News reports are saying Ft Lauderdale is looking at the possibility of bringing USS John F Kennedy back to Florida as a museum and tourist attraction.
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Back to Florida for JFK?
- Thread starter HeyJoe
- Start date
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
When we pulled into Ft. Lauderdale on COMPTUEX, the JFK barely fit in their harbor..
We went in on GW in 98. The channel pilot had to stand in a cherry picker in the middle of the flight deck on the ship's centerline to drive her through that little channel.
Poor JFK. She was ruined by the Phila. shipyard.
I was under the impression she really started having problems when she became a reserve carrier. Big Navy did not spend the money on the normal upkeep and ship yard work during that time. So, when she was brought back on "active duty" she was forever behind on maintenance work.
They also consider the USS Constitution 'theirs' and have raised hell when the possibility of a 'cruise' was mentioned. Funny, I thought it was US Navy property.......
Concur, just saying... one city is probably far more motivated than the other...They also consider the USS Constitution 'theirs' and have raised hell when the possibility of a 'cruise' was mentioned. Funny, I thought it was US Navy property.......
I did a trip to Boston on JFK during Fleet Week and the lines were incredible. That town loved JFK without a doubt. Not sure the city has permanent pierside space available, but they sure deserve a shot. Been to Ft Lauderdale on JFK as well, but Boston really treated us like special guests whereas we had to make our own fun in Florida.
Where did they have JFK when she was up here? The only places I've ever seen Navy ships have been Pier 4 at the Navy Yard (barely big enough for a FFG) and the Black Falcon cruise ship terminal, which looks as though it'd be big enough (but not permanent).
Personally, I'd love to see her up here - I had to work when she was in here the last time.
Personally, I'd love to see her up here - I had to work when she was in here the last time.
That does seem to have been the case. NRF ships got a seriously raw deal; expected to do the same work as a "regular" fleet boat, with half the money and half the people. Classic great-on-paper idea. Of course, the Philly Shityard didn't help things.
I don't really see how Lauderdale considers itself competitive for a JFK museum ship, especially compared to Boston. Beantown really loves that boat, and being the Kennedys' stomping grounds and more of a Navy town to boot. Has Teddy weighed in on this deal yet?
And whatever came of all those Congressional buttinsky requirements that JFK be mothballed vs. scrapped, able to be reactivated in X days, etc? So if they make a museum of JFK, it'd be like Wisconsin in Norfolk - sealed up and mothballed, but the tourists can walk around topside.
Well, I only spent the last 3 years on JFK and I can tell you that:
1. She'd still do 30 plus knots
2. Yeah, she needed a yard period, but she hadn't been out of the water for 10 years! You know what a Sea Ray would look like if it hadn't been out of the water in 10 years?
3. We we're catching planes, 300 launches of Tracom CQ's daily in the Spring/Summer of '06. So what if Cat 3 was a little out of level and was chewing up cat pistons.
4. She got underway every month for 37 straight months from 2004-2006.
5. Big Navy wanted her gone and that's it. The COH/yard period scheduled for early 2005 was to cost $1 billion plus.
6. In the Gulf in 2004, we'd take 2 million gallons of DFM every 5 days.
It was a good ship. Hell, I've cruised on FFG's that were much bigger pieces of shit and they were 10-15 yrs old. CDC was "state of the art" in 2004. CEC, etc.
In Boston, we moored across from Logan in an industrial park. For our last two port visits there in '05 and '07, we averaged 40-50,000 visitors per day.
1. She'd still do 30 plus knots
2. Yeah, she needed a yard period, but she hadn't been out of the water for 10 years! You know what a Sea Ray would look like if it hadn't been out of the water in 10 years?
3. We we're catching planes, 300 launches of Tracom CQ's daily in the Spring/Summer of '06. So what if Cat 3 was a little out of level and was chewing up cat pistons.
4. She got underway every month for 37 straight months from 2004-2006.
5. Big Navy wanted her gone and that's it. The COH/yard period scheduled for early 2005 was to cost $1 billion plus.
6. In the Gulf in 2004, we'd take 2 million gallons of DFM every 5 days.
It was a good ship. Hell, I've cruised on FFG's that were much bigger pieces of shit and they were 10-15 yrs old. CDC was "state of the art" in 2004. CEC, etc.
In Boston, we moored across from Logan in an industrial park. For our last two port visits there in '05 and '07, we averaged 40-50,000 visitors per day.
When they closed Philly shipyard in 95, JFK had to be TOWED back to Florida because the work was incomplete. We did CQ later that year and the ship was in the worst condition I had ever seen a ship. No doorknobs or phones (all stolen by shipyard workers). Cat II inop (Made CQ really fun). 3 Wires. Dragging a screw.
We were literally using hand signals between the LSO platform and the Reps in the tower to signal which student we wanted in the aircraft next.
Being a reserve ship didn't help much, but that didn't last that long either, did it?
We were literally using hand signals between the LSO platform and the Reps in the tower to signal which student we wanted in the aircraft next.
Being a reserve ship didn't help much, but that didn't last that long either, did it?
Forgot the complete lack of light bulbs. The ship was a freaking nightmare. Did CQ in Nov (IIRC) of that year and made port in Lauderdale. First thing we did was get off and check into a hotel.