Comments

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  Carl (Bub) Wilkins February 10, 2022 at 4:10pm

  For all of you who were attached to the USS KITTY HAWK CVA63, for me, the following tells of her current status.
  
  Storied Carrier USS Kitty Hawk Towed Away for Scrapping
  bremerton fogUSS Kitty Hawk departs Bremerton, Washington for the final time, January 15 (USN)
  PUBLISHED JAN 19, 2022 9:32 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE
  The decommissioned carrier USS Kitty Hawk has departed Bremerton, Washington for a scrapyard in Brownsville, Texas. She will be taking the long way around, as she is too large to fit through the Panama Canal.
  
  The vessel had her hull cleaned at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to remove fouling prior to transit. Still, the speed of the tow will be low, and the 16,000-mile final voyage will take up to four months - a far cry from the 30-knot pace she used to muster with her steam turbines.
  
  Two groups had lobbied the Navy to donate Kitty Hawk for use as a museum ship, but the effort was not successful. In October, International Shipbreaking Ltd. of Brownsville won the contract to demolish Kitty Hawk and near-sister ship USS John F. Kennedy for the amount of $0.01 each.
  
  The vessels will be scrapped and recycled in a secure facility. For former Kitty Hawk crewmembers and naval enthusiasts, International says that it will have challenge coins created from the brass scrap removed from the ship and will make these available for sale, along with 3x5" sections of steel plate from the hull. There will also be a commemorative ceremony at the end of the demolition project.
  
  The carrier has a storied history. She was delivered in 1961 by New York Shipbuilding Corporation and decommissioned in 2009 after nearly 49 years of service. Though she was the first vessel in her class, she outlasted all three of the follow-on vessels - Constellation, America and John F. Kennedy - to become the last conventionally-powered carrier in operation in the U.S. Navy.
  
  Over the span of her career, Kitty Hawk had multiple combat deployments. Her first combat flights over Vietnam began in November 1965, and she rotated in and out of combat operations "on the line" in the Gulf of Tonkin through 1972. During that period, her air wing flew tens of thousands of sorties against Vietnamese forces, delivering millions of pounds of ordnance. The ship received the Presidential Unit Citation for her role in beating back the Tet Offensive in 1968.
  
  An A-6 Intruder lands on Kitty Hawk's flight deck off Vietnam, March 1968 (USN)
  
  In October 1972, towards the end of her participation in the Vietnam War, a race riot broke out on board Kitty Hawk. After a series of run-ins between black and white members of the crew, a group of black crewmembers armed themselves with makeshift weapons and assaulted their crewmates. In all, 50-60 crewmembers were injured, and three were medevaced for treatment. The riot was widely covered in the media and led to an acceleration of the racial reforms begun by then-CNO Adm. Elmo Zumwalt.
  
  Kitty Hawk's other combat deployments included multilple airstrikes against Iraqi forces in 1990s, after the First Persian Gulf War, and again in 2003, when she contributed to the massive naval strike operations at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She wrapped up the last years of her career by serving as the Navy's sole forward-deployed carrier, based out of Yokosuka, Japan.
  
  
  
  USS Kitty Hawk off Mallorca, 1987 (USN)
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  Thomas M Wimberly August 2, 2018 at 2:22pm

  Hi Bud,

  We lived in the midwest for several years different cities then moved to San Diego. We lived there for 18 years then moved to Lubbock, TX. Was there 3 years but the wife didn't like it, she couldn't get a good job in her field of work so a job came open here in Bakersfield. It's near our daughter and grandkids so we moved. We like it here, more of a farm community with all the crops they raise.

  Tom
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  Bob Vehorn August 1, 2018 at 11:09pm

  Carl,

  Thank you for sharing your memories of LCDR Vehorn!  I know that picture in the cruisebook well.

  I remember being 5 or 6 years old in Sanford when I first realized what he and the other pilots and NFOs really did for a living.  I was in awe at the time, wondering how they faced the dangers day after day.  Later, as a Naval Aircrewman, I understood the sense of dedication and duty that everyone who wears a uniform feels, and the sense of pride that comes with it.

  I watched that episode of Wings when it first aired.  I immediately recognized the Vigi in that ball of fire streaking across the sky.  Seeing the wreckage was a somber moment.  I taped the rerun and showed it to Dad the next time I saw him, just a few months before his death.  He didn't say anything, but did keep the tape.  Jack Walters was in that plane, and his son, Jack Stroup, is a member of this group.

  Thanks again for sharing your experiences.  Having sailed on the Shitty Kitty myself I know you guys endured some tough times, but it sounds like you all made the best of it.

  All the best,

  Bob Vehorn
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  Thomas M Wimberly August 1, 2018 at 5:45pm

  Hi Bud, those were some good times. Hope you are doing good. I've been retired since 2010 and really enjoy it.

  Tom Wimberly
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  Richard Aldrich July 31, 2018 at 7:27pm

  Welcome aboard Carl! Do you have an email address?  Mine is dickaldrich2002@yahoo.com.  Email me and i can send you some Pix.Do you still have your  '66-'67 RVAH 13 Cruise Book?  Chief Wilfords yeoman was J.W Luchenbill.

  

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  Terrill R. Saylor May 30, 2017 at 1:03pm

  Welcome Aboard Carl!
  Terry RVAH-14
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  John Attanasio May 30, 2017 at 7:12am

  Hello Carl,

  Welcome aboard.

  John VAH-9