HomeLocal NewsPhoto Gallery: USS Kitty Hawk veterans bid final farewell
Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)
To bring a supercarrier like the former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) in through the jetties of the Brazos Santiago Pass, everything has to be just right, and getting everything just right can take some time.
As such, the venerable warship was a couple of hours late making its appearance at the southern tip of South Padre Island Tuesday en route to International Shipbreaking/EMR Group at the Port of Brownsville, finally entering the pass around 1 p.m. Nonetheless, hundreds of veterans and other spectators endured the heat and the delay to see the Kitty Hawk — commissioned in 1961 and decommissioned in 2009 — float majestically by under tow on the last stretch of its final voyage.
Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)United States Navy Veterans who were deployed on the Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) attend a tribute ceremony with family and friends as the carrier arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)United States Navy Veterans who were deployed on the Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) attend a tribute ceremony with family and friends as the carrier arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)U.S. Navy Veteran Neal Woodall signs a USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) tribute U.S. flag, Woodall was deployed on the Kitty Hawk as a plane director in 1966 and 1968 during the Vietnam War. The historic carrier arrived at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, and will make its final destination to the Port of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)United States Navy Veterans who were deployed on the Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) attend a tribute ceremony with family and fiends as the carrier arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)United States Navy Veterans who were deployed on the Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) attend a tribute ceremony with family and fiends as the carrier arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, May 31, 2022, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP)
Sam A. Merrill's aerial photos
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The Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Sam A. Merrill/Special to The Brownsville Herald via AP)
The Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Sam A. Merrill/Special to The Brownsville Herald via AP)
The Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Sam A. Merrill/Special to The Brownsville Herald via AP)
The Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Sam A. Merrill/Special to The Brownsville Herald via AP)
The Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Sam A. Merrill/Special to The Brownsville Herald via AP)
The Former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) arrives at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas Tuesday, as the historic aircraft carrier makes its final destination to the Port Of Brownsville where the supercarrier will be dismantled. (Sam A. Merrill/Special to The Brownsville Herald via AP)
