USS JohnF Kennedy

[SuperScout]

This might qualify as the ultimate WTF question series: if the flight deck of the USS Kennedy have become so deteriorated so as to have landings prohibited on her (1) why was this degradation allowed to occur (2) don't carrier captains talk to one another (3) is similar deterioration occurring on other carriers, and finally (4) how can she be called a carrier if aircraft can't land on her?

[Boats]

I don't think they take the time out to dry dock them and make the needed repairs. They are needed on the line and the degradation only gets worse each year.

Planes really tear up the deck each time they land. I know my old ship had to have a complete overhaul on the deck every couple years.

These carriers are spread pretty thin and are the major work horses of the fleet next to submarines. This doesn't give them the time to do the repairs they need.

I would also think that the monies needed and the time they would have to be down were some of the factors that wore them out quicker than normal?

[SparrowHawk62]

Mar 23, 11:49 AM EDT
Carrier USS Kennedy decommissioned
By RON WORD Associated Press Writer

MAYPORT, Fla. (AP) -- Sailors in blue lined the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy on Friday as guns boomed to commemorate the decommissioning of "Big John" after nearly 40 years of service.

Officers gathered in front of a screen displaying a large American flag, and speakers echoed the words of the carrier's namesake, including the famed line from President Kennedy's 1961 inauguration: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

"What a bittersweet day," said Capt. Todd Zecchin, the Kennedy's final commanding officer. "It is a glorious breath of life we've filled the ship with."

The Kennedy was active in both Iraq wars and launched aircraft into hot spots around the globe during its service. At 1,050 feet long, it carried a crew of about 4,600 and 70 combat aircraft.

Lt. Cmdr. Vince U. Webster, the ship's administrative officer, born a month before President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, served two tours on the carrier and asked to come back for the final chapter in the Kennedy's legacy. He said the decommission brought mixed emotions.

"Happy that a lot of sailors on board will have closure so they can move on to their next career, but sad because this great warship will never be under way again," he said.

The warship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year.

Its in-port cabin was designed by the first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, and is the only room on a U.S. Navy ship with wood paneling, officials said. Among its pictures is one showing the president sailing with his daughter.

The cabin will be headed to a Navy museum. The carrier will be towed to Philadelphia, where it will be placed on inactive status.

Chief Petty Officer Aaron Shelenberger, 39, plans to retire shortly after the Kennedy is decommissioned. The Philippines native became a U.S. citizen earlier this month and sang the national anthem at a naturalization ceremony aboard the Kennedy.

"I'm part of history," Shelenberger said. "With the Kennedy, it's special. You are part of the closing of this chapter."

One of two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, the ship supported Operation Desert Shield in Iraq in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

It also supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004, and its airwing dropped more than 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.

The Kennedy, based in Florida since 1995, recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualification. The Navy suspended the ship's flight operations about a year ago, citing faulty landing equipment.

[Robert Ryan]

Another "Fighting Lady" retires after giving 40 of service to her country in a Navy that has never failed its country.

[SparrowHawk62]

Originally posted by Robert Ryan Another "Fighting Lady" retires after giving 40 of service to her country in a Navy that has never failed its country.

Yeah, it's a shame she's now gone. Last saw during Fleet Week in NYC. She did look a bit worn and tired, still it's sad to know that a one of a kind ship is no longer sailing.

[SparrowHawk62]

While I'm not a big fan on saving this ship, there is an effort underway to do so. I really do think her final resting place should be up in New England. Either Boston Harbor or Battle Ship Cove in Fall River Mass.

http://savethejfk.com/index.php JFK CV-67 Memorial Foundation, Inc.

[SparrowHawk62]

MASS COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS ELIZABETH WILLIAMS / NAVY

Retired businessman Paul Troxell hopes to turn the decommissioned carrier JFK into an interactive museum in downtown Miami or Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Group has big plans for JFK carrier museum

By Mark D. Faram -
Staff writer
Sunday December 9, 2007


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Finally, somebody wants the aircraft carrier formerly known as the John F. Kennedy.The Navy decided it didn't want the ship anymore and spent two years convincing Congress to let it go.Once decommissioned, the ship was to go to Philadelphia to be maintained in a ready state until the next new carrier hits the fleet.But that was a no-go.

The slip where the JFK was to spend its retirement was not dredged deep enough to accommodate the 38-year old, 82,000-ton, 1,052-foot-long ship, so now it languishes in Norfolk, a few piers down from where today's operating carriers come and go.Now, it seems, people do want the Kennedy, and they were here in Florida the whole time.

If retired businessman Paul Troxell has his way, the JFK will eventually become a tourist attraction in downtown Miami, or Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Troxell, a Boston native, originally investigated taking the ship to Beantown once the Navy retired it, but decided the weather would make it a tough sell to tourists and even tougher to maintain, so he turned his sights closer to home in South Florida.

We think either location will work just fine,said Rick Hoffman, a retired Navy surface warfare officer who is serving as a consultant to Troxell's organization, the newly formed JFK Memorial Foundation, and its companion Web site, www.savetheJFK.com.The foundation has also enlisted the help of retired Vice Adm. Diego Hernandez, the Kennedy's tenth skipper and a Miami resident, to help pave the way.

Hernandez hopes to energize the ship's estimated 500,000 alumni in the effort to save the ship and make it a profitable business venture.The group is modeling much of its plan and hope for success on the USS Midway Museum, which has become a fixture on the San Diego waterfront in the past few years, as well as profitable one, netting a $14 million profit in 2006, according to the museum.

