USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

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JNG
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USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by JNG »

The USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 is 50 years old today.
The Sh11Y Kitty Was my first ship.
I thing of the Hawk as thing in my heart for my first ship.
Long live the Hawk! She is decom now.
So sad.

joe
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by jnyork »

Sad indeed, I know the feeling.

Of all the aircraft I served on , there are only two examples left in flying condition, all the rest are either beer cans or in museums. :cry:
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Ray »

Deleted.
Last edited by Ray on Mon Mar 07, 2022 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Griff »

I spent 1 year, 11 months and a day on board the USS Somers, DDG-34toward the end of the Viet Nam war. Out of that, I got to spend a day & ½ on the Kitty Hawk getting xrays for a back injury. Worst day & ½ of my life. As my enlistment ended, I was offered an advancement to E-6 with a transfer to the "Hawk"... I passed.

The Somers was a Forrest Sherman class destroyer whose keel was laid in 1958, as DD-947, then in 1968 underwent conversion to a DDG, finally decommissioned in 1982 and sunk, well, almost sunk, in target practice in 1998. I say 'almost sunk' as it took UDTs to set charges to finally sink her.
Last edited by Griff on Sat Apr 30, 2016 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Panzercat »

My ship was CV62, USS Independence. Did the same to her. Last i checked she was somewhere in washington state.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by earlmck »

That's the good thing about being an old Bon Homme (CVA 31 in my day) guy: there's always one of them out there. Maybe not quite the same one we served on, but there is a Bon Homme carrying on (LHD-6 now days). Give 'em hell, Bon Homme Richard!
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by claybob86 »

My ship was the USS Constellation, CV 64. She's being scrapped in Texas right now. :(
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by TraderVic »

I served on the John R Craig, DD 885 and the Hoel, DDG 13. Two WestPacs.

The Kitty Hawk was one of the carriers we escorted on the gun line. Another memory....the Kitty Hawk was anchored in the back side of Hong Kong while we were anchored in the main harbor there.

Both of my ships are long gone. The J R Craig was commissioned in 1944 and I served on the last cruise it made overseas, then transferred to the Hoel for another cruise to SE Asia, etc.

Did an unscheduled dry dock in Sasebo, Japan on the Craig ( six weeks ) and another unscheduled dry dock in Subic ( six + weeks ) on the Hoel. Dry Dock really sucks.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by MrMurphy »

My brother did 2 westpacs on the Kitty.

Once when they were in port in San Diego, at the same pier (in line) they had the Nimitz and Constellation. Mid 1990s. On the flight deck, you couldn't see the gaps between ships, it looked like you were on a 3,000 foot flight deck......
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by GoatGuy »

I did a little over 21 months on the USS Saratoga (CVA 60) during the mid-1960's; Aviation Ordnance 3rd Class Petty Officer, assigned to the Guided Missile Division.
Sixth Fleet, home port Jacksonville, FL, a 7 month Mediteranean Cruise, Gitmo, Virginia Beach drydock, several Carrier Quals and lots of squadron takeoff/landing training. 2,700+ men in ship's company, additional 2,300 men when fighter squadrons were aboard. Kind of boring duty, mostly showing the flag and entertaining Italian, Greek, Spanish, Turkish politicians and other assorted bigwigs when in the Med ports. Lots of make work projects when in home port. A fine and proud Forrestal Class carrier, "Sara" was commissioned in 1956 and was sold for scrap a few years ago. RIP Sara, ...INVICTUS GALLUS GLADIATOR!
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

I was on a Navy boat once.
Good food, OOD salute, brass steering wheel, and cramped bunks are all I recall of that afternoon. :D
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by TraderVic »

DPris wrote:I was on a Navy boat once.
Good food, OOD salute, brass steering wheel, and cramped bunks are all I recall of that afternoon. :D
Denis
Good food ? Really ? Our ( U.S. ) Navy ?

The big ships ( carriers, supply ships, destroyer tenders, etc. ) had pretty good food, but the two destroyers I served on...the food was not so great. I typically lost about twenty five pounds on each of my tours overseas.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

It was a destroyer tender in '72, the Downes.
Diverted on the way home to SLC from Basic & Tech School in Tejas to visit a buddy who was stationed on her in California at the time.

