Join the Navy. Have adventures. The USS Belknap was a guided missile cruiser, and was severely damaged in a collision with the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1975 off the coast of Sicily. She was providing close support during night aircraft recovery operations when both ships turned into each others' paths at the same time. They collided and scraped down each others' port sides. Belknap severed JP-5 jet fuel lines on the aircraft carrier causing thousands of gallons of jet fuel to flood her upper decks. 8 sailors on Belknap and 1 sailor on the Kennedy were killed. Belknap was made of aluminum and burned almost to the waterline. Kennedy continued operations while conducting repairs.
Belknap entered service in 1964, and reentered 4 years after the collision. She was decommissioned in 1995 and sunk as a target ship in 1998 in the Atlantic Ocean. The Navy sure is an adventure, eh?
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