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The supercarrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. As of 2006, the ship is homeported at Norfolk, Virginia, and scheduled for retirement in 2014-2015. Her intended replacement is the as-yet-to-be-named CVN-21 class supercarrier CVN-78.
Enterprise was originally designated as CVA(N)-65 - the 'N' standing for nuclear, but later was changed to its current designation.
Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed “Big E” (although some call her “the starship”, in reference to the famous ''Star Trek'' ship) and her name is well known throughout the world. At 1,123 feet (342.3 m), she remains the longest naval vessel in the world, though her 93,500 tons are surpassed by the ''Nimitz''-class. She is also the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors. Enterprise’s eight-reactor propulsion design was rather conservative, with each A2W reactor taking the place of one boiler.
Enterprise was intended to be the first of a class of six, but construction costs ballooned and the remaining vessels were never laid down resulting in her being the only ship of her class. CV-66 was ordered as a conventional ''Kitty Hawk''-class aircraft carrier. CVN-67, with a new reactor design, was reordered during construction as the conventionally-powered USS ''John F. Kennedy''. Series production of nuclear carriers finally commenced with USS ''Nimitz'' (CVN-68), the first of 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers. Because of her expense, Enterprise was launched without weapon systems (she was originally intended to receive two twin Terrier missile launchers); a later retrofit added three Phalanx mounts and two NATO Sea Sparrow missile launchers. In the 2000s her armament was refitted again, gaining two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers.
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History
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1960 to 1969
After commissioning, Enterprise began a lengthy series of tests and training exercises designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Immediately her superlative characteristics and performance became obvious.
30 October 1961: Three TF Traders of VR-40 took off from her deck to transport VIPs to the mainland after observing sea trials.
August 1962: Enterprise joined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean sea.
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Cuban missile crisis
Soon after, Enterprise was dispatched to its first international crisis. For some months, the United States had been flying U-2 reconnaissance planes over Cuba, a small island nation 90 miles (145 km) off the coast of Florida. During one such flight over Cuba pictures obtained from the spy planes revealed what appeared to be Soviet missile silos under construction. Fearing the worst, the United States began to prepare for military action against Cuba, moving several Army units to Florida and supporting these units with a strong naval force.
22 October 1962: In a televised address to the nation, President John F. Kennedy announced that U.S. reconnaissance flights had revealed a Soviet buildup of offensive missiles on the island of Cuba. The President ordered a naval and air quarantine on shipment of offensive military equipment to Cuba and demanded the Soviets dismantle the missile sites there. As part of the Presidentially imposed blockade of Cuba, Enterprise and other ships from the Second Fleet had been mobilized, and the ships of the blockading force were in position at sea when the quarantine officially began. Enterprise, supported by the carriers ''Independence'', ''Essex'', and ''Randolph'', and backed by shore based aircraft commenced with the blockade. On the same day the service tours of all officers and enlisted men were extended indefinitely.
24 October 1962: Enterprise and other ships in the Second Fleet began a "strict quarantine of all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba".
19 December 1962: An E-2 Hawkeye piloted by Lt. Commander Lee M. Ramsey was catapulted off Enterprise in the first shipboard test of nose-tow gear designed to replace the catapult bridle and reduce launching intervals. Minutes later the second nose-tow launch was made by an A-6A.
31 July 1964: The ships were designated Task Force One and, leaving Gibraltar, sailed on Operation Sea Orbit, an historic 65-day, 30,216 mile (49,190 km) voyage around the world, accomplished without a single refueling or replenishment. The ports the Enterprise visited during this trip were Karachi, Pakistan, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Sydney, Australia. In October, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for its first refueling and overhaul.
in November 1965: The Big E was transferred to the Pacific's Seventh Fleet.
2 December 1965: She became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat when it launched bomb-laden aircraft in a projection of power against the Viet Cong near Bien Hoa. Enterprise launched 125 sorties on the first day, unleashing 167 tons of bombs and rockets on the enemy's supply lines.
3 December 1965: She set a record of 165 strike sorties in a single day.
14 January 1969: At approximately 8:19 am, a MK-32 Zuni rocket warhead attached to an F-4 Phantom was overheated by exhaust from an aircraft starting unit and detonated, setting off fires and additional explosions across the carrier. By the time the fire was finally brought under control 27 lives had been lost, and an additional 314 people had been injured. The fire had destroyed 15 aircraft, and the resulting damage forced Enterprise to put in for repairs.
In all, Enterprise made six combat deployments to Southeast Asia from 1965 to 1972.
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1970 to 1979
1970: Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding for an overhaul and her second refueling.
