Thursday, May 29, 2008YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. (Kyodo) The aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, the U.S. Navy's last conventionally powered flattop, set sail Wednesday for the United States, ending its nearly 10-year mission in Japan.
Photo: Goodbye Kitty: Crew members form the word sayonara on the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.Replacing the Kitty Hawk in August will be the nuclear-powered George Washington.
Shortly before 9 a.m., the 82,000-ton Kitty Hawk slowly pulled away from the wharf in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, pushed by two tugboats. Hundreds of people, including elementary and junior high school students from the U.S. naval base, were on hand to say farewell.
Some of the Kitty Hawk crew formed the word sayonara in block letters on the gray deck.
The 47-year-old Kitty Hawk is expected to be decommissioned next year.
The Kitty Hawk has played a "memorable role ensuring the peace of Northeast Asia" since being deployed to Yokosuka in 1998, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer told a ceremony at the wharf.
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