US Navy
One cent apiece – US aircraft carriers on sale
Former crew members were allowed to visit John F. Kennedy CVN 79 for the last time on August 8th.
© Senior Chief Petty Officer Jayme Pastoric, US Navy / Commons
The US Navy sold two old aircraft carriers at once and redeemed two cents for the couple. The two carriers of the Kitty Hawk class are to be scrapped in Texas.
The US Navy has sold two giant aircraft carriers, the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS John F. Kennedy. Both were built in the early 1960s and belong to the Kitty Hawk class. They are over 320 meters long and displace 72,000 tons, and the crew was over 3,000 men. Both porters were taken out of service a long time ago, now their fate has been decided: Both porters will be scrapped. The price of one cent paid by a scrapping company from Texas is, however, extremely low – given the amount of scrap metal. But there should also be contaminated material on board. However, both carriers were not yet equipped with nuclear reactors and were still powered by oil.
Photo gallery ten pictures – US aircraft carriers for only one cent
10 images
End in Texas
Both ships will be brought to Texas, the Kitty Hawk will probably be towed around Cape Horn one last time. However, there is no schedule. It has been known since 2017 that the ships will be scrapped. At the time, the news came as a shock to the former crew members. They had hoped that the porters would be spared the scrap yard. They advocated survival as a museum ship. Aircraft carriers are less suitable than other ships for storage in the reserve fleet. A supply vessel or a combat ship like a frigate can be mothballed more or less fully functional. Even if equipment and electronics are out of date, these ships would still be useful in the event of a conflict. But a carrier is of little use without the aircraft it carries.
Museum plans failed
The Kitty Hawk, nicknamed “Battle Cat”, was retired in 2009 after 48 years. It takes its name from the place where the Wright brothers made their first flight. She took part in the Vietnam and Iraq wars. She was mothballed in the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility for 12 years. The John F. Kennedy was withdrawn from active service two years earlier. There have been attempts to turn it into a museum ship.
The Navy was ready to donate them, but requests were rejected as “unsuitable”. It can be assumed that the initiators who wanted to bring the ship to Florida could not prove the necessary funds that would have been necessary to renovate the carrier and convert it into a museum ship.
In any case, the name USS John F. Kennedy will not go under, the second aircraft carrier of the current Gerald R. Ford class will be named again. The ship is scheduled to go into service in 2024.
Source: USA Today
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