Kitty Hawk leaves Japan

Next stop, Pearl Harbor
Carrier George Washington to replace it in August.


Kitty Hawk leaves Japan
By Eric Talmadge - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 6:39:10 EDT

YOKOSUKA, Japan — The oldest active ship in the Navy, the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, made its final departure from Japan on Wednesday to be decommissioned after nearly a half-century of service.

The Kitty Hawk, with sailors lining its decks, pulled away from Yokosuka port just south of Tokyo to the cheers of hundreds of schoolchildren and the sounds of brass bands.

It flew the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, which designates it as the oldest ship in the Navy.

The Kitty Hawk, the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier in the Navy, is to be replaced later this summer by the nuclear-powered carrier George Washington.

After leaving Japan, the Kitty Hawk will make a stop at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then travel on to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., to be decommissioned.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_kittyhawk_052708/