Meredith Kruse
The Virginian-Pilot
©
John F. Kennedy will have a second aircraft carrier named after him.
The Navy announcement came Sunday, on what would have been the president and World War II naval veteran's 94th birthday.
Designated CVN-79, the carrier will be the second in the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers. The first, the Gerald R. Ford, CVN-78, is scheduled to be delivered to the fleet in September 2015. It was unclear when the John F. Kennedy would be completed and delivered.
The new carrier is under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Ford-class aircraft carriers are designed to replace Enterprise- and Nimitz-class carriers. The new carriers should save more than $5 billion in ownership costs during their planned 50-year service lives compared with the Nimitz-class carriers, a Navy news release said.
They will retain the same hulls as the Nimitz class but will contain several advanced technology systems, including electromagnetic aircraft launching systems, advanced arresting gear, dual-band radar, a redesigned smaller island and a new propulsion plant.
The Kennedy and other Ford-class carriers will be the premier asset for crisis response, humanitarian relief and striking power in major combat operations, the Navy said.
"President John F. Kennedy exemplified the meaning of service, not just to country, but service to all humanity," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. "I am honored to have the opportunity to name the next aircraft carrier after this great sailor and inspirational leader, and to keep the rich tradition and history of USS John F. Kennedy sailing in the U.S. Fleet."
Kennedy entered the Navy in October 1941. Serving in the Pacific on a ship known as PT-109, he was in command on Aug. 2, 1943, when the ship was struck by an enemy vessel and split in half. Kennedy led the crew to safety over the next six days and later received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Purple Heart.
The earlier carrier named after Kennedy, which bore the hull designation CV-67, was decommissioned in 2007 after serving for nearly 40 years. It stayed for several months in Hampton Roads before being towed to Philadelphia. Efforts are under way to preserve it as a museum in Rhode Island.
Lauren King, (757) 446-2309, lauren.king@pilotonline.com
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New carrier CVN-79
Why not name another as 'USS America'? As a 20 year retiree, with 4 deployment on CV-66, I still cannot understand not naming a carrier 'America'. As a Navy, we do not currently have any class of ship with that name. After 9/11, we as a nation should ALWAYS maintain a ship named for our country.
New USS America
currently USS America is slated for the new amphib, LHA-6. to be commissioned in 2012 and replace the Tarawa class.
Should be named Enterprise
Naming ships for Presidents isn't a bad thing. I'd like to see the Navy keep the classic names going. Let's have the next carrier named Enterprise. That name has been in the Fleet since the nation was founded. Let's bring Hornet back, too, and Lexington, Langley (the first aircraft carrier), Yorktown, Ranger, Intrepid, Coral Sea, Constellation or even America.
These would be much better than naming these awesome ships after Presidents and politicians.
Agreed!
Politics has entered into the naming of our warships entirely too much. The Navy should go back to the older system of naming its ships to include submarines. Ballistic missile subs should be named after states though: they are more like the capital ships of old with their nuclear firepower.
Motto: Control of the sea means security, peace, and victory.
My favorite JFK quote:
"And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'"
And another:
"Events of October 1962 indicated, as they had all through history, that control of the sea means security. Control of the seas can mean peace. Control of the seas can mean victory. The United States must control the seas if it is to protect your security...."
Naturally as a CV67 crewmember, I am thrilled at the news of a new USS John F Kennedy.
Go Navy... Beat Army!!!
I like that too...
...good post.
I hope they move it...
They should commission the new JFK carrier and then immediately move it to Florida. Based on the comments Hampton Roads doesn't want or deserve to have it home ported here.
I hope they move it...
They should commission the new JFK carrier and then immediately move it to Florida. Based on the comments Hampton Roads doesn't want or deserve to have it home ported here.
USS Jimmy Carter
Did we run out of presidents to name carriers after? We already had a JFK carrier before. Jimmy Carter served in the navy, but I don't think we've named a carrier for him yet. John F. Kennedy was a philanderer who cheated on his wife every chance he got. I think one carrier named after him was enough.
New Kennedy carrier
Lots of presidents were adulters, Washington, Jefferson, FDR, Eisenhower to name just a few. I would rather have a million carrier named after JFK than one named after Jimmy Carter. It was an incredably sad day when they decommissioned the Big John back in 2007. John F. Kennedy dispite his very human faults had courage, committment in the face of enemy fire, both real and political. Kennedy was intelligent, dynamic, practical, thoughtful and full of courage both during WWII and in the political arena and Im glad there's going to be another US Navy ship named in his honor.