John F Kennedy (CV 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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w HISTORY OF THE SHIP ' S SEAL dy and Fitzgerald fam- ilies. These ancient symbols represent the stability that stems from tradition. In ad- rated to show the progress that stems from innovation. Both stability and pro- gress were notable characteristics of the policies of President John F. Kennedy, and both are essential to the continued accom- plishment of our mission. The black shield with three gold helmets is the traditional coat of arms of the O ' Ken- nedy of the Ormonde. The helmets repre- sent the original Gaelic word for Kennedy, Ceinneide, which means helmeted head. The red and white borders are the colors of Fitzgerald of Desmond. Above the shield is the single helmet, crowned with a wreath of the Kennedy colors, black and gold, and flanked by the red and white mantel in Fitzgerald colors, symbolic of courage. by olive branches, symbolizing the Presidential Seal. The bottlenosed dolphins holding the ban- of the sea and seamen. They represent our freedom to roam the seas, freedom essen- tial to progress in the world community. Dolphins are friends of man but deadly en- J The shamrock shaped banner symbolizes good luck. President Kennedy ' s Irish an- cestry and our ties with Ireland. Written on the banner in latin is the ship ' s motto, Date Nolite Rogare. which mei be unwilling to ask. The phrase repre- sents the spirit of President Kennedy ' s in- augural address and speciHcally that fam- ous line: Ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country ... ' The wings are symbols not only of KEN- NEDY ' S air power, but also of progress Lieutenant John F. Kennedy in senting the 50 states. eraft PT-IOS during World War

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IN MEMORY OF JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY 1917-1963 •John KitZ|{orald Konnody was born May 29, 1917, in Krooklinc, Massachusotts, the son of .losoph V. Kennedy, a pro businessman, who served as U.S. AmQi sador lo Great Britain for four years. John K. Kennedy acted as his father ' s sec- retary in London in 193H and graduated from Harvard in 1910. He commanded a Navy PT-boat in the Pacific during World War II. In action off the Solomons, his boat was sunk by an enemy destroyer, and Ken- nedy was credited with heroism in saving his crew. His political career began in 1916 when he was elected to Congress as a Democrat from Massachusetts and continued with his reelection in 1948 and 1950. In 1952 Kennedy was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 19J ' l-55 he underwent operations on a spi- nal injury, suffered during the war. Away from the Senate, Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. In 1958 he was reelected to the Senate. At the Democratic National Convention in 1960, Kennedy received the Presidential nomination. Kennedy won the election and at 43 became the youngest man ever elect- ed to the White House and the nation ' s first Roman Catholic President. President Kennedy ' s administration, called the New Frontier, pressed for Federal aid to education, enlargement of civil rights, aid to economically depressed areas, medical care for the aged, and an accelerated space program. In foreign af- fairs, his principal accomplishments were the establishment of the Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress with Latin Ameri- ca, and the nuclear test ban treaty. John F. Kennedy died on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. Texas, as the result of an assassin ' s hulU-t. President Kennedy sailing his yacht on Nantucket Sound. ' resident Kennedy and his family on the porch of their preferred ||Btion spot; the family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

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A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST A Collosus is Born October 22. 1964 Since its first keel plates were laid down on an October morning in 1964, the USS John F. Kennedy grew weld by weld and deck by deck to its full enormity — five city blocks in length. 252 feet across the flight deck and to the height of a 23-story building. The keel for the USS John F. Kennedy was laid October 22, 1964. about six months after the $188,500,000 contract was awarded by the Navy. The USS John F. Kennedy spent the first six months of iu construction period inclined on Shipway 8 of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company because the nuclear aircraft carrier Enterpise was being refueled and overhauled in the building dock known as Shipway 1 1. On May 15, 1965. the Enterprise work was completed in Shipway 1 1. At that time, the Kennedy was no more than a 260-foot long, 4,000-ton steel box which was termed a structural enclosure. After its successful launching from Shipway 8. shipyard tugs floated the section about 400 yards up the James River into Shipway 1 1 . Here the building drama continued to unfold in a day-by-day, month-by-month spec- tacle. By the fall of 1965, the giant carrier towered above the top of the shipway. and by early 1 966. the overall length of the carrier could be clearly seen. The first steel for the flight deck was welded into place in the summer of 1 966 and work was begun on the island structure later that same year. Finally, on July 30. 1968, USS John F. Kennedy was taken to sea for trials and testing before her delivery and commissioning in 1968. Some 30.000 spectators gathered at Shipway 1 1 . Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, to witness the launching of the Navy ' s newest aircraft carrier. President Lyndon B. Johnson, delivering the principal address, was joined on the podium by members of the Kennedy family, including sponsor Miss Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, Matron of Honor Mrs. John F. Kennedy, and a distinguished list of military and civilian dignitaries. Just seconds before nine year-old Caroline Kennedy broke the bottle of champagne across the bow of the ship, three 10-foot tall letters JFK reproduced from the p r$onal signature of John F. Kennedy — lit the port and starboard sides of the carrier ' s bow. As the bottle of champagne crashed across the bow with Caroline ' s swift blow, the ship floated free from the keel blocks which had supported it during its years of » nstruction. Hull 577 was now the mighty aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, moving slowly on its first voyage ' — a mile-long trip down the James River to the south side of Pier 9.