USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and the world, as well as the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor (the USS Enterprise CV-6) of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 feet (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel ever built and the only ship of her class, which was originally planned to have five other ships. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) displacement ranks her class as the third-largest carrier class, after the Nimitz class and the Gerald R. Ford class. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members.
Enterprise was, at the time of inactivation, the third-oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled USS Constitution and USS Pueblo (AGER-2). She was inactivated at Naval Station Norfolk on 1 December 2012, and decommissioned on 3 February 2017, after over 55 years of service. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day and remains at Norfolk awaiting final disposition. The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80).
Contents
Design
Designed under project SCB 160, USS Enterprise was intended as the lead ship of a new class of six nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, but massive increases in construction costs led to the remaining vessels being cancelled.
Enterprise is the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors, having an eight-reactor propulsion design, with each A2W reactor taking the place of one of the conventional boilers in earlier constructions. She is the only carrier with four rudders, two more than other classes, and features a more cruiser-like hull.
Originally intended to make use of the new C-14 Internal Combustion Catapult Powerplant developed by Reaction Motors, the ship was converted to use C-13 steam catapults shortly after launch at the behest of Admiral Rickover, who saw the new catapults as an unnecessary risk and expense given the ship's already extreme cost.
Armament
Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned RIM-2 Terrier missile launchers. Initially, the carrier had little defensive armament. Late in 1967, Enterprise was fitted with a prototype Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) installation, with two eight-round box launchers for Sea Sparrow missiles. A third BPDMS launcher was fitted during the ship's refit in 1970–1971.
Later upgrades added two NATO Sea Sparrow (NSSM) and three Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS gun mounts. One CIWS mount was later removed and two 21-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers were added.
Radar
Enterprise had a phased-array radar system known as SCANFAR, which was intended to be better at tracking multiple airborne targets than conventional rotating antenna radars. SCANFAR consisted of two radars, the AN/SPS-32 and the AN/SPS-33. The AN/SPS-32 was a long-range air search and target-acquisition radar developed by Hughes for the US Navy. The AN/SPS-32 operated together with the AN/SPS-33, which was the square array used for three-dimensional tracking, into one system. It was installed on only two vessels, Enterprise and the cruiser USS Long Beach, placing an unacceptable power drain on the electrical systems of both ships.
The technology of the AN/SPS-32 was based on vacuum tubes, and the system required constant repairs. The SPS-32 was a phased-array radar, which had a range of 400 nautical miles against large targets, and 200 nautical miles against small, fighter-sized targets. These early phased arrays, replaced around 1980, were responsible for the distinctive square-looking island.
The AN/SPS-32 and AN/SPS-33 radars, while ahead of their time, suffered from issues relating to the electrical beam steering mechanism and were not pursued in further ship classes. While they are considered to be an early form of "phased-array" radar, the later technology of the Aegis phased-array AN/SPY-1 with its electronically controlled beam steering was needed to make phased array radars both reliable and practical for the USN. The dome above the SCANFAR contained the unique electronic warfare suite, the Andrew Alford AA-8200 dipole antennae (which never acquired a military designation). The system consisted of six rows of antennae encircling the dome. The antennae in the upper two rows were encased in piping radomes, as they were small and fragile.
The SCANFAR radar system was removed and replaced with AN/SPS-48 & AN/SPS-49 3D/2D air search radars during the 1979–82 major refit.
History
Commissioning and trials
The ship's keel was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Shipway 11 on 4 February 1958. On 24 September 1960, the ship was launched, sponsored by the wife of William B. Franke, then Secretary of the Navy. On 25 November 1961, Enterprise was officially commissioned, with Captain Vincent P. de Poix, formerly of Fighting Squadron 6 on her predecessor, in command. On 12 January 1962, the ship made her maiden voyage starting an extensive shakedown cruise and a lengthy series of tests and training exercises designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear powered super carrier. A full-speed run with her escort, USS Laffey, demonstrated the sheer power and speed of Enterprise's novel nuclear propulsion plant; afterwards, Laffey radioed, "You win the race. Fuel gone, topside salted, crew wet, and engines tired." On 20 February 1962, Enterprise was a tracking and measuring station for the flight of Friendship 7, the Project Mercury space capsule in which Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn Jr. made the first American orbital spaceflight. Enterprise completed shakedown activities at Naval Station Norfolk on 5 April 1962.
