147 0 Kommentare VIDEO RELEASE—Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Christened at Newport News Shipbuilding - Seite 2

Adm. Tom Fargo (U.S. Navy, Ret.), HII chairman of the board, and Mike Petters, HII president and CEO, were in attendance, as well as Newport News employees who are building Kennedy, Kennedy’s crew, Navy personnel and other government officials. Former sailors who served on the first USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), which was built and christened at Newport News in May 1967, also attended the ceremony.

Today also marks a day of significance for the nation.

“As we observe ‘a date which will live in infamy’ on this 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, this magnificent vessel we see before us today is a symbol of our nation’s strength, of our technical achievements and of the critical service our men and women in uniform provide for this nation and the entire world,” said Charles Frank Bolden Jr., a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general and former NASA administrator, and astronaut who served as the principal speaker. “This carrier is also a tangible example of the legacy of a great man who risked his own life volunteering for hazardous duty in the Pacific during World War II in the wake of Pearl Harbor, and later came to embody a time of optimism that he translated into a vision for taking humans beyond the sphere of our planet.”

Since the first cut of steel in February 2011, more than 5,000 shipbuilders have helped to construct Kennedy, and suppliers from 46 states across the country have contributed specialized parts, skilled services and support to aircraft carrier production. In the weeks following the christening, the carrier will be launched into the James River and moved to a pier where outfitting and testing of the ship's systems will continue until the ship is delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2022.

“President John F. Kennedy taught us that deterrence will always cost less than war,” said Thomas Modly, acting Secretary of the Navy. “The purpose of our military, including this warship that bears his name, must be to ensure our nation’s commitment to peace and prosperity for all nations of the world.”

A video of the ceremony, along with additional information on Kennedy and the Ford-class program, can be found at: www.kennedychristening.com. Follow HII on Twitter (@HIIndustries), Facebook (@HuntingtonIngallsIndustries) and Instagram (@HuntingtonIngalls), and join the conversation using #CVN79.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Mission Driven Innovative Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 41,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: