Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 USS Kitty Hawk |
|
| United States |  |
|---|---|
| Builders: | New York Shipbuilding New York Navy Yard Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Operators: |  United States Navy |
| Preceding class: | Forrestal |
| Following class: | Enterprise Nimitz |
| Commissioned: | 21 April 1961 |
| Ships in Class | |
| Ships in class: | 4 |
| Ships in active service: | USS Kitty Hawk |
| Ships in storage: | USS Constellation USS John F. Kennedy |
| Sunk ships: | USS America (as a target) |
| General Characteristics | |
| Class type: | Supercarrier |
| Displacement: | 83,960 tons |
| Length: | 320 m |
| Beam: | 39.6 m |
| Draught: | 11.4 m |
| Speed: | 32 |
| Range: | 12,000 miles |
| Complement: | |
| Armament: | 24 surface to air missiles 3-4 close-in weapons systems |
| Aircraft complement: | Up to 90 aircraft |
| Aircraft facilities: | 318 m angled flight deck |
The Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers of the United States Navy were an incremental improvement on the Forrestal-class vessels. Four were built, all in the 1960s:
- Kitty Hawk (CV-63) (1961–2008)
- Constellation (CV-64) (1961–2003)
- America (CVA-66) (1965–1996)
The biggest differences from the Forrestals are greater length, and a different placement of elevators; two are forward of the island, with a third at the portside stern. The movement of the #4 elevator from the forward to the after end of the angle made it useful for aircraft movement, since the forward-end elevator was useless as it was in both the landing path and in the launch path of the #3 and #4 catapults.
Each was built at a different shipyard.
Kitty Hawk and Constellation were later updated in an SLEP program; but America was scheduled for a few years later than her sisters, at a time of budget cuts, and was decommissioned in 1996. America was in very poor condition when she was decommissioned, and therefore despite her historical significance was not held as a donation asset. She was expended as a live-fire target and sunk on 14 May 2005.
John F. Kennedy (CV-67) is similar, but has enough differences that it is often placed in its own class. She was decommissioned on March 23, 2007.
| Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier |
| Kitty Hawk | Constellation | America |
List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy |
