Newport News Shipbuilding reached another milestone in the construction of aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). Shipbuilders recently turned over to the ship’s crew the 1,200th compartment of CVN 79’s approximately 2,600 total compartments.

The most recently completed spaces house important communications equipment.

“It’s the hub for combat systems communications,” said Construction Superintendent Garrett Blanchette. “Work on this particular complex has been in progress since the platen. It was a significant endeavor that involved the majority of the trades across the value stream.”

Now that the spaces have been turned over, test teams will begin energizing internal equipment and start bringing the compartments to life.