Gallery: Keel laying ceremony for future carrier JFK

Share:
  • IMG_9402 — IMG_9313 — Newport News, Va. (Aug. 22, 2015) Huntington Ingalls welder Leon Walston places a weld bead over the initials of Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy and the sponsor of the US navy’s next — and second Ford Class aircraft carrier. The ceremony was held at the Newport News, Va. shipyard, adjacent to Dry Dock 12 where the Ford was also built. Kennedy was not present at the keel laying as she is currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. She appeared in a pre-recorded video during which she wrote her initials in Sharpie Penn and stated that this plate would later be welded into the ship’s keel. The first commanding officer of the CV-67, version USS John F. Kennedy, retired Rear Adm. Earl P. “Buddy” Yates is on the far left and Kennedy’s grand nephew Joseph P. Kennedy III is second from the left. Photo by Mark D. Faram Times staff.
  • Newport News, Va. (Aug. 22, 2015) Yard workers watch as a pre-fabricated section of the the US navy’s next — and second Ford Class aircraft carrier, is lowered into Dry Dock 12 to be welded into place at the end of the official keel laying ceremony. Photo by Mark D. Faram Times staff
  • IMG_9402 — IMG_9313 — Newport News, Va. (Aug. 22, 2015) With a twinkle in his eye, recalling the past — the first commanding officer of the CV-67, version USS John F. Kennedy, retired Rear Adm. Earl P. “Buddy” Yates talks to the media next to Dry Dock 12 At the Huntington Ingalls Shipyard, near where the original JFK was also built. Photo by Mark D. Faram Times Staff
  • Newport News, Va. (Aug. 22, 2015) Musician 3rd Class Jonathan Elcowicz of the Fleet Forces Band pauses and listens during the Keel laaying ceremony of the USS John F. Kennedy, CV-79. The ceremony announce the official start of the ships construction held adjacent to Dry Dock 12. The ship is US navy’s next — and second Ford Class aircraft carrier. The previous USS John F. Kennedy, CV-67 was decommissioned in March, 20007. Photo by Mark D. Faram Times Staff
  • Newport News, Va. (Aug. 22, 2015) Great grand nephew of President John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. “Joe” Kennedy III speaks about the president and what the ship means to the family during the Keel Laying ceeramony. Kennedy represented the Kennedy family in person at the Keel Laying ceremony of the second aircraft carrier to be called the USS John F. Kennedy — CVN-79. Kennedy, a Democrat, serves in as a U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district. Kennedy introduced a video of his second cousin, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, the ship’s sponsor as the signed a piece of metal destined for the ship’s keel with her initials. Photo by Mark D. Faram Times Staff