1960s
On 25 June 1962, Enterprise joined the 2nd Fleet on her initial operational deployment, carrying out training off the US East Coast, and took part in Exercise LantFlex 2-62, a nuclear strike exercise, in conjunction with the carrier Forrestal from 6–12 July. In August, the carrier joined the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, returning to Norfolk, Virginia, on 11 October 1962.
In October 1962, Enterprise was dispatched to her first international crisis. Following revelations that the Soviet Union was constructing nuclear missile launch sites on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ordered the United States Department of Defense to conduct a large-scale buildup. Among the preparations, the US Atlantic Fleet readied large numbers of its ships. On 22 October, President Kennedy ordered a naval and air "quarantine" (blockade) on shipment of offensive military equipment to Cuba and demanded the Soviets dismantle the missile sites there. Five Second Fleet carriers participated in the blockade—Enterprise (as part of Task Force 135), Independence, Essex, Lake Champlain, and Randolph, backed by shore-based aircraft. By 28 October, the crisis was both peacefully and successfully averted, after the United States secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Italy and Turkey.
On 19 December 1962, a Grumman E-2 Hawkeye was catapulted off Enterprise in the first shipboard test of a nose-wheel launch bar designed to replace the catapult bridle. Minutes later, a second launch with a launch bar was made by a Grumman A-6A Intruder, demonstrating one of the primary design goals of reducing launch intervals.
In 1963–1964, now under command of Captain Frederick H. Michaelis, Enterprise made her second and third deployments to the Mediterranean.
During her third deployment, the carrier was part of Operation Sea Orbit, the world's first nuclear-powered task force with the cruisers Long Beach and Bainbridge, together forming a convoy to sail around the world. On 25 February 1964, a crewman of the Finnish merchant ship Verna Paulin was injured in a fall while the ship was in the vicinity of Souda Bay, Greece. Enterprise answered her call for assistance. A surgeon was transferred to Verna Paulin by helicopter. In October 1964, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for her first refueling and overhaul. During this refit, her eight nuclear reactors, which had powered Enterprise as she steamed over 200,000 nmi (230,000 mi; 370,000 km), were refueled, two of her propeller shafts were replaced, and the ship's electronics were updated. Enterprise emerged from her refit on 22 June 1965 and returned to action.
1969 fire
During the morning of 14 January 1969, while being escorted by the destroyers Benjamin Stoddert and Rogers, a MK-32 Zuni rocket loaded on a parked F-4 Phantom exploded when ordnance cooked off after being overheated by an aircraft start unit. The explosion set off fires and additional explosions across the flight deck.
The fires were brought under control relatively quickly (when compared with previous carrier flight deck fires), but 27 sailors were killed, and an additional 314 sailors were injured. The fire destroyed 15 aircraft, and the resulting damage forced Enterprise to put in for repairs at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii, primarily to repair the flight deck's armored plating. On 1 March 1969, repairs to the ship were completed and the ship proceeded on her scheduled western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment to Vietnam and the Tonkin Gulf. These destinations would be delayed by events in the eastern Sea of Japan.
Korean operations
On 14 April 1969, tensions with North Korea flared again as a North Korean aircraft shot down a Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star that was on a reconnaissance patrol over the eastern Sea of Japan from its base at Atsugi, Japan. The entire 31-man crew was killed. The US responded by activating Task Force 71 (TF 71) to protect future such flights over those international waters. Initially, the task force was to comprise Enterprise, Ticonderoga, Ranger, and Hornet with a screen of cruisers and destroyers. Enterprise arrived on station with TF 71 in late April after completion of repairs. The ships for TF 71 came mostly from Southeast Asia duty. This deployment became one of the largest shows of force in the area since the Korean War.
1970s
In 1969–1970, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and went through an overhaul and her second refitting. In January 1971, she completed sea trials with newly designed nuclear reactor cores that contained enough energy for 10 years. On 11 June 1971 Enterprise, with Captain Forrest S. Petersen now in command and Carrier Air Wing Fourteen (CVW-14) onboard, then departed for Vietnam again.
