John F Kennedy construction progressing
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has completed 50 percent construction of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F Kennedy (CVN 79), the company announced on 31 August.
The latest superlift unit to be completed, weighing approximately 905 metric tonnes, is one of the heaviest of the planned steel structures that will be joined together to make up the second ship in the Gerald R Ford class. The superlift of the aft section of the ship between the hangar bay and flight deck is 80ft long, about 110ft wide and four decks in height.
Combining 19 smaller units into one superlift allowed the company to install a majority of the outfitting equipment – grating, pumps, valves, pipe, electrical panels, mounting studs, lighting, ventilation and other components – before the structure was hoisted into the dry dock using the shipyard’s 1,050-metric tonne gantry crane.
Kennedy is scheduled to move from the dry dock to an outfitting berth in the fourth quarter of 2019, three months ahead of schedule.
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