Kitty Hawk (CVA 63) - Naval Cruise Book

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In iIk- I ' liilad.-lplii;! Naval Slii|)yar(l, April li9, 19(il. KlT ' l ' li. l was coiiiinissionctl as thu world ' s largesi Iii|j and ihe first (.-arriu-r lo be armed witli KLiided niissiifs. 15, ()()() people watched Cap- tain WM ' . Brinfjlc i- ad his orders, assume command and set the first watch. After a fitting out period. KIl ■ ll. K set out for (luantanomo Bay in .lul - to pick up Carrier AirCjroup KLMV ' l-IN and sail on her cruise around ? luth America to join the I ' acihc P leet, her home. The trip around the Horn was one of goodwill as she made many friends hut yet demonstrated what a weapon she could be if the need arose. KITTY HAWK reached San Diego in early No- vamljer. The first weekend in port saw more than 2 ),()()() Californians cross her brows, a West Coast record for a ship visit. KITTY HAWK sj ent the winter months and into t ic Spring of 19()li in the yards at San Francisco. 1,1 May, only a week before returning to San Diego, ( ' a])taiii !5ringle ,ga ' e the helm to Captain W. 1,. Lurlis, .Ir. In September, she began her first Western Pacific uise as a unit of the U. S. SF.VENTH Fleet. This was the fu ' st time a true sujiercarrier hafl ' isited the Far Fast. It was a busy cruise. By the New Year 19()3, KITTY HA ' K had already been the scene of a .SFVENTH Fleet change of command, hosted mili- tary leaders of the free nations in Asia for a CINCPAC Weajions Demonstrations, participated in till ' amphibious exercise LONE EACJLE, and was visited by two goodwill ambassadors Francis Cardin- al Spellman and Bob Hope. On April 2. I96;5, KITTY HAWK returned to San Diego for a well deserved rest. But not for long for it was soon announced that President John F. Kennedy would make the ship a floating White House in early .Tune. He was due to come aboard to view the at sea phase of a FIRST Fleet Weapons Demonstration. On June 6. L ' nited States arrived. From KITTY HAWK ' S flight deck, the late President Kennedy viewed a task force of 18 ships and more than 10,000 men plus countless number of aircraft demonstrate the powerful deterrent force the Navy employs today. Before commissioninjj His official party included the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations and other meinbers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, California Governor Pat Brown and many others who together made a whos who in civilian and military circles in Washington. KITTY HA T made many front pciges that day as more than 100 newsmen were aboard to capture the event in words and pictures. Also last summer was our annual Dependent s Cruise and the Middle Pacific Cruise to the lush shores of Hawaii. On October 17, KITTY HAWK left San Diego for WESTPAC once again. Her history for this cruise, a fitting climax to her year 1963, is contained here in pictures and words--a graphic story of a force that sails because of 12 important seconds 60 years ago.

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KITTY HAWK 1903 • 1963 Wright brothers Memorial, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina It only took 12 seconds on the morning of Decem- ber 17, 1903, to change the future course of world events. From the flat beach land of Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, man left the earth in a powered machine. Those I ' J seconds marked the first time in the history of the world that a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full ffight, had gone forward without reduction of speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started. With those 12 seconds, Orville and Wilbur Wright started the Air Age. Todav, fiO years later, the attack aircraft carrier USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) sails the world ' s oceans as a living monument to their success. To the Navy, KITTY HAWK represents the most up- to-date in Naval Aviation. To every American, she is one of the most powerful weapons ever devised for the defense of the free world. The first ship Kitty Hawk The events of December 7, 1941, demonstrated the need for air superiority at sea. Not only were 17 new Essex class carriers constructed, but jeep- carriers, and auxiliaries and aircraft transports also were made to narrow the gap between the Japanese. The first aircraft transport, a reconverted com- mercial ship, had been commissioned in June 1941 as USS KITTY HAWK (AFV-1) in honor of the first flight. Although limited in size, the first ship KITTY HAWK was not limited in cargo or theater of action. She sailed all over the Pacific hauling everything from planes to men, and she aided in the campaigns of Guadacanal, Bouganville and Okinawa. On January 26, 1946, the 14-year-old ship was decommissioned and returned to her original owners. On July 13, 1955, the second ship KITTY HAWK was authorized by Congress. Designated CVA-63, she was thought part of the Forrestal class. But from the time her keel was laid on December 27, 1957, until she was launched in May of 1960, she was recognized as something different. In her birthplace at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey, many saw a first in carriers. KITTY HAWK ' s embryo island structure was being fitted two-thirds of the way aft intead of amidships, permitting two elevators forward to provide for easier handling of the aircraft. Another major difference was most shocking. Nowhere around the profile were the usual anti-aircraft guns. Instead there were two Terrier surface-to-air missile batteries near the stern. This was a new revolution in self-defense, missiles aboard a carrier. These two major differences caused many to say that the new ship was the first in its class, the KITTY HAWK class. After three years of construction, the new ship went to sea in February 1961 for the builder ' s trials and Navy inspection. She passed both exams satis- factorily and was ready to embark htr crew and become a ship of the line.

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KITTY HAWK AN INDISPENSABLE PART OF SEA POWER Carrier row at San Diego Her modern jets have a striking power in any area of the world without advance construction of air bases. Her flight deck is political- ly free, a condition not always ex- isting at U.S. bases on foreign soil. KITTY HAWK can move rapidly to the area where she is needed. An airstrip has to be used where it is built. From the instant she arrives, KITTY HAWK has full capability. Her crews and planes are ready to go. Fuel and other supplies are at hand. ' g aS L Sfe