Naval
Historic Farewell: Ex-USS John F. Kennedy Embarks on Final Journey January 15
PHILADELPHIA—The former aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is set to begin its final journey from the Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia to Brownsville, Texas on January 15, where it will be dismantled.
Early Wednesday morning, the vessel will be viewable from the Delaware River’s waterfronts as it navigates through the Delaware Bay into the North Atlantic Ocean.
Commencing its service on September 7, 1968, USS John F. Kennedy was the first Navy ship to carry the name and notably, the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier constructed by the U.S. Navy.
The Kennedy completed 18 deployments over its years of service. It operated in regions such as the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Ligurian, Aegean, and Adriatic seas amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and North Africa, regularly tracked by Soviet ships.
After the tragic events of September 2001, the ship and its group secured airspace along the mid-Atlantic coast as part of Operation Noble Eagle, reassuring a distressed nation. It partook in Operations Anaconda and Enduring Freedom in February 2002, and later supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004.
By 2005-2006, it transitioned to a training role with its last port call in Boston, Massachusetts, in March 2007. Following 39 years of active Navy service, the USS John F. Kennedy was decommissioned on August 1, 2007.
For more about Ex- USS John F. Kennedy’s historic contributions to the nation, visit:
USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67/CV-67)
or
Photographs of USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67/CV-67)
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