Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

Navy Decommissions USS Enterprise Aircraft Carrier, ‘The Big E’

By Eric DuVall, United Press International | February 6, 2017

Share

The Navy decommissioned the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier in a ceremony in Virginia on Friday, officially bringing the storied 55-year career of a ship affectionately known as “The Big E” to a close.

The Enterprise had been removed from active service in 2012 and has since been docked at its home port in Norfolk, Va., where the military has defueling the nuclear-powered carrier.

Essentially a floating military base, the Enterprise played a crucial role in foreign conflicts beginning with the Cuban Missile Crisis up through the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was one of the last Navy vessels to depart from the shores of Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War, supporting the final evacuation efforts there.

The Enterprise, officially the USS Enterprise CVN 66, was the eighth Navy vessel to carry that name. A new Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier presently under construction will carry on the name. It is scheduled to be put to sea in 2018, though construction of the Ford-class carriers have been marked with delays.

The Enterprise was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co., and was officially christened on Sept. 24, 1960, by Bertha Irene Franke, wife of then-Navy Secretary William B. Franke. At the time, it was the world’s only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It was put to sea in 1961 and shortly after served as part of the successful naval blockade that prevented Russian warships from delivering missile components to the communist island of Cuba, part of the tense Cold War standoff between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, in what would become known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In 1965, as fighting in Vietnam reached a fever pitch, the Enterprise’s home port was moved from Norfolk, Va., in the Atlantic to Alameda, Calif., in the Pacific. The Enterprise served as a launching point for airstrikes on numerous deployments during the Vietnam War and eventually helped facilitate the U.S. evacuation through 1973.

After that, its home port was again returned to Virginia.

The Enterprise served as the launching point for the first airstrikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and served multiple deployments in support of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars until it was taken out of service in 2012.

All told, the Enterprise logged more than 1 million nautical miles of sea travel, enough to sail the globe 40 times over its 51 years at sea.

Once personnel finish removing the ship’s nuclear power load, it will be taken apart and the metal recycled, the Navy said. The Enterprise is the first of the Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to be decommissioned.

Speaking to a crowd of thousands of current and former Navy personnel who served on the Enterprise, Capt. Todd Beltz, commander of the Enterprise, said the ship’s role in shaping military history was thanks to the many men and women who kept her afloat.

“For all that Enterprise represents to this nation, it’s the people that bring this ship to life,” Beltz said. “So as I stand in this ship that we all care so much about, I feel it’s appropriate to underscore the contributions of the thousands of Sailors and individuals that kept this ship alive and made its reputation. We are ‘The Big E.'”


Filed Under: Aerospace + defense

 

Related Articles Read More >

Mars helicopter receives Collier Trophy
Flexible rotary shafts to power Delta Airlines’ engines powering their first Airbus A321neo aircraft
Ontic acquires Servotek and Westcon product lines from Marsh Bellofram
Flexible rotary shafts support thrust reverser on 150 LEAP 1-A turbofan engines

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Renishaw next-generation FORTiS™ enclosed linear encoders offer enhanced metrology and reliability for machine tools
  • WAGO’s smartDESIGNER Online Provides Seamless Progression for Projects
  • Epoxy Certified for UL 1203 Standard
  • The Importance of Industrial Cable Resistance to Chemicals and Oils
  • Optimize, streamline and increase production capacity with pallet-handling conveyor systems
  • Global supply needs drive increased manufacturing footprint development

Design World Podcasts

June 12, 2022
How to avoid over engineering a part
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings