The USS Kitty Hawk, once an imposing presence representative of US naval power, is on its last journey to the junkyard and with it, the end of a generation. This storied aircraft carrier, which has played pivotal roles from the Vietnam War to the Persian Gulf, has been sold for less than a dollar, a reminder of better days long past.
Commissioned in 1960 and named after the North Carolina site of the Wright brothers’ historic flight, Kitty Hawk spent close to five decades serving the U.S. Navy. She was the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier remaining in the U.S. fleet, a relic from a time before nuclear-powered Nimitz-class ships appeared in the world’s oceans.
Since its commissioning, Kitty Hawk had been on the front line of nearly all American military operations. On the other hand, it saw a racial riot in 1972, which was characterized by the U.S. Congress as “a sad chapter in the history of the Navy.” Indeed, it injured an overall total of 47 sailors, highlighting the tension and inequalities due to racism within American society.
This was Operation Kitty Hawk, which had a bit of a serious confrontation with a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine, K-314, back in March 1984 during the Cold War. During Team Spirit exercises in the Sea of Japan, the Soviet sub surfaced directly beneath the carrier, coming to rest on its hull and tearing up both vessels considerably. Kitty Hawk just kept steaming forward, flying its flag, with a part of the Soviet submarine propeller stuck in the rear portion of her hull, a relic trophy sort of from the Cold War.
During the last years of service, the carrier was forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan posting that lasted from 1998 until 2008 when it patrolled the no-fly zone over Iraq and supported operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Now, the USS Kitty Hawk is making its final voyage from Bremerton Naval Base in Seattle to the Port of Brownsville, Texas, where it will be scrapped. Stops along the 25,750-kilometer journey include Los Angeles, Manzanillo, Balboa, Valparaiso, Punta Arenas, Montevideo, Salvador, and Port of Spain.
Its ignominious end notwithstanding, Kitty Hawk will never be forgotten for having been a cold witness to American naval power and for having participated in most of the large-scale military conflicts in its time. Towed to its grave, it carries with it the memories of the bygone era of naval warfare and the indelible mark that was made upon history.