USS Kitty Hawk Departs Japan

USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Sailors spell out ‘sayonara’ on the flight deck as the ship departs Yokosuka, Japan's Truman Bay for the final time. Sayonara is Japanese for “goodbye.” Kitty Hawk will be replaced as the Navy’s only aircraft carrier operating from Yokosuka by USS George Washington (CVN 73). Kitty Hawk operated from Fleet Activities Yokosuka since 1998, when it replaced the USS Independence (CV 62). About 900 Kitty Hawk Sailors will be returning to Japan with George Washington in the coming months; the remainder of the crew will either transfer or help decommission Kitty Hawk in early 2009.