Since last Sunday it has been possible to see, on the coast of Valparaíso (120 kilometers from Santiago), the former aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, towed by the ship Michelle Foss. The Port Authority of Valparaíso reported that this Sunday the ship belonging to the United States arrived in the bay, before continuing its course to Punta Arenas, in the Magallanes region (2,088 kilometers from Santiago).
The Kitty Hawk was stationed at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan for 10 years, until 2008, when it was replaced by the USS George Washington.
The passage of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk through Chile is due to its transfer from the port of Naval Base Bremerton, Seattle (Pacific Coast) to the Port of Brownville, Texas (Atlantic Coast), in order to begin its scrapping process.
The route included passing through the Port of Los Angeles (United States), Manzanillo (Mexico), Balboa (Panama) and Valparaíso. And they await your arrival in Punta Arenas, Montevideo (Uruguay), Salvador (Brazil), Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) and Brownville (United States).
Currently the ship is dismantled, leaving only its main structure, without crew or aircraft. It is contemplated that she will cross the Strait of Magellan to continue towards her destination port.
Its original name was received in honor of the town in North Carolina, in which the Wright brothers managed to propel the first airplane in 1903, but in the last years of its service it was known as the “Shitty Kitty” because of the poor condition it was in.
This aircraft carrier was part of the Navy that participated in the Vietnam War, it was used in the retaliatory measures of the United States against Afghanistan after the September 11 attack. She was even approached by the president John F Kennedy, who observed the operations inside the ship, just a few months before his assassination.
It was not the main ship used in the famous movie starring Tom Cruise, “Top Gun” (The film was recorded aboard the USS Enterprise, decommissioned in 2015), but a Navy veterans blog indicates that it was used in a scene in the film in which the crew could participate.
In addition, he was part of productions such as “The Final Account”, “Seven days of May” and the Disney feature film, Robinson Crusoe 20th century.
History of USS Kitty Hawk
She is a United States Navy aircraft carrier, the leader of her class and the second ship to be named for Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the flight of the Wright Brothers’ first powered airplane. Kitty Hawk was the first and last active ship of her class, and the last US Navy aircraft carrier in service powered by diesel.
With the retirement of the USS Independence on September 30, 1998, the Kitty Hawk became the second oldest active ship in the United States Navy—after the frigate USS Constitution, which is still in active status. As of the beginning of 2013, this status has been surpassed only by one other ship, the USS Enterprise prior to her inactivation in 2012. With that title came the distinction of being one of only two aircraft carriers to be honored with flying the First Navy Jack.
For 10 years, the Kitty Hawk was permanently stationed at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan. In October 2008 she was replaced in that role by the USS George Washington. The Kitty Hawk then returned to the United States and had her decommissioning ceremony on January 31, 2009. She was officially decommissioned on May 12, 2009 after nearly 49 years of active duty. She was replaced by the George HW Bush.
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Source-www.infobae.com