USS Enterprise (CVN 65), the world’s first
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, commemorates a name that has been a
continuing symbol of the great struggle to retain American liberty,
justice and freedom since the first days of the American Revolutionary
War. It is the eighth ship of the Fleet to carry this illustrious name
that is literally defined as boldness, energy, and invention in
practical affairs.
ENTERPRISE I
The
first Enterprise originally belonged to the British and cruised on Lake
Champlain to supply their posts in Canada. After the capture of Fort
Ticonderoga by the Americans on 10 May 1775, it became the object of
desire in the mind of Benedict Arnold who realized he would not have
control of Lake Champlain until its capture. He learned it was stationed
at a small British garrison at St. John’s on the Richelieu in Canada,
and set out from Skenesborough (Whitehall, New York) in the commandeered
sloop Liberty for that place on 14 May 1775. He surprised and captured
the British garrison on 18 May, took possession of the 70-ton sloop, and
sailed it south to Crown Point. It was named Enterprise by Arnold and
fitted out with twelve long 4-pounder carriage guns and ten swivels.
About 1 August 1775, Captain James Smith was sent by the New York
Provincial Congress to General Philip Schuyler and ordered to take
command of “the sloop Enterprise.”
ENTERPRISE II
The
second Enterprise was an eight-gun schooner of 25 tons with a crew of
60 men. Granted a letter of marque commission from the state of
Maryland, it made a remarkably successful cruise (June-December 1776)
under the command of Captain James Campbell. Enterprise was purchased by
the Committee of Secret Correspondence of the Continental Congress 20
December 1776. Under the command of Captain Campbell, Enterprise served
chiefly in convoying transports in Chesapeake Bay. It was also active in
reconnoitering the enemy’s ships and preventing their tenders and
barges from getting supplies from the shores of Maryland and Virginia.
ENTERPRISE III
The
third Enterprise was a twelve-gun schooner built by Henry Spencer at
Baltimore, Maryland at a cost of $16,240.00. It had a length of 84 feet,
7 inches; extreme beam of 22 feet, 6 inches; tonnage of 135, depth of
hold, 10 feet; and a complement of 70 officers and men. It was
originally armed with twelve long 6-pounders and placed under the
command of Lieutenant John Shaw. On 1 September 1812, Enterprise got
underway in search for British privateers reported off the coast of
Maine. After chasing a schooner to the shore on Wood Island, Enterprise
discovered what appeared to be a ship of war in the bay near Penequid
Point on the coast of Maine. It immediately gave chase and soon found
her quarry to be the British brig Boxer, mounting fourteen 18-pounder
carronades, and manned by 72 men. When within half a pistol shot,
broadsides exchanged by the two brigs brought death to Lieutenant
William Burrows as well as to the British commander, Captain Samuel
Blyth. Another broadside was exchanged before Enterprise ranged ahead to
cross Boxer’s bow and kept up a deadly fire until the enemy hailed and
said they had surrendered but could not haul down the colors that were
nailed to the mast. The surviving senior officer, Lieutenant Edward R.
McCall, took the prize into Portland where a common funeral was held for
the two commanders, both well known and favorites in their respective
services.
ENTERPRISE IV
The
fourth Enterprise was a schooner built by the New York Navy Yard where
it launched on 26 October 1831. Its length between perpendiculars was 83
feet, molded beam 23 feet, 5 inches; depth of hold 10 feet and tonnage
197. It was armed with ten 24 and 9-pounder guns. The schooner was
placed in commission on 15 December 1831 when Lieutenant Commander
Samuel W. Downing assumed command. Its original complement was nine
officers and 63 men.
ENTERPRISE V
The
fifth Enterprise was a steam corvette with auxiliary sail power. Its
hull was built of live oak in Portsmouth Naval Yard by John W. Griffith.
It was launched 13 June 1874 and placed in commission 16 March 1877,
Commander George C. Remey in command. The ship measured 185 feet between
perpendiculars, breadth, 35 feet; depth of hold, 16 feet, 2 inches;
tonnage 615, and displacement 1,375 tons. It had a speed of 11.4 knots
and a complement of 20 officers and 164 men. Its original armament was
one 11-inch moth bore, four 9-inch broadside guns, one 60-pounder pivot,
and 1 short Gatling gun.
ENTERPRISE VI
The
sixth Enterprise was a 66-foot motor patrol craft purchased by the Navy
on 6 December 1916. It was placed in the service of the Second Naval
District on 25 September 1917 and performed harbor tug duties at
Newport, Rhode Island. It shifted to New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 11
December 1917 for operations inside the breakwaters and was transferred
to the Bureau of Fisheries on 2 August 1919.
