USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) was deployed on
29 April 1961 as CVA-63. She was the first of the Kitty Hawk class (the only other being the
USS Constellation (CV 64)). Unusually the home port of the Kitty Hawk is
Yokosuka Naval Base[?],
Japan making it the world's only permanently forward-deployed
aircraft carrier. She is one of only two aircraft carriers ever to be honored with flying the First Navy Jack.
Kitty Hawk became the oldest active ship in the Navy on 30 September 1998, with the decommissioning of the
USS Independence[?].
- Builders: New York Ship Building Corp., Camden, N.J.
- Power Plant: Eight boilers, four geared steam turbines, four shafts, 280,000 shp
- Length, overall: 323.8 meters
- Flight Deck Width: 76.8 meters
- Beam: 39 meters
- Displacement: 82,096.69 metric tons (full load)
- Speed: 30+ knots
- Aircraft: 85
- Crew: Ship's Company: 3,150 - Air Wing: 2,480