Kitty Hawk was launched by flooding her drydock; the conventional slide-down method was ruled out because of her mass and the risk that she might hit the Philadelphia shore on the far side of the Delaware River.

On 15 January 2022 Kitty Hawk left Puget Sound Naval Shipyard under tow en route to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping, arriving there on 31 May 2022.

After participating in the Philippine Republic Aviation Week Air Show, Kitty Hawk steamed out of Manila Harbor on 30 November 1962 and welcomed Admiral Harry D. Felt, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet, for a demonstration of modern naval weapons on 3 December.

[8] On 4 January 1963, Operation Checkertail saw Kitty Hawk and three other attack aircraft carriers launch practice airstrikes against the Okinawa Air Defense Command.

It aimed to improve the United States Seventh Fleet's ability to conduct conventional and nuclear warfare while maintaining defense against air and submarine attack.

On 6 June 1963, President John F. Kennedy, with top civilian and military leaders, boarded Kitty Hawk to witness a carrier task force weapons demonstration off the California coast.

Addressing the men of the task group from Kitty Hawk, President Kennedy told them that, as in the past, control of the seas still means security, peace, and ultimate victory.

He later wrote to president and Madame Chiang Kai-shek who had witnessed a similar demonstration onboard USS Constellation (CV-64): "I hope you were impressed as I was, on my visit to Kitty Hawk, with the great force for peace or war, which these mighty carriers and their accompanying escorts provide, helping to preserve the freedom of distant nations in all parts of the world."

Flags were at half-mast as she entered Sasebo Harbor on 25 November 1963, the day of the President's funeral, and, as senior ship present, she had the sad honor of firing memorial salutes.

Kitty Hawk arrived at Yokosuka, Japan on 19 November to relieve Constellation as flagship for Rear Admiral David C. Richardson, Commander Task Force 77.

About this time Kitty Hawk — already accustomed to celebrities as guests – entertained several prominent visitors: William Randolph Hearst Jr.; Bob Considine; Dr. Billy Graham; Nancy Sinatra and John Steinbeck, among others.

[9] After a deployment from November 1968 to June 1969, Kitty Hawk returned to San Diego for a month and then went to Puget Sound shipyard in September 1969 for dry dock.

On 12 October 1972 during the Vietnam War, Kitty Hawk was en route to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin when a race riot involving more than 200 sailors broke out.

The conversion consisted of adding ten new helicopter calibrating stations, installing sonar/sonobuoy readout and analysis center and associated equipment, and changing a large portion of the ship's operating procedures.

The Air Department added several significant changes to the flight deck, including enlarging the jet blast deflectors (JBD) and installing more powerful catapults to handle the new Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which Kitty Hawk was due to receive for its next deployment.

After much-needed upgrades and modifications to Kitty Hawk's systems, she departed Hunters Point navy shipyards in San Francisco to begin "sea trial" exercises and then made a short three-day layover in Pearl Harbor for some crew R&R.

As a result of the deaths of the six crew members, on 10 January 1974, an investigation was ordered by Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, Commander of Carrier Group 1 and Senior Officer onboard Kitty Hawk designated as his flagship.

On her way home from her Western Pacific deployment, Kitty Hawk was filmed entering Pearl Harbor with the crew manning the rails as the ship passed the USS Arizona Memorial.

Following the comprehensive upgrade and a vigorous training period with Carrier Air Wing 2, Kitty Hawk deployed in 1984 as the flagship for Battle Group Bravo.

Kitty Hawk bid farewell to San Diego on 3 January 1987, as the ship departed her home port of 25 years and set out on a six-month world cruise.

Kitty Hawk spent 106 consecutive days on station in the Indian Ocean and was again awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for its service.

With the return of CVW-15 to its decks, Kitty Hawk began its second deployment around "the Horn" of South America to her original home port of San Diego on 11 December 1991, performing Gringo-Gaucho with the Argentine Naval Aviation[19] and paying a visit to Mar del Plata[20] during the transit.

While on deployment, Kitty Hawk spent nine days off the coast of Somalia supporting U.S. Marines and coalition forces involved in Operation Restore Hope.

Kitty Hawk set sail on her 17th deployment 24 June 1994, to provide a stabilizing influence operating in the Western Pacific during a time of great tension in the Far East, particularly concerning North Korea.

[23] Kitty Hawk returned to San Diego 11 April 1997, immediately beginning a 15-month, $110 million overhaul, including three months in dry dock in Bremerton, from January to March 1998.

On 11 April 2000, Kitty Hawk departed Yokosuka, Japan, for routine local area operations and participated in Exercise Cobra Gold with the navies of Singapore and Thailand.

On 29 April, shortly after a visit to Guam, Kitty Hawk celebrated 40 years of active service as the ship and crew sailed south to participate in Exercise Tandem Thrust 2001 with the Australian and Canadian navies.

The ship once again departed Yokosuka on 23 January 2003 for a routine training mission,[26] but a short time later, orders were received to transit to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to support the Global War on Terrorism and to prepare for future contingencies.

[57] On 9 March 2021, Kitty Hawk arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to be put in dry dock and have the hull scraped of marine life before being towed to her final destination.

[63] It was also announced that the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan was donated the 60,000 pound anchor from the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and several pieces of the carrier deck for outside display.