Kitty Hawk on farewell tour

From Navy Times

Kitty Hawk visits Sydney on farewell tour

By Meraiah Foley - The Associated Press

Posted : Thursday Jul 5, 2007 9:05:49 EDT

ABOARD THE USS KITTY HAWK — The Navy’s oldest ship in full active service pulled into Sydney Harbor on Thursday for a farewell visit, following its final military exercises before being decommissioned.

The carrier Kitty Hawk, based in the Japanese port city of Yokosuka, and its crew of more than 5,500 sailors, docked at the Garden Island naval base along with support ships from its battle group.

Thousands of spectators lined the shores of Australia’s biggest city to catch a glimpse of the massive vessel, as a half-dozen television helicopters buzzed overhead.

Onboard, eager American sailors snapped photos and pointed as the white peaks of Australia’s iconic Opera House came into view.

The 46-year-old ship — the only U.S. aircraft carrier permanently deployed abroad — recently took part in Talisman Sabre exercises off Australia’s northeast coast that involved more than 30 ships, more than 100 planes and almost 30,000 U.S. and Australian troops.

The ship’s current voyage in the western and central Pacific Ocean was expected to be its last major mission before it is replaced next year by the carrier George Washington.

Navy Capt. Todd Zecchin said he will mourn the day next year when the Kitty Hawk is sent back to the U.S. to be decommissioned.

“When you’re sailing onboard a vessel and you go to sea with 5,000 other human beings and you share that entity and that experience, there really is a bond there that can’t be broken,” he told reporters. “This is our home and this is our way of life, so when you put her to bed for the last time, it’s a big deal and there’s a lot of emotion.”

Meanwhile, Australia and a top U.S. military official expressed concern Thursday that China’s rapid military buildup and use of a missile in space could add to instability in the Asia-Pacific region and backed a greater role for Japan in regional security.

“Certainly we are a bit wary of China,” said Rear Adm. Rick Wren, the commander of the Kitty Hawk’s battle group. “They seem to be fairly opaque in communicating what they intend to do with this large military buildup.

“Certainly we need them to be a stabilizing force in this region,” he added. “But until we can actually define that, we will continue to practice our skills and be ready for whatever the president calls on us to do.”

Commissioned in 1961, the Kitty Hawk played a key role in the early part of the Vietnam War and was among two carriers in the Persian Gulf that sent planes to launch the Iraq war in 2003.

The diesel-powered ship was deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, in 1998, and will be replaced with the nuclear-powered George Washington as part of the U.S. military’s effort to modernize its forces in East Asia, an area of potential flashpoints with North Korea or China.

The vessel’s replacement has sparked a backlash in Japan — the only country to suffer a nuclear attack — where critics oppose the basing of a nuclear-powered warship in domestic waters. Japan’s government says the George Washington would boost regional stability.