Nearly 50 Years of Navy History Is on Its Way to Become Scrap

[Sherman A1]

15 Mar 2022
Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin
The storied aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk -- a ship that served from Vietnam through the second Iraq war -- is heading for the scrapyard. The ship, which began its final sea voyage in January, will arrive at a Texas shipbreaking facility in May.

Throughout the carrier's 48 years of service, it not only saw countless battles and missions but also a collision with a Soviet submarine and a race riot. But the ship was also a relic of a bygone era: Fueled by oil instead of nuclear power, the carrier was the last of its kind in the Navy's arsenal.

Toward the end of the ship's life, the Kitty Hawk Veterans Association tried to get the carrier turned into a museum. Despite the fact that the Navy noted the Kitty Hawk was "eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Place" in its evaluation in 2010, the veterans association said it was told the ship was not available for a "donation hold," the first step a decommissioned ship takes in becoming a museum.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/03/15/nearly-50-years-of-navy-history-its-way-become-scrap.html

[crickets]

1. I wonder why the Navy declined to have it turned into a museum.

Seems a shame if there was interest in doing so.

[Amishman]

2. Probably lack of funding to convert it and maintain it

Many of the existing museum ships are struggling with donations

[crickets]

8. Very true. Though it sounded like some veterans were willing to make a go.

Scrapping just seems a sad end for a ship with so much history. Ah, well.

My dad was in the Navy before I was born. He'd left by the time I came along, but I remember we had a model of an aircraft carrier as a toy when I was growing up. It had an elevator and a little plane that would zip down the runway. Looking at the silhouette of the Kitty Hawk strongly reminded me of it.

[SledDriver]

3. Battleship USS New Jersey has a YouTube channel.

The host, Ryan, goes into detail about what it takes to get approved for and then maintain Navy museum ships.

[crickets]

9. Thanks for letting me know - I'll go by and take a look. nt

[rictofen]

14. I discovered that channel about a month ago

I love how they show the 'off the tour route' things like the anchor chain locker room, and other places most tourists wouldn't care about or have access to.

[jmowreader]

10. I think I know why

When I was working Ocean Venture 83 out of Norfolk, a Lieutenant Commander explained to me just how jinxed that ship is. Let me see…two major fires, one race riot, almost started World War III by running over a Soviet submarine, and sank four times. There’s a reason the ship’s nickname is Shitty Kitty.

[ms liberty]

11. I've heard of it most of my life, and I remember the Soviet sub incident, but I didn't realize

There were so many serious incidents with this one ship. Wow. Thanks for the info!

[Angleae]

12. Too much $$$ to maintain, not enought tourism dollars.

Last edited Tue Mar 15, 2022, 10:22 PM - Edit history (1)

With 5 aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 3 cruisers, and nearly 100 other ships scattered around the country, there just isn't enough money to keep a ship like here in one piece. To be honest, they're having trouble keeping some of the existing ships in shape (Olympia, Texas, Lexington)

[dutch777]

4. Wasn't she also the recovery carrier in a number of Apollo missions?

I do suspect it is miserably expensive to keep one of these floating as a museum but if she is the last of her class and no others are a museum, it is a shame there is not a preservation opportunity.

[Igel]

6. I suspect that's why the name of the ship's so familiar to me. n/t

[Mr.Bill]

5. I wonder if they could fund it,

at least partially, by leasing out part of it for residential or commercial purposes.

[Igel]

7. Battleship Texas managed to scrap up funding for its survival.

https://battleshiptexas.org/

There's a larger ship in Corpus Christi.

I've spent a night on the Texas. My son's spent a night on the Texas and the one in CC.

They're really kind of neat.

When I was on the Texas, I kept wondering the ways it was radically different from the Fitch (that's the ship my father served on at the end of WWII), and the ways it must have been similar.

[Ilsa]

13. That's the Lexington. "Blue Ghost."

I had friends that did carrier landing training on the Lex when they were in flight school in the Navy and Marines in Corpus Christi, Kingsville, and Beeville.

[Shellback Squid]

16. they moored her at NAS Pensacola

[Shellback Squid]

15. Fair Winds Kitty!

Haze gray and underway ..................to her last mooring