USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Enterprise.

USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
USS Enterprise underway in the Atlantic Ocean
Class overview
NameEnterprise-class aircraft carrier
BuildersNewport News Shipbuilding
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byKitty Hawk class
Succeeded byNimitz class
Built1958–1961
In service
  • 1961–2012 (active)
  • 2012–2017 (inactive)
Planned6
Completed1
Cancelled5
Retired1
History
United States
NameEnterprise
NamesakeUSS Enterprise (CV-6)
Ordered15 November 1957
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Cost$451.3 million[1]
Laid down4 February 1958
Launched24 September 1960
Christened24 September 1960
Acquired29 October 1961
Commissioned25 November 1961
Decommissioned3 February 2017
In service12 January 1962
Out of service1 December 2012
ReclassifiedCVN-65 from CVA(N)-65
Refit27 September 1994
Stricken3 February 2017
Motto
  • We are Legend;
  • Ready on Arrival;
  • The First, the Finest;
  • Eight Reactors, None Faster
Nickname(s)Big E[2]
StatusAwaiting recycling at HII Shipyard, Newport News, Virginia
Badge
Crest of USS Enterprise
General characteristics
Class and typeEnterprise-class aircraft carrier
Displacement93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) full load[3]
Length
  • 1,123 ft (342 m) (after refit)[4][5]
  • 1,088 ft (332 m) (original)[3]
Beam
  • 132.8 ft (40.5 m) (waterline)
  • 257.2 ft (78.4 m) (extreme)
Draft39 ft (12 m)
Propulsion
Speed33.6 kn (38.7 mph; 62.2 km/h)[6]
RangeUnlimited distance; 20–25 years
Complement
  • 5,828 (maximum)
  • Ship's company: 3,000 (2,700 Sailors, 150 Chiefs, 150 Officers)
  • Air wing: 1,800 (250 pilots, and 1,550 support personnel)
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Armor8 in (20 cm) aluminum belt (equivalent to 4 in (10 cm) rolled homogeneous steel armor), armored flight deck, hangar, magazines and reactor[8][9]
Aircraft carried
  • Hold up to 90
  • 60+ (normally)[10]
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck: 1,123 ft (342 m)
NotesEquipped with 4 steam-powered catapults.[11]

36°58′50″N 76°26′18″W / 36.9805°N 76.4384°W / 36.9805; -76.4384 USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned[12] United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 feet (342 m),[4][5] she is the longest naval vessel ever built and the only ship of a class that was originally planned to have five other ships. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t)[3] 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.[10]

Enterprise[13] 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.[14] She was inactivated on 1 December 2012,[15] and officially decommissioned on 3 February 2017,[16][17] after over 55 years of service.[18][19] She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day.[20] The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier: USS Enterprise (CVN-80).[21][22]

  1. ^ Jane's American fighting ships of the 20th century, New York: Mallard Press, 1991, ISBN 0-7924-5626-2
  2. ^ USS Enterprise: The Legend, US: Navy, archived from the original on 1 March 2013
  3. ^ a b c Naval Vessel Register - Enterprise (CVN-65), US: Navy
  4. ^ a b King, Jared M.; USS Enterprise Public Affairs (1 December 2010). "Navy's second oldest commissioned ship turns 49". Military News. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b "USS Enterprise Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier", Military today, archived from the original on 23 July 2011
  6. ^ "Evolution of the Aircraft Carrier". navylive.dodlive.mil. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b "USS Enterprise". naval-technology.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  8. ^ Cracknell, p. 56: "The main armor carried on Enterprise is the heavy armoured flight deck. This was to prove a significant factor in the catastrophic fire and explosions that occurred on Enterprise's flight deck in 1969. The US Navy learned its lesson the hard way during World War II when all its carriers had only armoured hangar decks. All attack carriers built since the Midway class have had armored flight decks."
  9. ^ "Enterprise class nuclear powered attack aircraft carriers", Haze gray
  10. ^ a b "Facts & Stats", Enterprise, US: Navy, archived from the original on 2 May 2012, retrieved 13 April 2012
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference janes2000-p798 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ http://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_CVN_65.HTML
  13. ^ US Navy. "Welcome to Navy Forces Online Public Sites". Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  14. ^ House and Senate Armed Services Committees agree FY 2010 Navy shipbuilding authorization, Defpro, 10 October 2009, archived from the original on 17 July 2011
  15. ^ "FY13 Projected Ship Inactivation Schedule". Bureau of Naval Personnel. March 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  16. ^ Vergakis, Brock. "Navy to give final farewell to aircraft carrier USS Enterprise". Archived from the original on 25 January 2017.
  17. ^ Brad Lendon. "Carrier turns donor: USS Enterprise gives anchor to USS Lincoln". CNN.com. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  18. ^ "USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Official Web Site". Public.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  19. ^ "World's First Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier, the Big E, makes final voyage". foxnews.com, 10 March 2012.
  20. ^ Public Domain This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
  21. ^ USS Enterprise (CVN-65) – Official Facebook Page, Navy, 1 December 2012, retrieved 1 December 2012
  22. ^ USS Enterprise Public Affairs. "Enterprise, Navy's First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier, Inactivated". Navy.mil. Retrieved 8 December 2012.