USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)

USS KITTY HAWK is the lead ship of the Navy’s second class of "super carriers" and the second ship in the Navy to bear this name.

Since August 1998, KITTY HAWK was homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, where she relieved the USS INDEPENDENCE (CV 62) as the only forward deployed aircraft carrier in the Navy. Scheduled to be decommissioned on January 31, 2009, the KITTY HAWK left Japan in mid-2008 for the last time. After participation in RIMPAC 2008, the carrier continued to San Diego, Calif., to meet the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) for turn-over. The GEORGE WASHINGTON will replace the KITTY HAWK in Japan.
On March 21, 2002, KITTY HAWK became the first carrier in the US Navy to perform test firings with the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) System.

General Characteristics:	Keel Laid: December 27, 1956
	Launched: May 21, 1960
	Commissioned: April 29, 1961
	Builder: New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, NJ
	Propulsion system: eight Steam Boilers
	Main Engines: four Steam Turbine Engines
	Propellers: four
	Blades on each Propeller: five
	Aircraft elevators: four
	Catapults: four
	Arresting gear cables: four
	Length, overall: 1046,5 feet (319 meters)
	Flight Deck Width: 252 feet (76.8 meters)
	Area of flight deck: about 4,5 acres
	Beam: 129,6 feet (39.5 meters)
	Draft: 35,8 feet (10.9 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 82,200 tons full load
	Speed: 30+ knots
	Cost: about $400 million (1961)
	Planes: approx. 85
	Crew: Ship: 2,900 Air Wing: 2,480
	Armament: Mk 29 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, 20mm Phalanx CIWS Mk 15, Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Systems
	Homeport: Bremerton, Wash.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS KITTY HAWK. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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Click here to see which USS KITTY HAWK memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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History of USS KITTY HAWK:

The history of USS KITTY HAWK closely parallels the course of naval aviation over the past 37 years. Built in Camden, NJ, KITTY HAWK was heralded as the first in a new class of "super carrier" at her commissioning at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on April 29, 1961.

The 82,000-ton ship departed her homeport of San Diego on her first Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment in 1962. Since that time, KITTY HAWK and a variety of Carrier Air Wings have completed 18 deployments in support of operations including Vietnam, the Iranian hostage crisis, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and air strikes against Iraq. As leader of the joint, coalition offensive strike launched in response to increasing Iraqi violations of United Nations sanctions.

KITTY HAWK underwent three overhauls in the Bremerton, Wash., Naval Shipyard in 1977, 1982 and 1998. The ship's most significant maintenance period, however, was a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard beginning in 1987. That rigorous four-year overhaul added an estimated 20 years to the planned 30-year life of the ship. KITTY HAWK displayed the long reach of carrier aviation by completing a world cruise on the way to Philadelphia and returned by rounding the southernmost tip of South America.

The Hawk set sail on its 17th deployment on June 24, 1994. During the six-month cruise, KITTY HAWK, and Carrier Air Wing Fifteen, under the direction of the Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group FIVE, provided a stabilizing influence in the Western Pacific during a time of great tension in the Far East.

Soon after KITTY HAWK's return from deployment, the ship was awarded the Battle Efficiency Award, or Battle "E," given yearly to the best carrier in the Pacific Fleet.

In October, KITTY HAWK welcomed aboard the proud members and imposing airpower of Carrier Air Wing Eleven, fresh off a deployment to the Persian Gulf aboard the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72).

KITTY HAWK and Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN, refined their teamwork during workups, enjoying a very successful participation in Exercise Rim of the Pacific '96, a multi-national exercise taking place around the Hawaiian Islands involving the maritime forces of Canada, Japan, South Korea, Chile and Australia, in preparation for deployment in October 1996.

KITTY HAWK began its 18th deployment Oct. 11, 1997. En route to the Arabian Gulf, the KITTY HAWK/CVW-11 team made port calls in Hong Kong and Singapore. Christmas was celebrated inport Bahrain, and two Gulf port calls were made to Jebel Ali, U.A.E. Returning from a successful tour at the "tip of the spear", the crew enjoyed liberty in Fremantle, Australia and Hobart, Tasmania. After a brief stop in Hawaii, KITTY HAWK returned to San Diego April 11, 1997.

In August 1998, KITTY HAWK changed its homeport from San Diego, Calif., to Yokosuka in Japan and relieved the USS INDEPENDENCE (CV 62) as the only carrier forward deployed to another country.

On March 2, 1999, KITTY HAWK departed Yokosuka on a three-and-a-half month deployment to the Arabian Gulf where she operated in support of Operation Southern Watch.
Before entering the Indian Ocean she participated in Exercise Tandem Thrust in the Pacific, during which the former USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CLG 5) was being used as a target. After the exercise, KITTY HAWK visited Apra Harbor, Guam, on April 3, 1999, before departing for the Persian Gulf where she patrolled the No-Fly-Zone over southern Iraq.
KITTY HAWK departed the Gulf on July 15, 1999, and returned to Yokosuka where she arrived on August 25, 1999.

