Repaired Aircraft Carrier leaves San Diego

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 21, 2008 at 2:51 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The nuclear powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington has left San Diego Bay for Japan. The carrier will replace the USS Kitty Hawk which is scheduled to be decommissioned. KPBS reporter Alis

The nuclear powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington left San Diego Bay yesterday for Japan. The carrier will replace the USS Kitty Hawk which is scheduled to be decommissioned. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The USS George Washington is not one of the two aircraft carriers home ported in San Diego. She was here for three months for repairs to damage caused by a fire that broke out onboard when she was on her way to Japan in May.

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An investigation revealed the fire was started by smoking in an unauthorized area on a lower deck. The flames were spread by improperly stored flammable liquids, and burned up through dozens of compartments on the ship. More than thirty sailors were injured.

The commanding officer, Captain David Dykhoff, and the executive officer were relieved of duty.

For the last three months, crews at North Island have been replacing miles of bundled electrical wiring, at a cost of $70 million.

In Japan, the USS George Washington will take the place of the USS Kitty Hawk ,which is 48 years old and scheduled to be decomissioned. Navy officials say the operational life of an aircraft carrier is about 50 years.

The George Washington will be the only U.S. carrier permanently home ported outside the United States. She has a crew of 5, 500 aboard.

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Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.