The retired USS John F. Kennedy​ aircraft carrier will embark on its final voyage after spending nearly two decades docked in Philadelphia.

The aircraft carrier, which has been docked in South Philadelphia since 2008, will make its exit through the Delaware River.

The 1,052-foot-long ship, which has been housed at the U.S. Navy’s Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility since 2008, is making its final voyage on the way to the scrap heap.

(Tribune News Service) — The decommissioned aircraft carrier formerly known as the USS John F. Kennedy has begun its final journey, departing from its long-held berth in South Philadelphia Thursday morning.

A historic ship that's called Philadelphia home for decades is finally leaving town for good. The USS John F Kennedy will leave the Navy Yard in South Philly on Thursday. The retired aircraft carrier is going to Texas where it will be taken apart.

The USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier sets off for its final voyage to a Texas scrapyard after decades of naval service.

The remains of the Navy’s last conventionally-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) is on its way from the Navy’s Philadelphia Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to Brownsville, Texas for dismantling.

An aircraft carrier is leaving its home at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia to make its final journey on Thursday morning.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy started its final voyage this week with an end destination set for Brownsville, Texas. The ship had been out of service since 2007 and spent the past nearly 18 years at the Navy’s Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia.

"Big John," as it was affectionately nicknamed, was decommissioned in 2007 and has been in Philadelphia ever since.