Goodbye, Kitty Hawk

Nation & World News

Goodbye, Kitty Hawk

The oldest active ship in the U.S. Navy, the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, made its final departure from Japan on Wednesday to be decommissioned after nearly half a century of service.

Crew members aboard the USS Kitty Hawk form "SAYONARA, " which means "goodbye"in Japanese, as the U.S. aircraft carrier leaves a port in Yokosuka on Wednesday. The oldest active vessel in the U.S. Navy was leaving on its last voyage before being decommissioned.

After leaving Japan, the Kitty Hawk will make a stop at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and then travel on to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., to be decommissioned.

U.S. Navy sailors stand at attention with the backdrop of Japanese national flag as their ship U.S. aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk leaves Yokosuka Naval Base on Wednesday.

F/A-18 Hornet pilots, Lt. Chris Smith (left) of Augusta, Ga., and Lt. Dan Monlux of northern California walk off the flightline aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in March 2003 during the Gulf War.

The Kitty Hawk, the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier in the Navy, is to be replaced later this summer by the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered carrier.

The ship, commissioned in 1961 and the only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the Navy, was assigned to Japan in 1998. It has since made 20 deployments in the western Pacific and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq.

The Kitty Hawk, with sailors lining its decks, pulled away from Yokosuka port just south of Tokyo to the cheers of hundreds of schoolchildren and the sounds of brass bands.

1/7

Crew members aboard the USS Kitty Hawk form "SAYONARA, " which means "goodbye"in Japanese, as the U.S. aircraft carrier leaves a port in Yokosuka on Wednesday. The oldest active vessel in the U.S. Navy was leaving on its last voyage before being decommissioned.

Today's Gallery Headlines

Georgia students organize protests against ICE after Minnesota killings

PHOTOS: Snellville's Brookwood High School students rally and march against ICE

PHOTOS: Scenes from icy winter storm in Metro Atlanta

As storm inches closer to Georgia, metro Atlanta braces for ice threat

PHOTOS: Georgia readies for incoming ice storm

Alerts

PHOTOS: Snellville's Brookwood High School students rally and march against ICE

PHOTOS: Scenes from icy winter storm in Metro Atlanta

PHOTOS: Georgia readies for incoming ice storm

PHOTOS: Metro Atlanta ICE protest join national effort