Overview

The USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 was an Aircraft Carrier in service with the US Navy between 1961 and 2009. She was the lead ship of the Kitty Hawk class of carriers

History

The carrier took part in multiple Vietnam War cruises between 1965 and 1972. Between November 1992 and March 1993, she initially took part in Operation Restore Hope near Somalia before being diverted to the Persian Gulf to take part in Operation Southern Watch. In 1994, she was diverted to Western Pacific due to the 1994 North Korean Nuclear Crisis.

Kitty Hawk moved to Japan in 1998 and became the forward deployed carrier of the US 7th Fleet. In 2001, she took part in the Afghanistan conflict, and in 2003, she supported the US-led Invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). In 2008, Kitty Hawk was retired, being replaced by the USS George Washington CVN-73.