Kitty Hawk (CV 63) - Naval Cruise Book

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iSllrpn)1 On completion of her fifth combat tour and seventh cruise in the Western Pacific, which ended on July 17, 1971, Kitty Hawk was awarded the Admiral Flotley Me- morial Award for her perfect safety record during a full deployment in the area of Southeast Asia. This record of no combat or operational losses had never been equaled by any other carrier. She also received her third award of the Navy Unit Commendation, to add to the previously awarded Presidential Citation, National De- fense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Cam- paign Medal. America ' s involvement in Vietnam ended early in 1973, but not before Kitty Hawk received another Meritorious Unit commendation for her actions be- tween February and November 1972. Kitty Hawk recorded a total of six combat cruises to the Gulf of Tonkin. In all of them, the Hawk served her country with distinc- tion and honor. Kitty Hawk more than met the challenge and served notice to potential foes that she is a formida- ble opponent. The ship returned to a much calmer Western Pacific dur- ing her ninth deploy- ment. During the eight-month cruise, the Hawk and Air Wing 11 spent 68 days in the Indian Ocean. In peacetime, training toward the objective of oper- ational readiness was the Kitty Hawk ' s major goal on WESTPAC number 10. During the almost seven-month deployment, ending on December 15, 1975, the Hawk and Air Wing 1 1 participated in many operational exer- cises with other ships of the Seventh Fleet. Kitty Hawk arrived at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on March 12, 1976, for a complex overhaul period which lasted 12 months. Extensive modifications and modern- ization took place to complete Kitty Hawk ' s conversion to her new designation of CV-63. The overhaul cost over $100 million and consumed 10 million monhours of labor by the ship ' s crew and shipyard employees. Several key alterations made to Kitty Hawk included: The installation of the Tactical Support Center, which is an integral part of the ship ' s anti-submarine defense, the highly computerized VAST aircraft maintenance system and the NATO Sea Sparrow anti-air missile system. In addition, entensive modifications were made to enable Kitty Hawk to house the Navy ' s newest planes, the F-14 Tomcat and S-3 Viking. In October 1977, Kitty Hawk and Air Wing 1 1 began their last Western Pacific deployment together, returning to San Diego almost seven months later. On July 1, 1978, Kitty Hawk welcomed Air Wing 15 and began prepara- tions for yet another WESTPAC. On May 30, 1979, Kitty Hawk and Air Wing 15 left Son Diego for a Western Pacific deployment scheduled to end in December, which included In- dochina refugee search and assis- tance operations and Korean con- tingency oper- ations. WESTPAC ' 79 soon turned into 1980 as Kitty Hawk ' s 12th WESTPAC cruise was extended by Arabian Sea readiness oper- ations in response to the Iranian cri- sis. The ship and air wing were awarded the Navy Expidition- ary Medal for this 74-day period. Fi- nally, after nine long months over- seas, Kitty Hawk was awarded the Battle E for the second time on October 10, 1980, covering a competitive cycle running from January 1979 to August 1980. After a 13 month training and rehabilitation period, Kitty Hawk and Air Wing 15 departed on April 1, 1981 to accomplish what is recorded in this book. With the Hawk ' s air wing, composed of bomber, fighter, anti-submarine, attack and support aircraft, and exten- sive shipboard modificatioris, the Kitty Hawk is well equipped to meet the challenge of any threat to world peace. But her weapons are merely idle steel without the men who stand behind her. Kitty Hawk ' s crew and air wing are over 5,000 strong and each man plays an inte- gral part in her role as a keeper of the peace for the freedom loving peoples of the world. Since her concep- tion, the Hawk has set the standard in Naval aviation. With a proud past behind her, she continues to serve in the forefront of our nation ' s defense. And with a future just as bright, the Kitty Hawk and her Hawkmen will continue to be a powerful force for freedom. On the USS Kitty Hawk, we are forever Pressing On.