19 January 1971: She completed sea trials with her newly-designed nuclear reactor cores which contained enough energy to power her for the next 10 years. Enterprise then set sail for Vietnam to provide air support for U.S. and South Vietnamese units.
In Vietnam Enterprise, ''Oriskany'', and ''Midway'' spent a total of 22 two-carrier days and nine single-carrier days on station, resulting in a strike sortie count of 2,001 on 30 July 1971. Strike operations during 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.
This resulted in a total of eight two-carrier days and 23 single-carrier days which produced a strike sortie count of 1,915 for the month.
One day in September 1971 was a two-carrier day. This month produced 1,243 strike sorties.
November 1971: Alternating on Yankee Station, Oriskany, ''Constellation'' and Enterprise provided 22 two-carrier days on the line, delivering 1,766 ordnance-bearing strike sorties, 12 into North Vietnam and 9 into South Vietnam. Two reconnaissance missions were flown during the month, with the airfield at Vinh the mission assignment. Escort aircraft on both missions expended ordnance in a protective reaction role against firing anti-aircraft artillery sites near the field. Other protective reaction strikes were executed.
23 October 1972: The U.S., ended all tactical air sorties into North Vietnam above the 20th parallel and brought Linebacker I operations to a close. This goodwill gesture of terminating the bombing in North Vietnam above the 20th parallel was designed to help promote the peace negotiations being held in Paris, France. Enterprise and the other carriers had flown a total of 23,652 tactical air attack sorties into North Vietnam from May to October, and U.S. tactical air sorties during Linebacker I operations helped to stem the flow of supplies into North Vietnam, thereby limiting the operating capabilities of North Vietnam's army.
23 October through 17 December 1972: The bombing halt. Enterprise alternated with other carriers on Yankee Station during the bombing halt, and remained on station. As a result of the bombing halt above the 20th parallel in North Vietnam, no MiG kills or U.S. losses were recorded during this time.
December 1972: The Paris peace talks stalemated.
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 December and 22 December the Navy conducted 119 Linebacker II strikes in North Vietnam, with the main limiting factor on airstrikes being bad weather.
29 December 1972: The North Vietnamese returned to the peace table. Linebacker II ended.
27 January 1973: The Vietnam cease-fire came into effect and Oriskany, America, Enterprise and Ranger cancelled all combat sorties into North and South Vietnam.
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 Hue 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 cease-fire in Vietnam.
After the cease-fire in Vietnam, Enterprise proceeded to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, where the Big E was altered and refitted to support the Navy's newest fighter aircraft—the F-14 Tomcat. Two of four jet blast deflectors (JBD) were enlarged to accommodate the Tomcat. The number four propulsion shaft was replaced due to being bent after its screw became fouled in a discarded arresting gear cable.
18 March 1974: The first operational F-14 aircraft made its maiden landings and take-offs from Enterprise.
September 1974: Enterprise became the first carrier to deploy with the new fighter plane when she made her seventh western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment.
Carrier personnel spent more than 10,000 man-hours rendering such assistance as restoring water, power and telephone systems, clearing roads and debris, and providing helicopter, medical, food and drinkable water support to the stricken area.
29 April: In three hours, Operation Frequent Wind was carried out by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps helicopters from the Seventh Fleet. Frequent Wind involved the evacuation of American citizens from the capital of South Vietnam under heavy attack from the invading forces of North Vietnam. The military situation around Saigon and its Tan Son Nhut airport made evacuation by helicopter the only way out.
President Gerald Ford ordered the evacuation when Viet Cong shelling forced the suspension of normal transport aircraft use at Tan Son Nhut airport. With fighter cover provided by carrier aircraft, the helicopters landed on Saigon rooftops and at Tan Son Nhut to evacuate the Americans. The airport became the main helicopter landing zone: it was defended by Marines from the 9th Amphibious Brigade flown in for that purpose. All but a handful of the 900 Americans in Saigon were evacuated. The last helicopter lifted off the roof of the United States Embassy at 7:52 p.m. carrying Marine security guards. During Operation Frequent Wind, Enterprise aircraft flew 95 sorties.
1975: Enterprise began its eighth WESTPAC deployment. During this:-
27 February 1977: The President of Uganda made public derogatory remarks against the USA and ordered all Americans in Uganda to meet with him. Enterprise and her escort ships were directed to operate off the east African coast.
1978: Enterprises ninth WESTPAC deployment.
January 1979: Enterprise sailed to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a 30-month comprehensive overhaul. During this overhaul, the ship's superstructure is modified, removing the SCANFAR radars and the inverted cone-shaped top section which was 3 stories high, comprising the 013, 014 and 015 levels.
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1980 to 1989
1982: Enterprises 10th WESTPAC deployment.
1984: Enterprises 11th WESTPAC deployment.