The year 2000 saw KITTY HAWK and her Battle Group operating in the western Pacific. The carrier took part in Exercise Cobra Gold 2000 and conducted port visits to Phattaya, Thailand; Hong Kong and Singapore

After the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001, the KITTY HAWK Battle Group was ordered to deploy to the Indian Ocean and was later involved in combat missions against the Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan. The Battle Group returned to Yokosuka on December 23, 2001.

On October 25, 2002, the KITTY HAWK Battle Group left Yokosuka for a regular scheduled underway period. After a port visit to Hong Kong November 29 through December 3, the Battle Group returned to Japan on December 13.

The ships got underway again late January with orders to deploy to the Persian Gulf as part of the build-up of military forces in the area in preparation for the war against the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. KITTY HAWK arrived on station late February/early March and from March 20 on, participated in air strikes against targets in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Click here to get a view of the deployments of USS KITTY HAWK

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Click here to read more about the racial incident aboard the USS KITTY HAWK in October 1972.

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USS KITTY HAWK Patch Gallery:


	contributed by Foeke Keijzer	Click here to view more USS KITTY HAWK Patches.

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Accidents aboard USS KITTY HAWK:

Date	Where	Events
August 9, 1961	Norfolk, Va.	KITTY HAWK suffers a boiler breakdown involving ruptured tubes at Norfolk, Va., just prior to its shakedown cruise.
December 1965	Off Vietnam	During its Vietnam War Deployment there was a big blaze in the carrier's main engine-room #3 and an ammunition magazine was flooded to avoid an explosion. The fire caused heavy damage aboard the ship, killed some crewmen, and injured 48 others.
June 16, 1967	west of San Francisco, Calif.	KITTY HAWK collides with USS PLATTE (AO 24) during refueling.
December 18, 1967	Subic Bay, Philippines	KITTY HAWK suffers a three-hour fire which was centered in an airplane tire stowage area while the ship is docked in Subic Bay.
December 11, 1973	700 nautical miles eastern of the Philippines	Seven crewmen were killed in a boiler-room blaze. The fire could be extinguished by the crew, and KITTY HAWK was towed to Subic Bay, Philippines, for repairs.
June 10, 1975	135 miles northwest of Wake Island	USS KITTY HAWK suffers major flooding in its #1 machinery room while crossing to the western Pacific.
September 6, 1981	Indian Ocean	A landing A-7 II Corsair aircraft collides with a taxiing F-14 Tomcat on the USS KITTY HAWK killing one crewmen and injuring two others.
January 19, 1983	off the coast of Washington state	USS KITTY HAWK has a minor collision with the Canadian Maritime Forces Ship YUKON. There are no personnel injuries or serious damage.
November 22, 1983	Oakland, Calif.	KITTY HAWK and the USS WABASH (AOR 5) have a minor collision during refueling in Oakland, Calif.
March 12, 1984	Sea of Japan	USS KITTY HAWK collided with a VICTOR-class Soviet nuclear-powered attack submarine in the Sea of Japan. At the time of the collision, the USS KITTY HAWK was carrying up to several dozen nuclear weapons, and the Soviet submarine probably carried two nuclear torpedoes.
June 30, 1984		A VF-1 F-14A is conducting an emergency landing on the flight deck using the crash barricade. No injuries are sustained during the landing. Click here for a photo sequence of the landing.
October 19, 1985	western Pacific	A SH-3H Sea King helicopter from HS-2 crashes into the ocean after suffering an engine failure. The helicopter was conducting an anti-submarine warfare patrol around the KITTY HAWK. The photos below show the KITTY HAWK arriving at the crash site and survivors of the crash being transported to the carrier by a whale boat.
July 11, 1994		Crash landing of an F-14 during flight operations at night. Click here to watch a clip of the accident. .mpg file, 420 KB
October 16, 2000		After the recovery of an F/A-18C, maintainers push a nitrogen cart across the landing area. As the arresting cable rapidly retracts, one of the maintainers is knocked to the deck. Click here to watch a clip of the accident. .mpg file, 6.8 MB
November 7, 2001	Arabian Sea	Machinist's Mate Fireman Apprentice Bryant Leroy Davis, a member of the crew of KITTY HAWK, fell overboard while the carrier operated in the Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A two day search involving USS CURTIS WILBUR (DDG 54), several aircraft and small rigid hull inflatable boats failed to turn up anything. Davis was officially declared deceased November 10 by the Department of Defense.
January 29, 2005	western Pacific	During the arrested landing of an F/A-18F, the arresting cable paid out to full extension and failed. The aircraft is lost at sea but the aircrew ejected and were rescued. One crewman on the flight deck is severely injured.