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wm The USS Kitty Hawk had her beginning as o dream come true in the year 1903. Two brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, believing that the airplane could carry a man in flight, set the wheels of destiny in motion on December 17. They successfully launched the first heavier-than-air aircraft in a small field in North Carolina. This historic event took place just outside the small town of Kitty Hawk. Many changes have token place in aviation since that initial voyage of flight 78 years ago. The Wright brothers, as remarkable as their flight was, could only manage a 12-second flight traveling 120 feet at on altitude of three feet. If the brothers had made their maiden flight on today ' s Kitty Hawk they would have to make nine trips just to travel from the bow of the ship to the stern. The gigantic size of Kitty Hawk, along with the im- pressive sight of supersonic air- craft whistling off the flight deck, in- deed tells the sto- ry of just how far aviation technol- ogy has ad- vanced in the past 78 years. The original naval ship named Kitty Hawk was a 498- foot aircraft transport used in World War II. Built in 1932 as a com- mercial ship, she was acquired by the Navy in 1941 and modified to transport aircraft. She was decommissioned in 1946 and returned to her peacetime occupation as a commercial vessel. The second Navy ship to bear the name Kitty Hawk was built in Camden, N.J., at the New York Shipbuilding Cor- poration dock. On May 21, 1960, after three-and-one- half years of construction, Kitty Hawk was launched. Fi- nally in the water, she still hod to face numerous tests before the US. Navy would accept her as port of our nation ' s fleet. On April 29, 1961, USS Kitty Hawk was declared ready for service and commissioned into the U.S. Navy. Kitty Hawk sailed out of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard OS the first aircraft carrier in the world equipped with Terrier guided missiles replacing the conventional anti- aircraft guns. Thus, from the outset, Kitty Hawk estab- lished a precedent of setting the standard for other carri- ers to follow. Traveling the route of many early explorers, Kitty Hawk steamed from the east coast in 1961 on a good will cruse around South America ' s Cope Horn to her new homeport of San Diego, California. New to the fleet and Son Diego waters, Kitty Hawk be- gan the order of the day for this newly-designated CVA as she prepared for her first Western Pacific deployment on September 13, 1962. After returning from her maiden voyage in April 1963, Kitty Hawk became President John F. Kennedy ' s floating White House. From the Hawk, President Kennedy and other top government officials witnessed a fleet weapons demonstration, an event that was covered by more than 100 newsmen. Later in 1963, Kitty Hawk left San Diego for her sec- ond WESTPAC cruise. This sec- ond deployment into the Western Pacific saw Kitty Hawk wearing the coveted Battle E signifying her as the top attack carrier in the Pa- cific Fleet for the period 1962-64. A year and two days after her re- turn to Son Diego waters, USS Kitty Hawk bid farewell to Southern Cali- fornia again as she headed for the Western Pacific on October 19, 1965. During this cruise the Kitty Hawk was awarded her first Meritorious Unit Commendation for actions in the Tonkin Gulf. Seven months passed before the combat-har- dened aircraft carrier made her appearance in home waters off the California coast in May, 1966. Kitty Hawk was not allowed to stay in her homeport for long due to the intensity of the Vietnam conflict. Heeding the call of battle, she left the U.S. on November 5, 1966. On this deployment the Kitty Hawk and Air Wing 1 1 set a record for dropping the most ordnance on enemy tar- gets from a single carrier. For her exceptional perfor- mance, Kitty Hawk was awarded her second Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period of December 1966 to April ' 67. In November 1967, after a brief stateside respite, Kitty Hawk left again for duty in Vietnam. During the 1967-68 deployment, Kitty Hawk set a record for being on the line off the coast of Vietnam for 61 consecutive days. President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded the ship the presti- gious Presidential Unit Citation for her actions on the cruise.

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acrefory of the Navy Arriving The Honorable John F. Lehman Jr., Secretary of the r4avy, embarked in Kitty Hawk as we sailed from Pearl Hartxx, Hi., on April 15th. Secretary Lehman, wtv3 is a naval flight officer and a Lieutenant Commartder in the Naval Reserve, was launched and recovered in an SH-2 Sea Sprite heli- copter and the A-6E Intruder in which he completed a weapons delivery training mission. The Kitty Hawk battle group, USS Wabash, USS Mt. Hood. USS Halsey, USS Hoel, USS Gushing, USS Leftwich, and the USS Fanning executed a pass-in-review in secretary Lehman ' s honor. WNIe onboard, secretary Lehman also received tours of operational, maintenance and weapons spaces. Secretary Lehman was also given operational brief- ings by RAdm Lawrence C. Chambers, Commander, Carrier Group Three and by Kitty Hawk Commanding Officer, Captain Foster S. Teague. Secretary Lehman took time out to address the crew of Kitty Hawk and Air Wing 15 via the ship ' s closed circuit television system. In his talk with the crew, the secretary talked about current Navy problems and initiatives, emphasizing the vital role of the carrier bot- tle group in preserving world peace. Secretary Lehman was accompanied by his wife Bar- bara wtiile on Kitty Hawk.