Enterprise, Oriskany and Midway launched a total of 2,001 strike sorties by 30 July 1971. Strike operations in July were disrupted when the carriers on station evaded three typhoons: Harriet, Kim, and Jean. A slight increase in South Vietnam strike sorties occurred during the month. These were mainly visual strikes against enemy troop positions and in support of U.S. helicopter operations. From August–November 1971, Enterprise was in operations on Yankee Station.
In December 1971, Captain Ernest E. Tissot Jr. assumed command, and Enterprise was deployed to the Bay of Bengal, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 as a show of strength against India's naval blockade by INS Vikrant. Later, a Soviet Navy submarine was also trailing the US task force. A confrontation was averted when Enterprise moved away from the Indian Ocean toward Southeast Asia. Enterprise completed her deployment on 12 February 1972.
Enterprise returned to the South China Sea from 12 September 1972 with CVW-14 onboard. On 18 December 1972, the United States resumed bombing campaigns above the 20th parallel under the name Linebacker II. During Linebacker II operations, Enterprise and other carriers on station reseeded the mine fields in Haiphong harbor and conducted concentrated strikes against surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft artillery sites, enemy army barracks, petroleum storage areas, Haiphong naval and shipyard areas, and railroad and truck stations. Navy tactical air attack sorties under Linebacker II were centered in the coastal areas around Hanoi and Haiphong. There were 705 Navy sorties in this area during Linebacker II. Between 18 and 22 December, the Navy conducted 119 Linebacker II strikes in North Vietnam, with the main limiting factor on airstrikes being bad weather. In December 1972, the North Vietnamese returned to the peace table and Linebacker II ended. In January 1973, the Vietnam cease fire was announced, and American carriers ceased all combat sorties into North and South Vietnam. From 28 January 1973, aircraft from Enterprise and Ranger flew 81 combat sorties against lines-of-communication targets in Laos. The corridor for overflights was between Huế and Da Nang in South Vietnam. These combat support sorties were flown in support of the Laotian government, which had requested this assistance. Laos had no relationship with the ceasefire in Vietnam. Enterprise completed her deployment on 12 June 1973.
1980s
In 1982, the carrier made her 10th WESTPAC deployment. In April 1983, Enterprise ran aground on a sandbar in San Francisco Bay while returning from deployment, and remained stuck there for several hours. Coincidentally, George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship Enterprise, was aboard at the time as a guest of the Navy. Though groundings and collisions are usually career-ending events for U.S. warship captains, the captain at the time, Robert J. Kelly, who had already been selected for promotion to commodore, eventually became a four-star admiral and commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Fleet.
In 1985, the Enterprise began training for her 11th WESTPAC deployment. Late at night on 2 November 1985 with Captain Robert L. Leuschner Jr. on the bridge, she struck Bishop Rock on the Cortes Bank during flight exercises, damaging the outer hull with a gash more than 100 feet in length and knocking out of one screw, a chip whose size was illustrated with a photograph of a Navy diver stretched out and reclining inside the notch. The cost of repairing the damage was $17 million, and Leuschner was relieved of command on 27 January 1986 as a result of the incident, by Captain Robert J. Spane.
In 1986, the carrier made her 12th WESTPAC deployment, leaving on 15 January 1986. She led Battle Group FOXTROT, including Truxtun, Arkansas, O'Brien, Reasoner, Lewis B. Puller, McClusky, David R. Ray and Wabash. The Battle Group sailed directly for the Indian Ocean, with stops in Hawaii, Subic Bay, and Singapore. On 28 April 1986, Enterprise became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal. She went from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean to relieve Coral Sea, on station with America off the coast of Libya. Enterprise entered the Mediterranean to support "Operation El Dorado Canyon", the US bombing of Libya. It was the ship's first visit to the Mediterranean in more than 22 years. During the deployment, Rear Admiral J.T. Howe was relieved as Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group 3 by Rear Admiral Paul David Miller.
In February 1988, Enterprise underwent her 13th deployment and was assigned to Operation Earnest Will, escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. On 14 April, another Earnest Will ship, Samuel B. Roberts, struck an Iranian mine in international waters. In response, the US launched Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian targets, starting with two Iranian oil platforms that were being used as support bases for Iranian attacks on merchant shipping. Aircraft from Enterprise's CVW-11 bombed two Iranian frigates, helping to sink one and damaged the other, and provided other air support for the strike.
