Air Department added several significant changes to the flight deck, including enlarging the jet blast deflectors (JBD) and installing more powerful catapults to handle the new Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which Kitty Hawk was due to receive for its next deployment. Enlarging JBD#1 meant the No. 1 Aircraft Elevator had to be redesigned, making Kitty Hawk the only carrier at the time having an aircraft elevator that tracked from the hangar deck to the flight deck angling out 6°. Kitty Hawk moved out of dry dock on 28 April 1973, and the next day, on her 12th birthday, she was named a Multi-Purpose Aircraft Carrier (CV).