Organizers want the Kennedy to be an interactive museum, a learning center that would highlight not just the ship, but its presidential namesake as well a fact that foundation officials see as key to selling this idea to the public. Many people will come just to see a Navy super carrier, they say, but hope many more would show up to visit something named for John F. Kennedy.

Troxell says he has sunk about $300,000 of his own money into developing the business plan, which includes an innovative idea to keep the ship safe from the hurricanes that regularly batter Florida's coasts.The plan calls for the building of a massive concrete basin around the ship's berth.

Heavy steel beams would be sunk deep in the concrete and the ship would be welded to the beams, essentially making it a waterborne building, capable of withstanding heavy seas without damaging the ship or the adjacent pier.

Another novel way to preserve the carrier would be to fill its basin with fresh water, thus reducing much of the wear and tear caused by saltwater on the ship's hull. Along with giving the appearance that ship is still floating, Troxell hopes the clear water of the basin could become a diving attraction, allowing sport divers to swim beneath the hull and view the ship's massive screws.

But the Kennedy isn't yet available for donation from the Navy. It's tied to the pier in Norfolk, Va. by mooring lines and to the Navy by Congressional ruling.According to language in the 2007 Defense Budget, the Navy must maintain the Kennedy in a state in which it could be activated in a national emergency, if needed, before the new Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier George H.W. Bush is ready to join the fleet in 2009.Troxell and his associates say they can wait.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)

[Robert Ryan]

I hope it is true, it would be great to see the Kennedy as a Museum.

[SparrowHawk62]

NORFOLK, VA -- The retired aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy is finally on its way to a storage yard in Philadelphia after an unplanned 8-month stay in Virginia.

The Navy says a tugboat is now towing the decommissioned ship along the eastern US coast, and Big John will be tied up in storage by the end of the week.

Big John will remain there, mothballed, until the Navy decides on future plans for the ship, which range from being sold, scrapped, or used for some other purpose. A group with ties to the First Coast wants to turn the ship into a museum in Miami.

The Kennedy was retired during a ceremony at Naval Station Mayport almost exactly one year ago, on March 23, 2007 after 38 years of service.

Initial plans to tow the ship directly from Mayport to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in South Philadelphia were put on hold in July 2007 after concerns were raised over whether the water at the pier where JFK was planned to tie up was too shallow.

While the Navy dredged the area around that pier, the Kennedy was taken to Norfolk, Virginia and tied up at a pier not far from where the ship was built in the 1960's.

The Kennedy is expected to arrive in Philadelphia on March 20.

[SparrowHawk62]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/lo...d=032308115438



MICHAEL S. WIRTZ / Inquirer Staff Photographer

Tugboats maneuver the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy into place at the Navy Yard. Though the base has been closed for more than a decade, the site is the only East Coast storage facility for deep- water warships. It was a homecoming of sorts for the ship known as "Big John" - in 1993, it arrived for what became the last project of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Story and more photos, B8.
More images http://www.philly.com/philly/gallery...are_River.html

Sea monster wows crowds along the Delaware River

By Henry J. Holcomb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Sunday, March 23, 2008

The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy was towed up the Delaware River yesterday, drawing crowds to waterfront parks and stopping cars on busy I-95."Everybody was pulling over and taking pictures, then they would get back in, as I did, and drive a few blocks and pull over again," said Stephanie Peditto, a Department of Homeland Security employee.

She came to see the carrier's arrival out of a deep interest in President Kennedy that led to fascination with the ship named in his honor when it was launched in 1967.The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard has been closed for about a dozen years, but the site remains the only storage facility for inactive deep-water warships on the East Coast; 93 workers maintain the mothballed fleet.

"Big John," as the Kennedy is called, with its 4.6-acre flight deck and six-tugboat escort, was an eye-catching sight coming up the river. Its journey was a complex task for maritime agencies and companies.Shortly after 3 p.m., as the Kennedy eased alongside Pier 4 at the Navy Yard, Capt. Dave Scott, Coast Guard commander for this region, relaxed for the first time in weeks.

Scott and Capt. Michael J. Linton, president of the Pilots' Association for the Bay and River Delaware, have been planning the big ship's move for 18 months.It took 18 hours to tow the Kennedy across the bay and up the river - more than twice what's required by a cargo ship under its own power.

And the long trip had to be coordinated with other traffic on the river to minimize the risk of delays or accidents."A lot of people don't realize how important this river is to the nation's economy," Scott said, adding that the river is among the busiest oil ports and where most fresh winter fruit eaten in the Northeast is unloaded.High winds and rain kept the Kennedy at sea during a two-day delay, but there were periods of sunshine for its upriver journey. Only two cargo ships were delayed briefly.

Both were departing from Camden - one carrying scrap metal and the other headed south for another load of Del Monte bananas, Linton said.The Kennedy, CV-67, is classified "out of commission in reserve." It could, with a year or more of work, return to active duty, said Capt. Dave Tungett, inactive-fleet program manager. He said dehumidifiers would be kept running, water around the hull would be electrically charged to prevent rusting, and the eight four-story-tall steam boilers had been prepared to remain idle without decay.

The attention the Kennedy drew was reminiscent of its arrival Sept. 14, 1993 - for a two-year overhaul that turned out to be the last project of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.Back then, politicians who were fighting to save the shipyard donned flight gear and flew by helicopter to ride the Kennedy up the river.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Foglietta, now deceased, welcomed the 3,000-person crew by passing out pretzels on the 1,050-foot flight deck and promising that Philadelphia workers would do a good job modernizing their ship.The dry dock where the Kennedy was overhauled is now part of the busy Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, which will deliver three civilian tanker ships this year.