June 24, 1994  KITTY HAWK History The history of USS KITTY HAWK closely parallels the course of naval aviation over the past 35-plus years. Time and again, aircraft carriers have been first on the scene in international crises. Built in Camden, NJ, KITTY HAWK was heralded as the first "super carrier" at her commissioning at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on April 29, 1961.

The 86,000-ton ship departed her homeport of San Diego on her first Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment in 1962. Since that time, KITTY HAWK and a variety of Carrier Air Wings have completed 17 deployments in support of operations including Vietnam, the Iranian hostage crisis, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and airstrikes against Iraq. As leader of the joint, coalition offensive strike launched in response to increasing Iraqi violations of United Nations sanctions, KITTY HAWK is the one of the last American aircraft carriers to engage in a combat action.