USS JFK: Goodnight, sweet prince…
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The 80,000 ton USS John F. Kennedy [CV 67], which hasn’t been deployed since 2004, managed to endure a few near-misses, but in the end, the curtain came down. Virginia legislators denied the Pentagon’s FY 2006 request to retire the carrier, but attitudes changed once they were presented with the estimated $2+ billion cost of restoring her to fighting condition.
The USS John F. Kennedy’s career as a US Navy vessel has now come to a close, leaving the CV 63 USS Kitty Hawk, based in Japan, as the last petroleum-powered aircraft carrier in the US Navy…
Contracts & Key Events
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March 23/07: The USS John F. Kennedy was formally decommissioned in a Mayport, FL ceremony. The 80,000 ton warship, namesake of the 35th President of the United States, saw 18 deployments and 30 commanding officers over its 38 years of service.
Feb 14/07: Earl Industries LLC in Jacksonville, FL won a $15.3 million firm-fixed-price contract to perform work associated with the decommissioning availability for the USS John F. Kennedy [CV 67]. They will complete the inactivation repair work which includes deactivation of various installed machinery such as pumps, catapult system, elevator, ships service diesel generators, and the boat and aircraft crane; and draining of fluids from installed systems such as cooling water, Aqueous Film Forming Foam firefighting agent, lube oil and fuel oil.
Work will be performed aboard the ship at Naval Station Mayport and is expected to be completed by Aug. 2007. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with 10 proposals solicited and 3 offers received via Federal Business Opportunities website. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center in Jacksonville, FL issued the contract (N40027-07-C-0020).
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ERROR CORRECTION: The CV 63 USS Kitty Hawk, based in Japan, is the last petroleum-powered aircraft carrier in the US Navy – not the JFK. Kitty Hawk is currently in the middle of a minor SRA (Selected Restricted Availability) maintenance period, and will close out her service time after that before being replaced by the Nimitz Class carrier USS George Washington [CVN-73]. Thanks to readers for reminding us.
