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Keel laid for future carrier John F. Kennedy
Keel laid for future carrier John F. Kennedy
Yard workers watch as a pre-fabricated section of the the Navy’s next -- and second Ford Class aircraft carrier -- is lowered into Dry Dock 12 to be welded into place at the end of the official keel laying ceremony.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — With the initials of ship sponsor Caroline Kennedy welded on the ceremonial plate, the keel was declared to be "truly and fairly laid." Retired Rear Adm. Earl Yates, the first commanding officer of John F. Kennedy (CV 67), then gave the order to lift the keel. With the roar of hundreds in attendance, the massive keel was set in dry dock on Aug. 22, where it will remain until the carrier's launch in the summer of 2020.
So begins the life of the nation's newest carrier, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).
"Every ship has a personality," Caroline Kennedy, U.S. ambassador to Japan, said in a video message. "I like to hope that this next ship called 'John F. Kennedy' will take on some of the personality of the person for whom it is named. My father displayed a spirit that challenged people to do more for their country and reach for that next level. I hope that all those who sail on this ship will sail with the same sense of service to the nation that my father felt."
The day was one of celebration not only for the new carrier, but the promise of more to follow. JFK will be followed by a new Enterprise, for which advance procurement has begun. A construction contract is expected to be signed in fiscal 2018, with a new Ford-class carrier contracted every five years from that point.
These carriers are the nation's instruments of security and good will that "throw their long shadow across all the world's oceans, [and] sail to the edge of that blue frontier," said Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition. "They calm the seas before them, they settle the issues of nations. In time of crisis, they are the first to respond. And when called upon, they will deliver the final word in the bidding of our nation."
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., offered a rally cry to build more ships.
"Every single time we lay the keel of a platform like this ... we are putting a plank in the foundation of freedom for generations to come," he said. The congressman honored three principles from the life of the ship's namesake: The importance of a strong national defense, commitment to faith, and the encouragement that Americans look to themselves, rather than government, to fulfill their dreams. Forbes said he had no illusion that adversaries would adopt these principles, but warned that any plan to challenge those principles would be met by "deafening sound of freedom" that will roar from this ship.
While laying a keel is the symbolic beginning of a ship’s construction, work on JFK actually started in 2010. To date, more than 450 of her 1,100 structural units have been constructed, according to Newport News Shipbuilding. The carrier, the second in the Gerald R. Ford class, is scheduled to launch in February 2020 and be delivered in June 2022.
Kennedy will be nearly an exact replica of Ford — she will employ the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, boast an electrical output three times that of the Nimitz class, and have a redesigned flight deck that gained 8,000 square feet and promises a 25-percent increase in daily sorties over current carriers. Innovative technologies have cut the ship’s company to 2,600 sailors, about 700 fewer than the typical carrier. They will live in 40-man berthing areas (current carriers cram as many as 180 into a berthing area) with attached heads and common areas. She will go 20 years before first refueling and sail an unprecedented 12 years between a return to drydock.
"Those are some pretty incredible numbers," said Vice Adm. William Hilarides, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command.
This is the second carrier to be named for Kennedy, who as a lieutenant junior grade commanded Patrol Torpedo Craft 109 in World War II. The first carrier served from 1968 to 2007, and was the last conventionally-powered carrier built by the Navy.
"There could not be a more appropriate tribute to President Kennedy and his legacy," said Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., who was visibly humbled by the event. He went on to describe his great uncle as a man "who loved his country deeply, and adored our oceans. He understood the power and potential of our seas." Kennedy described touching trips made to the first JFK carrier, and closed with an "awe-inspired thank you" to shipbuilders.
Keel laid for future carrier John F. Kennedy
Yard workers watch as a pre-fabricated section of the the Navy’s next -- and second Ford Class aircraft carrier -- is lowered into Dry Dock 12 to be welded into place at the end of the official keel laying ceremony.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — With the initials of ship sponsor Caroline Kennedy welded on the ceremonial plate, the keel was declared to be "truly and fairly laid." Retired Rear Adm. Earl Yates, the first commanding officer of John F. Kennedy (CV 67), then gave the order to lift the keel. With the roar of hundreds in attendance, the massive keel was set in dry dock on Aug. 22, where it will remain until the carrier's launch in the summer of 2020.
So begins the life of the nation's newest carrier, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).
"Every ship has a personality," Caroline Kennedy, U.S. ambassador to Japan, said in a video message. "I like to hope that this next ship called 'John F. Kennedy' will take on some of the personality of the person for whom it is named. My father displayed a spirit that challenged people to do more for their country and reach for that next level. I hope that all those who sail on this ship will sail with the same sense of service to the nation that my father felt."
The day was one of celebration not only for the new carrier, but the promise of more to follow. JFK will be followed by a new Enterprise, for which advance procurement has begun. A construction contract is expected to be signed in fiscal 2018, with a new Ford-class carrier contracted every five years from that point.
These carriers are the nation's instruments of security and good will that "throw their long shadow across all the world's oceans, [and] sail to the edge of that blue frontier," said Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition. "They calm the seas before them, they settle the issues of nations. In time of crisis, they are the first to respond. And when called upon, they will deliver the final word in the bidding of our nation."
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., offered a rally cry to build more ships.
"Every single time we lay the keel of a platform like this ... we are putting a plank in the foundation of freedom for generations to come," he said. The congressman honored three principles from the life of the ship's namesake: The importance of a strong national defense, commitment to faith, and the encouragement that Americans look to themselves, rather than government, to fulfill their dreams. Forbes said he had no illusion that adversaries would adopt these principles, but warned that any plan to challenge those principles would be met by "deafening sound of freedom" that will roar from this ship.
While laying a keel is the symbolic beginning of a ship’s construction, work on JFK actually started in 2010. To date, more than 450 of her 1,100 structural units have been constructed, according to Newport News Shipbuilding. The carrier, the second in the Gerald R. Ford class, is scheduled to launch in February 2020 and be delivered in June 2022.
Kennedy will be nearly an exact replica of Ford — she will employ the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, boast an electrical output three times that of the Nimitz class, and have a redesigned flight deck that gained 8,000 square feet and promises a 25-percent increase in daily sorties over current carriers. Innovative technologies have cut the ship’s company to 2,600 sailors, about 700 fewer than the typical carrier. They will live in 40-man berthing areas (current carriers cram as many as 180 into a berthing area) with attached heads and common areas. She will go 20 years before first refueling and sail an unprecedented 12 years between a return to drydock.
"Those are some pretty incredible numbers," said Vice Adm. William Hilarides, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command.
This is the second carrier to be named for Kennedy, who as a lieutenant junior grade commanded Patrol Torpedo Craft 109 in World War II. The first carrier served from 1968 to 2007, and was the last conventionally-powered carrier built by the Navy.
"There could not be a more appropriate tribute to President Kennedy and his legacy," said Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Mass., who was visibly humbled by the event. He went on to describe his great uncle as a man "who loved his country deeply, and adored our oceans. He understood the power and potential of our seas." Kennedy described touching trips made to the first JFK carrier, and closed with an "awe-inspired thank you" to shipbuilders.
