The second USS John F. Kennedy was scheduled for delivery in 2022 but fell behind due to delays caused by the pandemic; now, the vessel is ninety-five percent complete and has a contract delivery date of July 2025.
In 2022, the United States Navy’s retired Cold War-era aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy, was sold, along with the USS Kitty Hawk, for just a penny each to International Shipbreaking Limited in Texas. The USS John F. Kennedy, also known as “Big John,” began the final journey to the breaker in February, marking the end of the line for the historic warship.
Yet, its legacy will continue.
Recycling will take about two years, and nearly ninety-seven percent of the materials will be recovered and reused. Any functional components will be preserved for other warships, while some parts of the ship could help with restoration efforts on retired carriers and other vessels turned into museums.
The future USS John F. Kennedy, the second Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, is also being constructed at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division in Newport News, Virginia. There may have once been a concern that the former carrier named for the late president wouldn’t be recycled before the new one arrived.
That isn’t going to happen.
Bloomberg first reported that the USS John F. Kennedy would miss its planned July 2025 delivery date, even though construction has been primarily completed and HII is under contract to meet the date.
Delays for the USS John F. Kennedy Continue
The second USS John F. Kennedy was scheduled for delivery in 2022 but fell behind due to delays caused by the pandemic. The new timeline had been for the ship to be delivered this year, but it faces ongoing issues with its elevators, a problem that also plagued the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford.
U.S. Navy officials had warned lawmakers that the issue could impact the USS John F. Kennedy, and they were right.
“The USS John F. Kennedy is nearly ninety-five percent complete and has a contract delivery date of July 2025,” Navy officials said in a joint statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee Seapower Subcommittee’s hearing on the state of nuclear shipbuilding on Tuesday, per Business Insider.
“However, we assess that significant pressure to that date.”
Officials suggested that the issue was in the production, not the design, as the problems were eventually addressed with the USS Gerald R. Ford.
Tackling Problems Onboard the USS John F. Kennedy
Even after the USS Gerald R. Ford was delivered to the U.S. Navy, it continued to face issues with the elevators that weren’t resolved for years. The U.S. Navy is looking to chart a different course this time. Instead of chasing problems, the service opted to alter the Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) timeline, which required more work to complete during construction.
“More capability at ship delivery is a good idea; the Kennedy is designed to offer an immediate boost to the U.S. presence in the Indo-Pacific, where the United States is increasingly concerned about a revisionist China,” wrote Harrison Kass for The National Interest last year.
However, even as more emphasis was placed on completing the ship, the problems remain. Rear Admiral Casey Moton, program executive officer for aircraft carriers and who co-authored the statement to lawmakers, said, “Navy and shipbuilder HII-NNS are hyper-focused on a USS John F. Kennedy delivery plan that results in the fastest path to a combat-ready CVN, crew, and air wing.”
USS John F. Kennedy is the second of the new class of carriers meant to replace the aging Nimitz-class on a one-for-one basis, with the USS John F. Kennedy entering service as USS Nimitz is retired. Two additional carriers, the future USS Enterprise, and USS Doris Miller, are now under construction and will eventually replace USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Carl Vinson, respectively.
In contrast, at least two additional supercarriers are planned. In January, former President Joe Biden authorized those two flattops to be named for former President William J. Clinton and George W. Bush.
Construction on those carriers may go smoother.
“All lessons learned and improvements by both the Navy and industry teams are being implemented in construction [of the future carriers],” the Navy officials said.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock/ Andrew F. Kazmierski.
