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Kitty Hawk leads list of ships going away

The Navy plans to say goodbye to an aircraft carrier and three amphibious ships in the next fiscal year.

The Austin-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs) Juneau and Nashville, amphibious assault ship Tarawa (LHA 1) and the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk are slated to leave the fleet in fiscal 2009.

Based in Yokosuka, Japan, Kitty Hawk was built by New York Shipbuilding Corp. in New Jersey and commissioned in April 1961. The carrier was the first of three super carriers and is the last conventionally-powered carrier in the fleet.

The Japan-based Juneau was constructed by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Co. in Seattle and commissioned in 1969. The ship went on five separate deployments to Vietnam in the early 1970s and earned five battle stars for efforts during the Vietnam War, according to the ship’s Web site. The “Mighty J” was the first ship on station after the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska, supported the deployment of Marines to Somalia, made multiple Persian Gulf deployments and helped in cyclone relief efforts in Bangladesh.

The Norfolk, Va.,-based Nashville was also built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction. The ship was commissioned in 1970. The Navy is now building San Antonio-class ships to eventually replace the older LPD ships.

The Tarawa was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries in Pascagoula, Miss., and was commissioned in 1976. The amphibious assault ship has spent its life in the Pacific Ocean and in the Middle East, where the ship is currently operating in the 5th Fleet area of operations.