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.

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

The retired U.S. Navy vessel will head to Brownsville, Texas, on a two-week journey that will end with the aircraft carrier's dismantling.

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

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

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

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.