1990s
In April 1990, Enterprise completed her around-the-world deployment, arriving in Norfolk, Virginia. In October, the carrier moved to Newport News Shipbuilding for refueling and the Navy's largest complex overhaul refit ever attempted. On 27 September 1994, Enterprise returned to sea for sea trials, now with Captain Richard J. Naughton in command, during which she performed an extended full power run as fast as when she was new.
On 28 June 1996, Enterprise began her 15th overseas deployment. The carrier enforced no-fly zones in Bosnia as part of Operation Joint Endeavor and over Iraq as part of Operation Southern Watch. The deployment ended in December 1996, which also marked the end of active service for the Grumman A-6 Intruder from the Navy. February 1997, Enterprise entered Newport News Shipbuilding for an extended selective restrictive availability lasting four-and-a-half months.
In November 1998, following workups, Enterprise departed on her 16th overseas deployment, with CVW-3 embarked. On the night of 8 November, shortly after the start of the deployment, a Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler crashed into a Lockheed S-3 Viking on the carrier's flight deck. The mishap occurred as the EA-6B was landing during night carrier qualifications, striking the folded wings of the S-3, which had not yet cleared the landing area of the flight deck.
The four-man crew of the EA-6B perished when the aircraft hit the water, but the two crew members of the S-3 ejected. A fire broke out on the flight deck but was quickly extinguished by the flight deck crew. Three of the four members of the Prowler crew were lost at sea, and the remains of the fourth were recovered shortly after the crash. The crew of the Viking were rushed to the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia. There were no other significant injuries. An exhaustive search for three missing EA-6B Prowler crew members was suspended after nearly 24 hours.
On 23 November 1998, Enterprise relieved Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf.
During a port call in Jebel Ali, UAE, the carrier hosted former president George H. W. Bush and enjoyed a live concert by rock group Hootie & the Blowfish.
2000s
In March 2001, Enterprise took part in the exercise JTFEX 01-2 in the Caribbean Sea. U24, a Type 206 class diesel-electric submarine with the German Navy, managed to "sink" the Enterprise by firing flares and taking a photograph through its periscope.
On 25 April 2001, Enterprise began her 17th overseas deployment with CVW-8 embarked and Captain James A. Winnefeld Jr. in command. From 18–28 June, the carrier and four escorts participated in an exercise with the Royal Navy in a joint and combined warfare training exercise in the North Sea, near the Hebrides and in Scotland.
Enterprise was beginning her voyage home from the Persian Gulf when the September 11 attacks were carried out. Without orders, the carrier returned to the waters off Southwest Asia near the Persian Gulf, outrunning her escorts. In October 2001, the United States launched air attacks against Al-Qaeda training camps and Taliban military installations in Afghanistan. The actions were designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a base for terrorist operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime. A photograph of these operations was published by the Associated Press on the 11 October that featured a mounted bomb graffitied with the text "HIGH JACK THIS FAGS."
Over three weeks, aircraft from Enterprise flew nearly 700 missions and dropped over 800,000 lb (400 short tons; 360 t) of ordnance over Afghanistan. On 10 November, the carrier arrived at her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, 16 days later than originally planned. During her last day at sea, the ship hosted a live two-hour broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America. Garth Brooks performed a concert with Jewel from Enterprise on 21 November while she was docked in Norfolk, Virginia. The concert was carried live on CBS. On Pearl Harbor Day (7 December 2001), President George W. Bush addressed the sailors of Enterprise from her flight deck.
In January 2002, Enterprise entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia for a scheduled one-year Extended Dry Docking Selected Restricted Availability.
From September 2003 to February 2004, the ship deployed to relieve the four carriers that were on station during the invasion of Iraq. Enterprise's role was to provide continued air support for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The fully repaired Cole was a member of her escort group at this time. A USO tour was held aboard while at sea, with wrestler Kurt Angle, NASCAR racer Mike Wallace, and comedian Robin Williams giving talks and performances. The ship made several port-calls to Jebel Ali, a stop in Bahrain (during which actor Ben Affleck visited the ship), and Naples, Italy and Cartegna, Spain on the way home. Admiral James Stavridis commanded the battle group at this time with Captain Eric Neidlinger as Enterprise's commanding officer.
