USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
The keel for United States Ship John F. Kennedy was laid on October 22, 1964 at the
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia. Christened on May 27, 1967 by
President Kennedy's 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, JFK entered active service on September
7, 1968.
When JFK was commissioned, she recived the designation CVA-67*. This designation remained
until the early 1970's when her classifcation was changed to CV 67, indicating the JFK was
capable of supporting anti-submarine warfare aircraft, making JFK an all purpose,
multi-mission carrier.
It was also during the early 70's that JFK made a number of deployments to the
Mediterranean Sea. It was on the fourth of these cruises that JFK made her first port
visit to a North Atlantic port, Edinburgh, Scotland.
During 1978 JFK logged 12,438 arrested landings and 31,568 flight hours. The Kennedy then
entered a year-long major overhaul period. In 1981 JFK made her first deployment to the
Indian Ocean. While on this cruise JFK served as the first United States ship to be
visited by a Somali head of state, transited the Suez Canal, and logged it's 150,000th
arrested landing.
Due to the growing crisis in Beirut, JFK was called upon in 1983 to support US operations
in the area. During the one year period that the Kennedy spent in and out of the Beirut
Theater of Operations, JFK earned her 9th Battle "E" efficiency award.
After spending the winter of 1984 in drydock at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, JFK served as the
centerpiece of a vast international armada for the Naval Review held in honor of the 100th
Anniversary and Rededication of the Statue of Liberty during July of 1986. Shortly
thereafter, JFK departed once again for the familiar waters of the Mediterranean,
returning in the spring of 1987.
On January 4, 1989 while conducting routine flight operations in international waters on
her 12th Mediterranean cruise, F-14's assigned to the Kennedy shot down two Libyan Mig-23's that were approaching
the battle group in a hostile manner. JFK returned home to Norfork, Virginia in the spring
of 1989 for a short industrial period.
In mid 1990, JFK paid a visit to New York City for Fleet Week '90 and was in Boston for
the fourth of July. Then in early Augut, JFK deployed for the Red Sea to support Operation
Desert Shield.
JFK arrived in the Red Sea in September 1990 and was chosen as the flagship of the
Commander, Red Sea Battle Force. On January 16, 1991, aircraft from the embarked air wing,
Carrier Air Wing THREE (CVW 3), began Operation Desert Storm as part of a multi-nation
coalition to drive Iraq out of neighboring Kuwait. Throughout the war, aircraft from JFK
flew 2,895 sorties and 114 strikes delivering over 3.5 million pounds of ordnance over
11,263 combat hours.
Following the cease fire, JFK passed through the Suez Canal for the fourth time in seven
months and began her journey home. When JFK arrived in Norfolk, VA on March 28, 1991, her
crew was witness to the greatest homecoming celebration and outpouring of public support
since World War II.
JFK then spent the next four months in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard where extensive repairs
and maintenance on engineering and flight deck systems made the Kennedy ready to handle
the F/A-18 Hornet to
replace the aging A-7E Corsair II's
that had flown off the Kennedy's deck during her last deployment.
The JFK's next deployment, from Oct. 7, 1992 until April 7, 1993 was her 14th to the
Mediterranean Sea. This cruise was marked by the developing turmoil in the former
Yugoslavia. Throught the deployment, JFK hosted many visitors, both in port and at sea,
and conducted numerous joint exercises with armed forces from Mediterranean littoral
nations and spent most of her time in the Adriatic Sea. JFK passed another milestone by
logging her 250,000th arrested landing on December 8, 1992.
Upon returning from the Med, JFK entered the Philadelphia Naval shipyard for a two-year
comprehensive overhaul. JFK completed this overhaul on September 13, 1995 and began her
journey to her new homeport at Naval Station Mayport in Mayport, FL.
JFK's latest deployment was from April 1997 to October 1997 and marked her 15th major
deployment to the Mediterranean.
Last year (2008) The Kennedy Carrier was put in Mothball so the ship is not active
anymore.
| General characteristics |
| Builder |
Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va. |
| Keel laid |
October 22, 1964 |
| Christened |
May 27, 1967 |
| Commissioned |
September 7,1968 |
| Number of steam boilers |
Eight |
| Number of steam turbine engines |
Four, General Electric |
| Thrust |
280,000 HP |
208,796 kW |
| Displacement |
82,000 US tons |
74,390 t |
| Length |
1,052.5 ft |
320.8 m |
| Width of flight deck |
252 ft |
76.8 m |
| Area of flight deck |
4.56 acres |
18,454 sq. m |
| Height |
23 stories |
| Draft |
36.4 ft |
11.1 m |
| Speed |
More than 30 knots |
55.6 km/h |
| Crew |
5,222 (including airwing) |
| Number of anchors |
Two |
| Weight of anchors |
30 t each |
| Number of propellers |
Four |
| Weight of propellers |
76,060 lb |
34,500 kg |
| Number of rudders |
Two |
| Weight of rudders |
53,800 lb |
24.4 t |
| Number of aircraft elevators |
Four |
| Area of elevator |
4,000 sq. ft |
371.6 sq. m |
| Number of catapults |
Four |
| Aircrafts |
Approximately 80 |
| Airwing |
VF-14 |
F-14A Tomcat |
| VF-32 |
F-14A Tomcat |
| VA-46 |
A-7E Corsair II |
| VA-72 |
A-7E Corsair II |
| VA-75 |
A-6E a KA-6D
Intruder |
| VAW-126 |
E-2C Hawkeye |
| VAQ-130 |
EA-6B
Prowler |
| VS-22 |
S-3 Viking |
| HS-7 |
SH-3H Sea
King |
| Armament |
Three Sea Sparrow
missiles launchers (eight missiles each), three Phalanx CWIS mounts |
Jirka Wagner
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