Prepping Decommissioned Ship for Final Tow
Ex-CONSTELLATION (CV 64) was cast off from her berth at INNAC Bremerton to commence a tow of 16,000 miles and over four months to her final destination at International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, TX.
CONSTELLATION was commissioned in 1961 at the New York Naval Shipyard. While under construction she suffered a major fire, which killed 50 shipyard workers and cost $75M to repair.
CONSTELLATION provided air wing support throughout the Vietnam war. On May 17, 1972, CONSTELLATION flyers downed seven enemy MIG aircraft. The ship provided continuous support to the Pacific Fleet and the Persian Gulf until her decommissioning in August 2003.
The ship was berthed at INNAC Bremerton from 2003 until 2014. The GLOBAL Bremerton work force was heavily involved in preparing CONSTELLATION for departure and nearly the entire workforce was engaged in getting her underway for her final voyage.