2010s
In April 2010, the Navy announced that the cost of refurbishing the carrier had risen to $655 million and was scheduled to be completed the same month. On 19 April 2010, Enterprise left the Northrop Grumman shipyard to conduct sea trials in preparation for return to the fleet. The total cost of refurbishing the carrier was $662 million, which was 46% over budget, while the programme of work took eight months longer than scheduled. The Navy said it planned to use the carrier for two six-month deployments before her scheduled 2013 decommissioning date.
On 1 January 2011, the Virginian-Pilot leaked highlights from the final video of a set entitled "XO Movie Night" that was filmed on Enterprise and aired via closed circuit television on select Saturday evenings. The videos, which were not meant for release outside the command, were produced by Captain Owen Honors when he was executive officer (XO) of the ship in the 2006–07 timeframe and included profanity, anti-gay slurs, and sexually suggestive scenes.
Captain Honors received public support from Navy personnel, but on 4 January 2011, Admiral John C. Harvey Jr., the commander of the United States Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk removed Honors for demonstrating poor judgment. Captain Dee Mewbourne was appointed as replacement commander. Forty officers and enlisted sailors, including six flag officers, were later disciplined to varying extents over the incident.
The carrier and her strike group deployed on 13 January 2011. Accompanying the carrier on the cruise to the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean were Carrier Air Wing One, guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf, and guided-missile destroyers Barry, Bulkeley, and Mason. In February 2011, Enterprise was involved in an incident with Somali pirates, an event that ended in the deaths of four American citizens and two pirates. According to official reports of this incident provided by the navy, two pirates died; with another two dying at an unknown earlier time.
The carrier returned to Norfolk on 15 July 2011. During her deployment, Enterprise had participated in operations that captured 75 Somali pirates and its strike group made missile strikes against the Libyan government.
11 March 2012 began the final deployment from Norfolk homeport with Carrier Group Ships USS Vicksburg, Porter, Nitze and James E. Williams and on 9 April 2012, the Navy announced that Enterprise and her group, Carrier Strike Group Twelve, would be assigned to join Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf. The mission was described as routine, not a response to a specific threat. Upon completion of this cruise in fall 2012, Enterprise was officially taken out of service, and was ordered to report back immediately to Norfolk for immediate deactivation, and eventual decommissioning.
Decommissioning
Enterprise was deactivated on 1 December 2012 at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia. The deactivation of Enterprise resulted in a one-time increase of approximately $857.3 million in depot maintenance costs for the US Navy's operation and maintenance budget for Fiscal Year 2013.
Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be decommissioned. Naval enthusiasts requested that Enterprise be converted into a museum. By 2012, this was deemed too expensive to make such an effort practical, in addition to the fact that the ship would need to be partially dismantled anyway to remove the eight reactors safely. A petition was also set up for the next carrier to be named as the ninth USS Enterprise.
At the inactivation ceremony, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the next Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, CVN-80, would be named Enterprise. VIPs present for the ceremony included several former commanding officers, a granddaughter of the ship's sponsor, and a former A-6 pilot, Eugene McDaniel, who had been shot down and captured in North Vietnam and was returning to the ship for the first time since the day he was shot down.
On 8 February 2013, the United States Department of Defense announced that a number of nuclear projects would have to be postponed until the upcoming budget sequestration issue was resolved. These include the planned de-fueling of Enterprise as well as mid-life overhauls (including nuclear refueling) for two Nimitz-class ships. The contract for de-fueling Enterprise was eventually awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries in June 2013.
In October 2014, Newport News Shipbuilding announced that one of Enterprise's anchors, removed from the ship during deactivation, had been transferred to Abraham Lincoln during her RCOH. In early 2017, it was announced that steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and used to construct CVN-80. Over 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg) of steel has been removed from CVN-65 and used in CVN-80. The crew of the ship's final deployment built a time capsule constructed from her steel and wood to preserve the carrier's history for CVN-80.
The final reactor was de-fueled in December 2016, with Enterprise officially decommissioned on 3 February 2017. The same day, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR). According to Navy Sea Systems Command, the recycling of Enterprise was delayed by the Navy until further information on "more technically executable, environmentally responsible" approaches to disposing of the aircraft carrier became available. On 10 April 2018, Newport News Shipbuilding announced that Enterprise's inactivation process had been completed. Ex-Enterprise was stored at Hampton Roads while disposal plans were determined by the Navy.