Ship History
Contracted as Ship Characteristic Board SBC-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 Kennedy's 50th birthday.
John F. Kennedy entered service 7 September 1968.
John F. Kennedy is a modified version of the earlier Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers. Originally scheduled to be the fourth Kitty Hawk-class carrier Kennedy received so many modifications during construction, she formed her own class.
Kennedy was ordered as a nuclear carrier, using the A3W reactor, but converted to conventional propulsion after construction had begun. The island is somewhat different from that of the Kitty Hawk class, with angled funnels to direct smoke and gases away from the flight deck. Kennedy is also 17 feet (5.2 m) shorter than the Kitty Hawk class.
After an ORI conducted by Commander, Carrier Division Two, Kennedy left for the Mediterranean in April 1969. The ship reached Rota on the morning of 22 April 1969 and relieved USS Forrestal (CVA-59). Rear Admiral Pierre N. Charbonnet, Commander, Carrier Striking Forces, 6th Fleet, and Commander, Carrier Striking Unit 60.1.9, shifted his flag to John F. Kennedy. The turnover complete by nightfall, the carrier, escorted by destroyers, transited the Strait of Gibraltar at the start of the mid watch on 22 April. The next day, John F. Kennedy refueled from Marias (AO-57), and acquired the company of a Soviet Kotlin-class destroyer (Pennant No. 383).
Read more about this topic: USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
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