BACK TO THE SEA; JFK JR., WIFE, SISTER-IN-LAW LAID TO REST BURIAL EXPRESSES FAMILY TIES TO SEA.

Byline: Mike Allen The New York Times

The ashes of John F. Kennedy Jr., a reluctant celebrity who had found snatches of privacy aboard kayaks and yachts, were committed to the deep on Thursday afternoon during a Roman Catholic ceremony carried out beyond the reach of long-range television cameras.

His final rest came within sight of the beaches where he had spent childhood summers hunting for pirate wrecks.

Three wreaths of red, yellow and white blooms trailed a Navy destroyer, the USS Briscoe, after the committal of Kennedy, 38; his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 33; and her sister, Lauren Bessette, 34, to the Atlantic Ocean, about 3 miles from the spot where Kennedy's plane crashed Friday night as it approached Martha's Vineyard Airport.

The prayerful gathering of 15 family members on the Briscoe's stern followed the wishes of Kennedy, who pulled off a private wedding three years ago and had been schooled to avoid prying lenses by his mother, the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Thousands of tanned vacationers lined docks and breakwaters all around Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. Out of earshot and unable to see the ceremony, they joined in the salute by doing what so many had done all of Kennedy's life: They peered silently.

In perhaps a fitting send-off for a man whose public face was the sum of so many fleeting images, Mario Piaggio, 45, rode in a moving car as he videotaped the backs of people lining a road as they tried to spot Kennedys a mile away.

To the end, people viewed the son of the former president as public property. Andrea Sciarretta, 13, said she had been dismayed that Kennedy would not be buried with his parents at the eternal flame in Arlington National Cemetery. ``But then I remembered how much he loved the ocean,'' she said. ``So it's OK.''

The use of the Navy for the commitment at sea was possible only because of a special dispensation from Secretary of Defense William Cohen in response to a request from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, John Kennedy's uncle. Usually such ceremonies are reserved for active or retired military members, their spouses and dependent children. A Defense Department official said the service itself did not follow military protocol, but instead was a religious service designed by the family.

The big ship steamed past the clanging buoys of Vineyard Sound, then paused on the eastern edge of the crash site, just west of a beach in the Aquinnah, or Gay Head, area of Martha's Vineyard that Onassis had willed to her two children.

Many of those on shore said that they found burial at sea, as the committal ceremony is usually called, to be a comforting finale for this dashing risk-taker who seemed more eager to rappel solo down a cliff than to hang out with the wealthy.

The committal at sea, which is rare for an American public figure, reflected the close connection to the water that is held by this political family, so often photographed on piers and beaches. Kennedy's father, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated before his son turned 3, had spoken of humans' ancient connection with the sea, noting in a 1962 speech that ``we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears.''

A larger, though still intimate, memorial service for Kennedy and his wife is planned for today in New York City at the Church of St. Thomas More, which seats 350. Edward Kennedy is scheduled to deliver the eulogy. A memorial service for Lauren Bessette, an investment banker, is to be held Saturday in Greenwich, Conn.

Thursday, though, was just for the families, with Edward Kennedy carrying his nephew's remains aboard the destroyer. The Federal Aviation Administration closed air space for 10 nautical miles around the Briscoe, and any boats that tried to approach were met by a Coast Guard crew and the barked instruction, ``One mile, captain!'' A boatload of photographers wielding fishing poles failed to fool the Coast Guard. So all that was seen of the ceremony during the hours-long live coverage on local and cable-news stations was a long-distance shot of the Briscoe.

On a note that could comfort relatives, yet came as a reminder of an investigation that is expected to continue for many months, the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's Office announced Thursday that autopsies overnight had shown that all three victims had died instantaneously. The official cause of death was ``multiple traumatic injuries.''

The autopsy of Kennedy showed no signs of a sudden medical incapacitation. Also, no mechanical problem with the plane has been found, bolstering the emerging consensus among aviation experts that Kennedy may have become disoriented, possibly due to visibility conditions.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) The flag flies at half-mast during a burial at sea ceremony aboard the Navy destroyer USS Briscoe off Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press

(2 -- color) President John F. Kennedy introduces his son to boating in this 1963 photo.

Associated Press

(3 -- color) Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, right, and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, center, ride a Coast Guard vessel to a ceremony for her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., aboard the USS Briscoe.

Bill Greene/Boston Globe