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USS John F. Kennedy leaving Philadelphia's Navy Yard to be dismantled in Texas

CBS News Live
CBS News Philadelphia Live

The retired USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier will embark on its final voyage Thursday morning after spending nearly two decades docked in Philadelphia. 

The retired Navy carrier is set to depart from South Philadelphia's Navy Yard around 9 a.m., and will travel to Brownsville, Texas where it'll be taken apart. The USS JFK's departure was originally scheduled for Jan. 15, but was postponed because of high winds.

Commissioned on Sept. 7, 1968, the USS JFK was the first Navy ship named for the famed president and "last conventionally powered aircraft carrier built by the U.S. Navy," according to Naval Sea Systems Public Affairs.

The ship will be visible along the Delaware River waterfront during its departure. The vessel will pass through the Delaware Bay throughout the morning before continuing into the North Atlantic Ocean.

Retired aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy
Retired aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy CBS Philadelphia

Before it was decommissioned in 2007, the USS JFK spent nearly four decades conducting Naval missions and was deployed around the globe 18 times. At home, the ship supported "Operation Noble Eagle" in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York City.

According to the Navy, the carrier was deployed to support Operations Anaconda and Enduring Freedom in 2002, and then Operation Iraqi Freedom in July 2004.

SS United States still awaiting departure from Philadelphia

Meanwhile, another historic ship is apparently now just weeks away from leaving Philadelphia as well.

For months, the SS United States ocean liner was at the center of a contentious eviction battle. Docked at Pier 82 since 1996, in August 2024 a judged ruled that ship couldn't remain in Philadelphia past Sept. 12. Over the next several months, a deal was made to sell the SS US to Okaloosa County, Florida, where it'll be sunk for an artificial reef.

ss-united-states.jpg
CBS News Philadelphia

Weather conditions have delayed the SS United States' departure several times October, but the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia that "positive progress has been made" in making sure the vessel can safely be towed down to Mobile, Alabama, where it'll be cleaned and prepped before being sunk off the Florida coast. Sources say that was the final hurdle to clear allowing the ship to finally leave Philadelphia.

Neither the Coast Guard nor a spokesperson for Okaloosa County provided a date for when the ship will be moved. Experts have said tide conditions will play a role in when the SS United States can depart.

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