Photo By Christy Trabun | On Thursday, three tugboats pulled alongside the Ex-JFK, the mooring lines were...... read more read more
PHILADELPHIA - For more than a decade and a half, the last remaining conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Ex-USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), has been moored in the City of Brotherly Love—a tangible symbol of America’s military strength in the city where both the Navy and Marine Corps were founded 250 years ago.
On Thursday, three tugboats pulled alongside the Ex-JFK, the mooring lines were dropped from Pier 4, and she began her final voyage down the Delaware River, bound for scrapping in Brownsville, Texas. Veterans from her nearly 40 years of active service braved well-below-freezing temperatures to watch the final preparations, reminisce about their time aboard her decks, and capture one last farewell photo.
“Ex-John F. Kennedy will always be remembered as a symbol of enduring freedom and a beacon of hope and peace during difficult times in our nation,” said Rear Adm. Bill Greene, Director, Surface Ship Maintenance, Modernization and Sustainment.
Commissioned on Sept. 7, 1968, the USS John F. Kennedy (CVA- 67) conducted 18 deployments to the Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Ligurian, Aegean, and Adriatic seas during periods of escalating tension in the Middle East and North Africa, often under the watchful eye of Soviet ships, according to a Naval Sea Systems Command news release.
In more recent history, immediately following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the John F. Kennedy and her battle group established air security along the mid-Atlantic seaboard to help calm a fearful and shocked nation in support of Operation Noble Eagle.
In February 2002, the ship deployed in support of Operations Anaconda and Enduring Freedom. On the eve of the first air strikes launched from her flight deck into Afghanistan, then-commanding officer Capt. Ronald Henderson Jr. reflected on America’s global leadership, declaring, “Our Naval power has been the principal weapon of our resolve,” and honoring the “great ships and great crews” that came before. “It is now our turn to strike for justice, and we will strike hard,” he said.
The John F. Kennedy also deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in July 2004.
After decommissioning in 2007, the carrier was brought to Philadelphia in 2008, where it has remained until Jan. 16, 2025.
Rear Adm. Bill Greene concluded, “The countless members of the ship’s crew and all who sustained it during its lifecycle should be proud of the exceptional work that kept the ship sailing and supporting our fleet for many years. Fair winds and following seas.”
| Date Taken: | 01.16.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.17.2025 14:21 |
| Story ID: | 489279 |
| Location: | PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 403 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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