USS John F. Kennedy is escorted out of NS Mayport, Florida by tugboats, on 11 November 2003.
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Class overview | |
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Name: | John F. Kennedy class |
Builders: | Newport News Shipbuilding |
Operators: | United States Navy |
Preceded by: | Kitty Hawk class and Enterprise class |
Succeeded by: | Nimitz class |
In commission: | 7 September 1968 – 1 August 2007 |
History | |
United States | |
Name: | USS John F. Kennedy |
Namesake: | John F. Kennedy |
Awarded: | 30 April 1964 |
Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding |
Laid down: | 22 October 1964 |
Launched: | 27 May 1967 |
Sponsored by: | Caroline Kennedy |
Christened: | 27 May 1967 |
Commissioned: | 7 September 1968 |
Decommissioned: | 23 March 2007 |
Refit: | 1984 |
Struck: | 16 October 2009 |
Motto: |
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Nickname(s): | "Big John" (unofficially: "Bldg 67") |
Fate: | Museum ship |
Status: | On Donation Hold for use as a museum and memorial |
Badge: | |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Aircraft carrier |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 1,052 ft (321 m) overall, 990 ft (300 m) waterline |
Beam: | 252 ft (77 m) extreme, 130 ft (40 m) waterline |
Height: | 192 ft (59 m) from top of the mast to the waterline |
Draft: | 36 ft (11 m) maximum, 37 ft (11 m) limit |
Installed power: |
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Propulsion: |
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Speed: | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
Capacity: | 5,000+ |
Complement: | 3,297 officers and men (without jet commands & crews) |
Armament: |
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Aircraft carried: | 80+ |
USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) (formerly CVA-67) is the only ship of her class (a variant of the Kitty Hawk class of aircraft carrier) and the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy. The ship is named after the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and is nicknamed "Big John." Kennedy was originally designated a CVA (fixed wing attack carrier); however, the designation was changed to CV to denote that the ship was capable of anti-submarine warfare, making her an all-purpose carrier.
After nearly 40 years of service in the United States Navy, Kennedy was officially decommissioned on 1 August 2007. She is berthed at the NAVSEA Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance facility in Philadelphia and is available for donation as a museum and memorial to a qualified organization. The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79).
Contracted as Ship Characteristic Board SCB-127C, the ship's keel was laid on 22 October 1964 by Newport News Shipbuilding. The ship was officially christened 27 May 1967 by Jacqueline Kennedy and her 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, two days short of what would have been President Kennedy's 50th birthday. The ship entered service 7 September 1968.