22.04.2007 ~ Come Sail Away...
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wtfF0nzie: RT @eircom: Technology Career Opportunities #eircom are looking for "skilled specialists with expertise in a variety of areas" - http:// ...
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:17:03
March 23 2007, Naval Station Mayport
Anchors dropped. Once active boilers now totally extinguished, leaving a cold ship and the beginning of a long sleep.
After almost 39 years in service, the USS John F Kennedy dropped anchor for the last time at Mayport naval station in Florida for its decommissioning. The ship is presently being prepared to be mothballed at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia (alongside the Ticonderoga and Yorktown, surprisingly enough!). Its ultimate faith is still unknown - retired carriers have been known to become anything from museums to razor blades to artificial reefs!
The 11+1-1 Navy
It had been a close race. The downgrade to an 11 carrier navy was slow in coming. The Enterprise, Kittyhawk and Carl Vinson (the older flat-tops) were also considered for decommissioning. Original navy plans called for the JFK to be operational until 2018, despite the fact the carrier never received the regular service life expansion programme at age 30. Defence budget cuts dropped the 2018 date to 2011. In February 2006, the navy restricted the JFK from conducting flight operations with fixed-wing aircraft due corrosion problems with the ship’s arrestor gear mounts. Other issues included two of the ship’s catapults and four of the eight steam boilers operating under waivers that expired in 2006. So rather than spend $2bn to extend the service life of the JFK from 2007 to 2011 the decision was made to mothball the carrier.
So what?
I was lucky to spend a number of hours on 'Big Jon' in 1996 when it was anchored off Dún Laoghaire. The carrier had been demoted to a “operational/reserve training carrier” and would spend a year in the North Atlantic, visiting Dublin in the process. 10,000 people were scheduled to tour the vessel, the National Lottery taking responsibility for the allocation of tickets. We were 'pulled out of the hat' four times (having entered using everything from postcards to corn flakes boxes!) and were scheduled to take the the 11:00 tour on the final day.
The week would prove a massive disappointment for many of the winners. A barge, used as a boarding ramp between visitor ferries and the carrier, had driven a hole in Kennedy's outer hull after a night of rough seas. Block after block of would-be visitors would have their deck-time cancelled, often while they waited for the ferry to take them the final 2 kilometers to the ship.
Dad, Darren, Rob and I were to be in the second group in the morning of the last day. The group before us had been cancelled on account of further rough seas. After passing through various check points (and losing pocket knifes in the process) we queued and waited. After what seemed an age the ferry doors opened and we were allowed to board...
To be continued...
A large number of photos exist of what happened next. Time permitting I'm going to scan and post the rest of this story =)