MY FIRST SIGHT OF THE KITTY HAWK WAS DEC. 24 1977 WHEN SHE PULLED INTO SUBIC BAY P.I. AS SHE ROUNDED THE BEND AT CUBI POINT I THOUGHT SHE WAS NEVER GOING TO END. I COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW BIG SHE WAS . AND TO THIS DAY SHE IS MY AND ALWAYS WILL BE MY FAVORITE SHIP . HENCE MY EMAIL ADDRESS jimedwards6377@comcast.net THE 63 FOR FOR THE HAWK AND 77 FOR THE YEAR I REPORTED ONBOARD A LITTLE CHEESEY BUT HEARTFELT.

My first glimpse of the Hawk (1967) was from the small
cod bringing mail out to her in the Tonkin Gulf.
The radio operator said "look out the window - there's
your ship". I said what! that little f***in spec down there? we're gonna land on that!
An hour later I got lost trying to get from our berthing compartment on the 03 level to the mess deck.
That wasn't the last time I got lost either.

Like Jim, I landed onboard in the COD, in 1962. It felt like an elevator falling from the top floor to the basement. Quite an introduction to shipboard life, not to mention that after we got out, the floor kept moving!!! Great memories.

THE FIRST TIME ! WOW!!! It was Sept.1959 and I was crossing the Walt Whitman Bridge heading to NATTU PHILA. for Catapult & Arresting Gear 'A' School. From the right hand lane while still on the N.J. side of the bridge, you could look down and see this humongus......"THING"!!! I didn't know what is was at the time since it didn't look like anything I had ever seen before. It was "fugly, zugly and ugly" all together,with a kaleidoscope of colors,none of them very pretty. There was red lead,zinc chromate, haze gray and rust. Scaffolding was everywhere. The deck was literally covered with shacks, office trailers, dumpsters,catapult shelters, worker equipment boxes and miles of air hoses,vent ducting, electrical power cables, welding lines etc. It was difficult to tell it was a ship, much less a budding aircraft carrier. Little did I know that in a few short months,April 1960, I received orders to the Kitty Hawk as part of the catapult test team and pre-commissioning crew.And as they say......"the rest is history." A great ride and a cherished highlight of my life.
Rich Schuman V-2 Div. 1960-1963

I was lucky enough to be one of the first permanent ship's company females, and the first time I went by to look at her, it seemed like I would never learn my way around! I am VERY proud to call her my first ship, and given the chance, would jump to do it again!

Denise,
I felt the same way 40 years ago.

It was spring of 1977 I drove onto NAS North Island on a Friday afternoon. I said goodbye to my 2 sisters and went onboard. The thing I remember most was the smell, it smelled like diesel fuel everywhere I went. I thought to myself, how was I going to get used to this? Then after a quick check in they said "see you Monday". Well I took a taxi to the airport and almost beat my sisters home to Orange County. I got used to the smell and the taste of the water and a few hundred other things that I sorely miss to this day.
Not to mention all of my buddies in S-1 division. I left rather abruptly after a motorcycle accident and I never really got to say goodbye to any of them.
Press On

I reported on the Hawk in Sept. 1976 while she was in dry-dock in Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard in Bremerton Washington undergoing an overhaul. I was assigned to V -3 Div. and worked the Hanger Deck. I had one of the best times of my life. Our dept grinded, rust-proofed and painted the whole hanger deck as well as the spaces assigned to us, all the time feeling we would never finish. We did this till I went on leave in Feb. 77 and returned to the ship at North Island. While at Washington I regret not traveling to Canada and my Aunt and Cousins in Moses Lake. It didn't even cross my mind till I was out. Now I am trying my dammnest to get there for the De-comm and for the places I missed back then. It will be a challenge for me but GOD willing I will be there.

I reported onboard in July, '72 while she was on Yankee Station off Nam. After graduating from Photography school in Pensacola, FL, I spent a couple of days in LA visiting a friend from school who was also reporting to the Hawk. We flew from LA in our summer whites to S.F., then to Hawaii, and on to Clark in PI. On the flight from Hawaii, there were several wives & kids of sailors stationed in PI. I sat behind one of the small children. We were only in the air a short while when he turned around with a cup of grape juice in his hand which he promptly spilled all over me.

After arriving at Clark, I had to spend the night sleeping on the dirty concrete floor of a hanger. Early the next morning, we choppered to Subic where I took a lot of ribbing due to my filthy, grape juice stained uniform. I was finally assigned a bunk in the temp quarters and pulled SP duty for several nights. I ended up just throwing away my whites.

I finally boarded the USS Sacremento, a supply ship carrying fuel and bombs, which would take me to the Hawk. While underway, we went through a bad storm and I thought I would die from sea sickness. I clearly remember tying myself in my bunk so I wouldn't fall out and walking on the bulkheads as she fought through the storm. A number of bombs broke away from their lashes in the holds and we had to go down and corral them by hand as they rolled back and forth. I really thought I was going to die, sick as a dog and grabbing loose bombs rolling around. I was just a kid who had never been out of Texas until I joined the Navy a few months earlier so I really wondered what I had gotten myself into. Lord, help me through this one and I'll get through the next one on my own!

We finally pulled up beside the Hawk and started refueling and re-supplying her. I couldn't believe how huge she was. The sea was still very rough, but a chopper was sent over to get us. After landing on the Hawk, I couldn't believe how she didn't roll much. After the Sacramento, she was almost like being back on dry land! It was right then, before I ever got off the flight deck, that I fell in love with her.

My first time was Nov '83. I stepped out of the cab beside the ship and could not fathom the size of her. I am now anxious to see her again, but sad to see her go. I have fond memories and a part of me still longs to be a sea with her again. Maybe someday I can take my future grandchildren to see her as a museum.

Wow,what a moment.I had one just like it mid 1971.Just turned 18.Saw that behemoth crawlin into N.Island and fell in love too,till I kept getting lost!Big Boat!I cant wait to get up to WA to pay my respects.And Bill,she is greatly missed and admired.What a distinguished and troubled career.