November 2 1985: Struck Bishops Rock on the Cortes Bank during exercises damaging outer hull and propeller. Continued operations and later went to dry dock for repairs.
1986: Enterprises 12th WESTPAC deployment.
April 1988: Enterprise, on its 13th deployment, was assigned to Operation Earnest Will, escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf while stationed in the North Arabian Sea.
18 April 1988: The USE launched Operation Praying Mantis, retaliating against Iranian targets. The retaliation involved both surface and air units. Carrier Air Wing 11 squadrons from Enterprise were the major aviation participants. The initial American strikes centered around a surface group action against two Iranian oil platforms that had been identified as support bases for Iranian attacks on merchant shipping. Elements of CVW-11 provided air support for the surface groups in the form of surface combat air patrols, flying A-6 Intruders and A-7 Corsair IIs, and combat air patrols with F-14 Tomcats.
September 1989: Enterprise began her 14th overseas deployment.
early December 1989: Enterprise and Midway, participated in Operation Classic Resolve, President George H.W. Bush's response to Philippine President Corazon Aquino's request for air support during the rebel coup attempt. Enterprise remained on station conducting flight operations in the waters outside Manila Bay until the situation subsided, and then proceeded to her scheduled deployment to the Indian Ocean.
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1990 to 1999
March 1990: Enterprise completed its highly successful around-the-world deployment by arriving in Norfolk, Virginia. Enterprise had safely steamed more than 43,000 miles (69,000 km) from its long-time homeport of Alameda, California.
October 1990: Enterprise moved to Newport News Shipbuilding for refueling and the Navy's largest complex overhaul ever attempted.
27 September 1994: Enterprise returned to sea for sea trials, during which she performed an extended full power run as fast as when she was new.
February 1997: Enterprise entered Newport News Shipbuilding for an extended selective restrictive availability lasting four-and-a-half months.
8 November 1998 night: Shortly after the start of the deployment, Enterprise suffered a major accident when an EA-6B Prowler crashed into an S-3 Viking on the carrier's flight deck. The mishap occurred when the EA-6B was returning to Enterprise following night qualifications and struck the S-3 which was on the flight deck. Both crews were reported to have ejected from their aircraft. A fire broke out involving both aircraft, but was quickly extinguished by the Enterprise flight deck crew. Three of the four members of the Prowler crew were lost at sea. The remains of the fourth were recovered shortly after the crash. The two crew of the Viking were rushed to the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. No other Enterprise crew members were injured. A search for three EA-6B Prowler crew members was suspended after nearly 24 hours and after covering more than 100 square nautical miles (340 km²) on the water and 700 nautical miles (1300 km) in the air.
Following operations off Sicily, Enterprise returned north, this time for a port visit in Cannes, France. Plans changed slightly, though, as Yugoslavian peace talks in Rambouillet, France deteriorated and the carrier was ordered back to the Adriatic after only 24 hours in Cannes.
During the 1998-1999 deployment, Enterprise steamed more than 50,000 miles (80,000 km) and spent 151 days underway. The aircraft of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) were launched nearly 9,000 times, logging approximately 17,000 hours in the sky. The Enterprise Battle Group was the first to deploy fully IT- 21 capable, affording the team unprecedented internal and external communication channels.
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2000 to present
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18 June to 28 June 2001: The carrier and four escorts participated in the Joint Maritime Course 01-2 (JMC 01-2), a British Royal Navy joint and combined warfare training exercise in the North Sea near the Hebrides Islands, as well as land and airspace around Scotland.
7 October 2001: the U.S. launched air attacks against al Qaeda terrorist 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. Over three weeks, aircraft from Enterprise flew nearly 700 missions and dropped hundreds of thousands of pounds of ordnance over Afghanistan.
Late October 2001: Enterprise left Southwest Asia.
10 November 2001: Enterprise arrived at its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, about two weeks later than originally planned. During its last day at sea, the ship hosted a live two-hour broadcast of ABC's's Good Morning America.
Summer 2004: The ship participated in Summer Surge 2004 and several multinational exercises.
As of 2006, Enterprise is slated to remain in service until the first CVNX/CVN-21 carrier, CVN-78, enters the fleet in 2015. Enterprise is also scheduled to participate in joint exercises Inspired Union 06 with Pakistan Navy starting from 6th September, 2006. The subsequent fate of Enterprise is, as of yet, unknown. One possibility is that the CVN-65 may end up as an aircraft-carrier museum ship, owing to the fact that Enterprise is the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. It is also possible that she could end up in the Ship-Submarine recycling program, in which case Enterprise would become the first nuclear powered carrier to be dismantled as part of the program.
