CV-63 USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Patch

She was the ship sailors called “The Battle Cat”—a supercarrier whose silhouette became a symbol of American power across the Pacific for nearly half a century. The USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) served longer than almost any other aircraft carrier of her era, answering the nation’s call from the Vietnam War to the War on Terror. To step onto her vast flight deck was to stand on a piece of naval history, forged in steel and carried forward by the thousands of sailors and aviators who called her home.

Commissioned in 1961, Kitty Hawk was the first of her class—a modern successor to the storied carriers of World War II. From her earliest deployments, she became a cornerstone of Task Force 77, launching air strikes in the skies over Vietnam. Her air wings flew hundreds of thousands of combat sorties, supporting troops on the ground, conducting rescue operations, and engaging in dogfights that echoed the early days of naval aviation. Pilots who launched from her deck wrote stories of bravery and loss—stories carried in squadron ready rooms, memorials, and in the hearts of those who served.

Through the Cold War, Kitty Hawk remained a guardian of the Pacific. She patrolled the seas during tense confrontations with Soviet forces, responded to crises from Korea to the Middle East, and participated in joint operations that demonstrated American resolve across the region. Her presence alone—steel, speed, and raw potential—was enough to shape diplomacy and deter conflict.

When Operation Desert Storm erupted, the Battle Cat surged forward once again, launching air missions against Iraqi forces and supporting the multinational effort to liberate Kuwait. Into the 1990s and early 2000s, she served as the forward-deployed carrier in Japan, a position of immense strategic importance. From Yokosuka, Kitty Hawk responded to regional tensions, humanitarian calls, and the early years of the War on Terror, where her aircraft flew missions supporting operations in Afghanistan.

Life aboard Kitty Hawk left an imprint on every sailor who walked her passageways. Her reactor-powered sister ships might have sailed faster, but none carried the same mystique—the same sense of tradition passed down through generations of deck crews, catapult teams, ordnance handlers, and air wing squadrons. Her deck roared with jet blasts and arresting-wire strikes. Her hangar bay held the hum of machinery, the chatter of sailors, and the smell of hydraulic fluid and jet fuel—the soundtrack of naval aviation.

After more than 48 years of service, Kitty Hawk was decommissioned in 2009, her legacy preserved in the memories of the sailors and aviators she sent across the horizon. Few carriers served longer. Fewer still inspired such loyalty.

The USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 patch honors this iconic supercarrier and the generations who stood watch on her decks. To wear it is to remember the thunder of flight ops, the unity of the crew, and the enduring legacy of a carrier that helped define American naval power for nearly half a century.