Navy seeks site for aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy
Who wants a free aircraft carrier?
Contact staff writer Robert Moran at 215-854-5983 or bmoran@phillynews.com.
The John F. Kennedy, docked in Philadelphia, is now available as a donation from the Navy. But not just anyone can sail it down the Delaware.
By law, it can go only to a state or local governmental entity, or a nonprofit. It must be turned into a memorial or museum. And whoever gets it must pay for towing.
A Boston councilman has expressed interest in bringing the 1,052-foot-long vessel to Massachusetts, the Kennedy family's home state.
Philadelphia seems an unlikely destination. Douglas Oliver, Mayor Nutter's spokesman, did not have an immediate comment about whether the city would be interested in taking the warship, which entered service in 1968 and was decommissioned in 2007.
Nicknamed Big John, the conventionally powered carrier was used in combat during the first Gulf War and against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Such ships are made available if deemed historically significant, Navy spokeswoman Pat Dolan said. Examples locally are the battleship New Jersey and the Olympia, which fought in the Spanish-American War.
Currently two battleships are in the years-long process of being donated, Dolan said.
The deadline for submitting an initial proposal for the carrier is Jan. 22.
Contact staff writer Robert Moran at 215-854-5983 or bmoran@phillynews.com.
