USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67)
BACKGROUND
The USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is named after the 35th President of the United States. The keel was laid on October 22, 1964, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. President Kennedy's nine-year-old daughter, Caroline, christened the ship in May, 1967. The carrier entered service in the United States Navy on September 7, 1968.
The USS John F. Kennedy was originally designated as CVA-67, attack aircraft carrier. in the early 1970s, the classification was changed to CV-67, indicating that the ship was capable of supporting anti-submarine warfare aircraft, making it an all-purpose, multi-mission aircraft carrier.
SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS
The USS John F. Kennedy made several deployments to the Mediterranean Sea during the 1970s. Her fourth deployment included a port visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1978 the ship recorded 31,568 flight hours and 12,438 arrested landings. In 1979 she underwent an overhaul.
Following the completion of the overhaul, the Kennedy made her first deployment to the Indian Ocean, in 1981. En route the carrier transited the Suez Canal and hosted the first visit aboard a United States ship by a Somali head of state. The Kennedy played a key role in the U.S. Navy efforts in the Mediterranean in 1983 in response to deteriorating conditions in Beirut, Lebanon. During this period of operations, the crew won their ninth Battle "E" efficiency award.
The Kennedy spent the winter of 1984 in drydock at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard undergoing a complex overhaul. She won the first Department of Defense Phoenix Award, signifying a level of maintenance excellence above all other Department of Defense components world-wide. In July, 1986, she was the center-piece of the international naval armade during the international Naval Review in honor of the 100th Anniversary and Rededication of the Statue of Liberty.
While on her 12th major deployment to the Mediterranean in 1988/1989, F14s from her embarked airwing shot down two Libyan MIG-23s that were approaching the battle group in a hostile manner.
The Kennedy was in the Red Sea in 1990 and 1991, and became the flagship of the Commander, Red Sea Battle Force. On Jnuary 16, 1991, aircraft from the ship's Carrier Air Wing Three began Operation Desert Storm with attacks on Iraqi forces. The ship launched 114 strikes and 2,895 sorties.
During the carrier's 14th Mediterranean deployment in 1992/1993, she participated in exercises with armed forces of Mediterranean littoral nations, and spend a substantial amount of operating time in the Adriatic Sea due to turmoil in the former Yogoslavia. On December 8, 1992, the Kennedy passed a milestone by making its 250,000th trap of an aircraft.
The USS. John F. Kennedy completed a two-year comprehensive overhaul in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on September 13, 1995. She was the last ship to be repaired by the shipyard before it was shutdown. After the overhaul, the carrier moved to its current homeport, the Mayport Naval Station in Mayport, Fla., near Jacksonville.
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