USS Kitty Hawk Sailors man the rail as the ship enters Pearl Harbor. The ship is in Pearl Harbor before taking part in exercise Rim of the Pacific off Hawaii this month with units from Australia, Chile, Japan, the Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and U.S. Taking part are 35 ships, 6 submarines, more than 150 aircraft, and 20,000 Sailors, airmen, Marines, soldiers and Coast Guardsmen. This will be Kitty Hawk's last exercise before returning to the U.S. mainland for decommissioning in early 2009. Kitty Hawk first participated in RIMPAC in 1973. Kitty Hawk will be replaced by USS George Washington this summer as the Navy's only carrier operating from Japan.