![]() ![]() ![]() Operation Frequent Wind (1975) the evacuation of U.S.Six deployments in support of Operations in Vietnam, during which she survived a devastating fire.Since then she has been involved in almost every major conflict since, beginning with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, including Even if not Enterprise, I imagine many a naval officer around the world has similar, lasting impressions of an American nuclear powered carrier.īy any yardstick Enterprise is an impressive military asset, and all the more so when you consider she was laid down just 13 years after the end of the Second World War. In command of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Scylla (F71), he was struck by her effortless acceleration, while he practically had to burn the wardroom furniture to keep up. I often remember fondly a story my father told me in which he recalls acting as plane guard to a Nimitz class carrier in the Persian Gulf in 1991. She had a ships company of over 3,000 and could carry up to 95 aircraft. Her 8 nuclear reactors allowed her to ‘steam’ at up to 35 knots, and meant she never had to refuel. Her displacement is 95,000 long tons, 4.5 times larger than the recently decommissioned Royal Navy Invincible-class carriers and still 25 – 30,000 long tons larger than, the new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, the first of which will enter service in 2018, 60 years after the hull of Enterprise was laid down in a Virginian ship yard. She is 1,123 feet long (331 feet shorter than the height of the Empire State Building). Navy but also in her size and capabilities. She is not only extraordinary in her length of service in the U.S. It is estimated that some 100,000 American men and women had served on her during a distinguished 51-year career and many of them turned out to say farewell to this extraordinary warship. Such ceremonies are always poignant events, a mixture of sadness and celebratory reflection on a ships life and achievements. In December 2012, in execution of the recommendations set down in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2010, the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), was ‘inactivated’ at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Trost, USN Chief of Naval Operations Proceedings, May 1990 We are Legend Ready on Arrival The First, the Finest Eight Reactors, None Faster When a crisis confronts the nation, the first question often asked by policymakers is: ‘What naval forces are available and how fast can they be on station?’ ![]()
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