USS John F. Kennedy Looking For A Home
By Wyatt Earp | November 26, 2009
Psst! Hey buddy, ya wanna own an aircraft carrier? Cheap?
The USS John F. Kennedy, which is currently docked in Philadelphia, is now available as a donation from the Navy. But not just anyone can take the keys and sail it down the Delaware.
By law, it can go only to a state or local governmental entity, or a nonprofit. It must be turned into a memorial or museum. And whoever gets it must pay for towing.
A Boston city councilman has expressed interest in bringing the 1,052-foot-long vessel to Massachusetts, the Kennedy family’s home state. Philadelphia seems an unlikely destination, though it would be cool to have.
Douglas Oliver, Mayor Nutter’s spokesman, did not have an immediate comment about whether the city would be interested in taking the warship, which entered service in 1968 and was decommissioned in 2007. (H/T – Philly.com)
Of course the city will not express an interest. Why would we make an effort to create a first-class riverfront when Camden, New Jersey – yes, CAMDEN! – outshines my hometown by leaps and bounds?
Topics: Coolness! | 13 Comments »
November 26th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Any city should be proud to have it!
November 26th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Oh cool!
Turn it into a theme-park or a hotel.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Hope some state makes a bid for it before the Obama administration donates it to the Somalian pirates
November 27th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Somehow I doubt that Boston citycouncilman would be Up-Chuck Turner- the same POS who staged a press conference w/the local Nation of Islam head 5 hears ago to show pictures from an Eastern European porn site and say that this was proof positive of American GI’s raping Iraqi women at will.
Oh…wait- that was when Bush was president. I’m sure the indicted city councilman freakin’ loves the military and is so freakin’ proud of them now that Chairman Unicorn is in the White House.
November 27th, 2009 at 1:12 am
I hope some one saves this ship. This ship is one of the last aircraft carriers that was at the signing of the cease fire of viet nam. The one where Nixon got us out of the war. I was there 28 January 1973. I was on the USS Ranger CVA-61, before all carriers were changed to CV or CVN. I have the cruse book with the overhead photo, of the USS Ranger CVA-61, USS Enterprise CVA-65, USS Constellation CVA-64, USS Forrestal CVA-59, USS America CAV-66, Midway CVA-41, USS Kennedy CVA-67and Coral Sea CVA-43 along with all their support ships. Also the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy was there. These two last named ships where the ones that were fired upon, with torpedoes from commie gun ships, that started the Johnston escalation of viet nam.
After we started to bomb the crap out of north viet nam on Dec 18, 1972, and kept at it until the signing of the papers.
This day also marks the beginning of the slow slide straight down the crapper to where we are today and where we are going to go for the next 14 years.
So there is a little history for all you people that were not there on that historic day. This history is for me, the Navy, the United States, and the World.
Any comments from the other people that were on the ships during that time? Am I missing any of the ships there were there? This is all I can remember now and the feeling that things were gong to get a lot worse in the future for me and this country. And they have definitely gotten worse, and that is a FACT.
Just to bad that the same people that lost us the war in viet nam are still alive and are working on causing us to lose this war on terror. May all those BBFN still alive rot and burn in HELL. Heltau
November 27th, 2009 at 4:26 am
The ultimate floating casino…
November 27th, 2009 at 9:55 am
In this case, I’d say put the carrier in Boston Harbor; where else could there be a better place for a naval vessel named after JFK than the state he was born in?
November 27th, 2009 at 10:53 am
They should donate it to India with the condition of the purchase of a full complement of F-18s and support.
That way we get a closer alliance and Russia is out billions.
Just think how ticked Iran would be…..
November 27th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
We’ll take it in Vegas………Oh wait…….It goes in WATER……….Nevermind……….
November 27th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Proof – No argument there.
Sapwolf – Just don’t let it rot. It’s too important.
Crusty – Or to Iran.
Fenway_Nation – Absolutely. It’s “cool” to support the troops now.
Heltau – Well, Cronkite is gone, so he can’t proclaim this war “unwinnable.”
Dano – They can put it on the Mississippi!
Morgan – I agree. It would be a great place to keep it.
It would piss off Iran and Russia. Win-freakin-win!
LDIV – Yeah, we can’t exactly put it on top of Caesar’s!
November 27th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
My Dad ws a flight instructor out of Patrick Henry Airport in Newport News. On Christmas Day of 1968 he took my sisters and I on a flight around Hampton Roads. I remember flying over the Kennedy, then under construction and thinking that I could reach out and touch it from so high up. That was a long time ago…
November 27th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I know someone that served on The JFK
December 1st, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Since my son was on the JFK for one of it’s last voyages (2005 I believe), I’m thinking it would look good here in my home town. Any idea on what it would cost to tow it to NE Wyoming? I was thinking we could moor it in Keyhole reservoir. I’m just not sure it will float in the powder river.