ABC News: John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier gets ready to leave dry dock for the first time
Newport News Shipbuilding turned on the faucets at the dry dock where the John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier is under construction.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A major milestone has been reached for the nation's next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Newport News Shipbuilding began to flood Dry Dock 12 on Tuesday morning, which is where the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) is being built. The Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier has been under construction at the shipyard since 2015.
Water began to slowly pour into the dry dock, which will take several hours to fill up to 10 feet of the ship's hull. At that point, structural integrity tests will be performed before flooding continues.
The end goal is simple: fill the dry dock enough to allow the ship to float out for the very first time.
Read more ....
Update: At Newport News, the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy hits the water (Daily Press)
WNU Editor: The Pentagon is now contemplating on streamlining how these carriers will be built .... Navy Rethinking Need For Dual-Phase Carrier Delivery (USNI News).
I saw the original JFK anchored in the river Forth beside Edinburgh in the 70s. It was huge, too big to enter the port of Leith. One night sailors on leave in the city couldn't get back to the carrier due to heavy fog. Hundreds of US sailors were piled for hours into my uncles bakery to keep warm until the fog lifted. The yanks were very generous, very generous indeed. To this day my uncle is still getting through the Hershey bars & wearing the nylons!!!
ReplyDelete