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Miscellaneous
Partially due to her association with her famous World War II forebear and partially due to the association of her name with the starship in the television series Star Trek, USS Enterprise is quite possibly the most famous vessel in the entire United States Navy.
A set of ''Star Trek'' episodes (recorded on an early form of video tape) was provided to Enterprise, which were played on the ship’s closed-circuit television system to monitors in various crew’s recreation areas. These were played during the 1973-1974 Bremerton refit.
The USS Enterprise was also the set of the Numa Numa Project, a video that contained several sailors goofing off in their spaces set to the music of O-zone’s Dragostea din Tei. The video is available for viewing on youtube.com.
Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned four Terrier missile launchers; these were never installed and the ship’s self-defense suite instead consisted of four RIM-7 Sea Sparrow launchers and four Vulcan Phalanx Mk. 71 gun mounts; two of the Mk. 71 mounts were later replaced with RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers.
A common misconception that began during the 1970s and persisted into the 80s and 90s was that the Enterprise's nuclear reactors gave her an abnormally high top speed, as high as 50 knots (93 km/h) was rumored. The truth was somewhat more prosaic: Since the ship carried eight nuclear reactors, she could get up full steam almost immediately, allowing her to accelerate far more quickly than any other ship until the introduction of the naval gas turbine in the early 70s. By the 1990s, gas turbine ships which could keep up with or even exceed the nuclear ships' acceleration were common in the fleet, but the rumors persisted and continue to persist. Enterprise also has a more hydrodynamic hull than later Nimitz-class carriers; these later carriers were designed to maximize fuel spaces at the expense of absolute top speed. Enterprise was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier and the rumors from her crew in the 80s was that they underestimated the power from the two reactors per propulsion shaft giving her a higher speed than later carriers. Bow waves making it up to the flight deck were reported and ability to distance themselves from any support ships added to the rumors about her capabilities. Given the tactical advantage with knowing her speed and range, the published top speeds are most definitely misinformation. It is likely that Enterprise’s top speed is in the range of 33-36 knots (comparable to the Kitty Hawk-class carriers with a similar hull form but conventional propulsion). Limiting factors on her speed are hull form, wave drag and cavitation.
Another incorrect rumor is that Enterprise's reactors leak enough to be a danger on-shore from a typical harbor anchorage; this is needless to say false, as such a high level of leakage would make the ship immediately hazardous to the lives of those who serve aboard.
Also incorrect is a rumor that Enterprise has only six reactors online at any one time; all eight reactors are online at all times.
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Enterprise in Fiction
Enterprise was supposed to appear in the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but she was at sea at the time of filming. Instead, the carrier USS ''Ranger'' CV-61 played the part of the Enterprise. This is most visible in a background shot with Nichelle Nichols in the foreground; while the actress’s hair mostly blocks out the older carrier’s conventional rectangular island, the producers are unable to completely mask the ship’s structural differences from the newer vessel (shot from the starboard side, the two elevators abaft the island are easily visible, vs. two elevators ahead of the island on Enterprise). Since her engineering spaces were deeply classified at the time, it is unlikely that the producers would have been given access even had she been in port. Further, in the scenes where Commander Pavel Chekov is being pursued by U.S. Marines through the ship's passageways, sailors appearing as extras can be seen wearing Ranger ballcaps.
Parts of the movie Top Gun were set aboard the Enterprise; as in Star Trek IV, these were in fact filmed aboard Ranger (which between the two movies had a busy film career in 1984–1985)
Enterprise was used in the filming of the movie version of Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October. Interestingly, the novel makes no mention of Enterprise; rather, the carrier John F. Kennedy had control of all Atlantic air operations.
Enterprise had a small role in the Tom Clancy novel Debt of Honor; at the end of a joint US-JMSDF exercise Enterprise was intentionally damaged by Japanese anti-submarine torpedoes. Enterprise was towed back to Pearl Harbor, where she remained for the remainder of the novel.
Enterprise had a small role in the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising, when the carrier launched aircraft to support a small group of NATO soldiers on Iceland during the battle to retake Iceland. Although not mentioned by name, the callsign “Starbase” is used to denote the carrier.
Enterprise is featured in the James H. Cobb novel Sea Strike. It is mentioned that it is her last cruise, and would be slated for decommissioning and scrapping due to neutron fatigue from her nuclear reactors.
Enterprise also appeared as the USS Seahawk in the pilot episode of the show JAG.
Enterprise was featured in Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash where it had been purchased as military surplus by the tycoon L. Bob Rife. The carrier served as the core of a conglomeration of smaller boats called "The Raft", which played a central role in the book. In the book, Enterprise was still equipped with its 4 Phalanx guns which were used to enforce order on the rest of the raft.
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See also
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