Compared to the chow hall at Lackland, what I ate on that boat was good stuff. :)
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Griff »

TraderVic wrote:
DPris wrote:I was on a Navy boat once.
Good food, OOD salute, brass steering wheel, and cramped bunks are all I recall of that afternoon. :D
Denis
Good food ? Really ? Our ( U.S. ) Navy ?
The big ships ( carriers, supply ships, destroyer tenders, etc. ) had pretty good food, but the two destroyers I served on...the food was not so great. I typically lost about twenty five pounds on each of my tours overseas.
We got good food, but the boilin' the stuffin' out of it usually degraded the ingestibles. I was good friends with the head cook... he always took a little extra care in fixin' our meals! :P :P
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

SOS ruled in AF halls. :)
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Griff »

DPris wrote:SOS ruled in AF halls. :)
Denis
Done right, even that's good.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

Yeah, when done right.... :)
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by MrMurphy »

Things have certainly changed in AF chow halls, but the ability of Services troops to completely mangle food so it has no taste still is apparently a promotion point.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

:)
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by GoatGuy »

DPris wrote:I was on a Navy boat once.
Good food, OOD salute, brass steering wheel, and cramped bunks are all I recall of that afternoon. :D
Denis
Navy BOAT? :roll: Really now, landlubber, you expected amenities? No FIRST CLASS on the USN "boats" I'm familiar with, ...unless an E6 was at the tiller! :wink:
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Ben_Rumson »

Our food was great !
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

Us air guys had two to a dorm room, both bunks on the floor at the same time, a real closet, chairs, a fridge, and TV. :)

Mucho better'n anything I saw on that boat, enlisted-wise.
It was neat to visit, but I for durn sure would not have wanted to live there. :D
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Griff »

Yeah, the US Navy isn't known for it's amenities... But I visited my cousin on a HMS Destroyer in San Diego once... drank up a month's worth of his rum rations... that was an amenity I enjoyed!
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Dave James »

darn times flies, I remember when she was commissioned, Ole man was a "Plank Holder",
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

My buddy was a plank holder on the Downes DE 10-70, it was a new canoe when I visited.

Years later when Bubbles & I were in San Diego for a convention we took a commercial tour of the harbor. Got to talking to a crew member on the excursion boat & found he'd been assigned to the 10-69 (I forget the name) & was well acquainted with the Downes. Told me when it had been de-commed, which I passed on to my buddy when we got home.

He was sad to hear it, still has fond memories of ironing his Class A's between the mattress & the steel under it in his rack. :)

And of his upper bunky coming back from a shore visit late one night & dumping a full load of cheap whiskey & pizza on his head while he was racked out below trying to sleep.

I have nothing but respect for the Navy, but dorm rooms were great.
We could invest huge sums in stereo equipment & not have it walk off if not chained down.
Lockable rooms, lockable closets, color TV (if we bought 'em ourselves). Beer in the fridge.

Buddy joined to see the world, spent 6 years after Great Lakes cruising up & down the west coast.

I knew it was coming, had no interest in the Army, did not want to be far from home in Utah, signed up for the AF a month before the Army sent a polite invitation to come & play, put in for half a dozen AF bases within a day's drive of home, family & friends, and did my four after Texas in So Dakota, England, and Upper Michigan.

So much for career planning. :)

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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by new pig hunter »

Summer of 1973 I did 6 weeks aboard the Constellation (CV-64) for a training cruise, and celebrated my 21st birthday during that cruise. We were at Yankee Station. Also experienced my first typhoon.

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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by donw »

i was not in the Navy but i did go to the Philippines on the USNS Card, a WWII carrier, from Okinawa, Japan. she was later sunk by VC sappers in Saigon harbor. she conducted anti submarine missions in the North Atlantic and was credited with the sinking of one U-boat.

her wooden flight deck was starting to deteriorate and we slept on deck as the troop bay was so hot we couldn't sleep. she no longer launched aircraft; she was designated as a "Jeep carrier" to haul vehicles and helicopters.

best chow i ever partook of while in the army was at Clark air force base, PI, Subic naval base, PI and camp Kue, (US Army hospital at the time) Okinawa, Japan, at MCB 1 mess hall.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by Modoc ED »

My first ship in the Navy was the USS Henley (DD762) in 1965. I was stationed in Japan in 1966 and was sent TAD to the Bon Homme Richard (CVA31) for 90-days. Her home port was Sasebo, Japan. Throughout the years I rode many ships. My last one was the USS Ranger (CV61) - 1981 through 1982. They were all good ships. As with anything else, it was how you handled it that left a positive or negative impression on you. When I left the Ranger, she along with the Constellation (Connie), and the Kitty Hawk (Shi**y Kitty) were all home ported together at Naval Air Station, Coronado, CA across the bay from San Diego,CA.
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Re: USS Kitty Hawk CV 63

Post by DPris »

I'm not particularly claustrophobic, but youse guys what lived inside those floating tin cans are made of tougher stuff than me. :)
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