All Wood Ships: Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carriers: CVA / CV-64 Constellation

CVA-64 "USS Constellation" was the second carrier in the Kitty Hawk Class. Four years building, she was commissioned October 27, 1961. Upon delivery to the fleet, she was outfitted with the Mk-10 Terrier Standard Missile Launcher system providing air defense for the ship and it's battle group during the Vietnam conflict. On June 30, 1975 the ship was reclassified as a "Multi-Purpose Aircraft Carrier" (CV-64) following modifications to the flight deck and equipment which enabled the ship to deploy with S-3A Viking anti-submarine aircraft and F-14 Tomcat fighters. In 1982, CV-64 returned to the yards for major modernization. When the ship came out in 1984 she was able to carry the Navy's newest strike fighter - the F/A-18 Hornet. Additionally, her Mk-10 launchers (earlier modified to launch Talos and Tarter missiles) were removed and replaced with the Mk-29 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers.

On November 2nd, 2002, "USS Constellation" stood out on her last and final cruise - this time in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She arrived in the Arabian Gulf December 17th and remained on station for four months. "Connie" (as the ship was affectionately called) was the first to launch air strikes in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and subsequently flew more than 1,500 sorties, dropping more than 1.7 million pounds of ordinance on strategic military targets. In addition, Connie produced, packaged and dropped about 600 million leaflets over Iraq. On April 17, 2003 she began her return to San Diego. On June 1, 2003 an S-3B from VS-38 became the last aircraft in history to be launched off her deck.

Since her commissioning, nearly 120,000 sailors and marines have served aboard the ship, and the arresting gear has amassed an impressive 436,000 'traps', or landings. After nearly 42 years of service, "USS Constellation" was decommissioned on August 7, 2003, and struck from the Navy List on December 2, 2003. Connie is now slated to be sunk for an artificial reef.
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Current Kitty Hawk Class specifications
Length	1,073 feet
Deck width	252 feet
Displacement	60,100 tons, 82,538 tons fully loaded
Power Plant	8 steam boilers, 4 geared turbines
Screws + SHP	4 screws, 280,000 SHP total
Speed	34 knots
Complement	Ship's Company: 2,900, Air Wing: 2,480
Armament	Initially Terrier Mk-10 launchers with Standard missiles, converted to Talos and Tarter in early 1980s, removed 1984. Replaced by 3 Sea Sparrow, 3 Phalanx, Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM)
Aircraft	~ 85; Carrier Air Wing Two - includes F14, F/A-18, EA-6B, S-3, E-2C and SH-60 helicopters

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Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carriers

Ship Comm. Fate

CVA-63 / CV-63
USS Kitty Hawk 29-05-61 Forward deployed at Yokosuka, Japan

CVA-64 / CV-64
USS Constellation 27-10-61 Decommissioned 2003

CVA-66 / CV-66
USS America 23-01-65 CV-64 variant, decommissioned 1996

"Undefined Class"
CVA-67 / CV-67
USS John F. Kennedy 07-09-68 Active, homeported at Mayport, Florida,