The
Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers of the
United States Navy were an incremental improvement on the
Forrestal-class vessels. Four were built, all in the 1960s, (1961–2009), (1961–2003), (1965–1996) and (1967–2007). All are now decommissionned.
Improved Forrestal carriers
The biggest differences from the
Forrestals are greater length, and a different placement of
elevators; two are forward of the
island, one is aft of the island and another on the portside stern. The movement of the #4 elevator from the forward to the after end of the angle made it useful for aircraft movement, since the forward-end elevator was useless as it was in both the landing path and in the launch path of the #3 and #4 catapults.
Three different
shipyards were used to construct the ships.
Kitty Hawk was built at
New York Shipbuilding Corporation,
Constellation at
New York Naval Shipyard,
America and
John F. Kennedy at
Newport News Shipbuilding.
John F. Kennedy is similar to the earlier units in flightdeck arrangement and propulsion, but has enough differences that she is often placed in her own class. Propulsion consisted of four Westinghouse geared turbines, 280,000 shp, four shafts with eight 1,200 psi
Foster Wheeler boilers.
Construction and design differences
The first three units were constructed with a
Terrier surface to air missile system. The supporting missile launchers and
AN/SPG-55 radars consumed a large amount of space and were later removed.
John F. Kennedy did not have Terrier and was built with the shorter ranged
Sea Sparrow, Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS). All were eventually equipped with NATO Sea Sparrow (NSSM) and
Phalanx CIWS for self defense.
[Modern naval combat. David Miller, Chris Miller, pp. 116–17. London; New York: Salamander Books, c1986. ISBN 0-861012313.] In 2001,
Kitty Hawk received two
Rolling Airframe Missile launchers replacing the forward Sea Sparrow and Phalanx CIWS equipment. The
SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite was added as part of the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) on
Kitty Hawk and
Constellation.
America had several differences from the lead units of the class. Instead of two forward
anchors, one on each side,
America had no starboard anchor and an additional anchor astern, a change were to accommodate the AN/SQS-23
sonar.
America was the only post-World War II U.S. carrier to be built with sonar, though it was removed in the early 1980s.
America also had a narrow smokestack compared to prior units.
John F. Kennedy-class
was originally scheduled to be the fouth Kitty Hawk-class carrier,[ Her smokestack is also different and tilts outboard to send stack gas away from the flight deck. Kennedy is also 17 feet (5.2 m) shorter in length than the other Kitty Hawk-class carriers.]Fate
From 1987 to 1991 Kitty Hawk was overhauled for $785 million under the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. From 1990 to 1992, Constellation received her $800 million service life extension also in Philadelphia. The program was intended to add 15 years to the life of the ships. John F. Kennedy was not overhauled as part of SLEP. Instead, from 1993 to 1995, she received a $491 million overhaul. It was the final project of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard prior to its closing. America had been scheduled to be overhauled under the service life extension program after Constellation, but she was decommissioned 9 August 1996 instead, during a time of budget cuts after the Cold War. America was in very poor condition when she was decommissioned, and therefore despite her historical significance was not held as a donation asset. She was expended as a live-fire target and sunk on 14 May 2005.
Constellation was decommissioned 7 August 2003. John F. Kennedy was decommissioned on 23 March 2007. Only Kitty Hawk remained in service as of early 2008 and is replaced by USS George Washington (CVN-73) as the forward-deployed carrier in Japan. Kitty Hawk returned to the United States after the turnover. She was decommissioned on 31 January 2009. Vessels
Gallery