ENTERPRISE VII (CV 6)
The
seventh Enterprise (CV 6) was the first of the Enterprise ships to
receive the nickname of Big 'E'. Other nicknames included the Lucky 'E',
the 'Grey Ghost' and the 'Galopping Ghost'. CV-6 became the sixth
aircraft carrier to join the U.S. Navy fleet upon its commissioning as a
Yorktown-class carrier on Oct. 3, 1936. It had an overall length of 827
feet and displaced more than 32,000 tons of water. Enterprise fought in
many of the key Pacific theater battles of World War II, and was one of
only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to
survive the war (alo
ng with USS Saratoga and USS Ranger).
Enterprise was ordered to serve in the Pacific fleet
in April 1939, and was sent underway to conduct training and transport
Marine Fighter Squadron 211 (VMF-211) to Wake Island in November 1941.
Big 'E' was returning to the Hawaiian island of Oahu on the morning of
Dec. 7, 1941 when it received news of the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor. Enterprise became one of the first ships to respond to its
nation's call to war and went on to earn 20 battle stars, the most for
any U.S. warship in World War II, for the crucial roles it played in
numerous battles including Midway, Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, and the
'Doolittle Raid' on Tokyo. Japanese forces announced that the Big 'E'
had been sunk in battle on three separate occasions throughout its
Pacific campaign.
After its legendary World War II service, the first
Big 'E' was decommissioned on Feb. 17, 1947 as the most decorated ship
in U.S. naval history.
ENTERPRISE VIII (CVN 65)
In
1954, Congress authorized the construction of the world’s first
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the eighth U.S. ship to bear the name
Enterprise.
The giant ship was to be powered by eight nuclear reactors, two
for each of its four propeller shafts. This was a daring undertaking.
for never before had two nuclear reactors ever been harnessed together.
As such, when the engineers first started planning the ship’s propulsion
system, they were uncertain how it would work, or even if it would work
according to their theories.
Materials used by the shipyard included 60,923 tons of
steel; 1507 tons of aluminum; 230 miles of pipe and tubing; and 1700
tons of one-quarter-inch welding rods. The materials were supplied from
more than 800 companies. Nine hundred shipyard engineers and designers
created the ship on paper, and the millions of blueprints they created,
laid end-to-end, would stretch 2400 miles, or from Miami to Los Angeles.
Three
years and nine months after construction began, Enterprise was ready to
present to the world as “The First, The Finest” super carrier.
The newly-christened Enterprise left the shipyard for six days of
builder and Navy pre-acceptance trials. Its escort during the trials,
destroyer Laffey, sent this message; “Subject: Speed Trails. 1. You win
the race. 2. Our wet hats are off to an area thoroughbred.” When the Big
“E” returned to port, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral George W.
Anderson, Jr., stated enthusiastically, “I think we’ve hit the jackpot.”
After years of planning and work by thousands the day finally
arrived. At the commissioning of Enterprise, the world’s first
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Secretary of the Navy John B. Connally
Jr. called it a worthy successor to the highly decorated seventh USS
Enterprise of World War II. “The fighting Gray Lady, as it was called,
served in such well-known battles as the raid on Tokyo and the Battle of
Midway.” Secretary Connally went on to say, “The new Enterprise will
reign a long, long time as queen of the seas.”
In
October 1962, Enterprise was dispatched to its first international
crisis. Enterprise and other ships in the Second Fleet set up quarantine
of all military equipment under shipment to communist Cuba. The
blockade was put in place on October 24, and the first Soviet ship was
stopped the next day. On October 28, Soviet leader Krushchev agreed to
dismantle nuclear missiles and bases in Cuba, concluding the Cuban
Missile Crisis, the closest the U.S. and USSR have ever come to nuclear
war.
In the Fall of 2001, Enterprise aborted her transit home from a
long deployment after the terrorist attacks in New York City and
Washington D.C., on Sept. 11, and steamed overnight to the North Arabian
Sea. In direct support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Big 'E' once
again took its place in history by becoming one of the first units to
respond in a crisis with its awesome striking power. Enterprise expended
more than 800,000 pounds of ordnance during the operation. The ship
returned to home port at Naval Station Norfolk November 10, 2001.
Following
several more deployments and an extended shipyard period that began in
2008, Enterprise embarked on its 21st deployment in January 2011, during
which the carrier supported operations Enduring Freedom, New Dawn and
multiple anti-piracy missions. During its six-month tour of duty, Big
‘E’ made port visits to Lisbon, Portugal, Marmaris, Turkey, the Kingdom
of Bahrain and Mallorca, Spain.
Big 'E' became the fourth aircraft carrier in naval history to
record 400,000 arrested landings on May 24, 2011. The milestone landing
was made by an F/A-18F Super Hornet piloted by Lt. Matthew L. Enos and
Weapon System Officer Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Welsh from the Red Rippers of
Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11.
On
November 25, 2011, Big ‘E’ celebrated its 50th birthday, making the
carrier the oldest active duty ship in the U.S. Naval fleet. Enterprise
is currently on its 25th and final deployment, expected to make its
final return to homeport Norfolk in the fall.
Today, Enterprise Sailors continue to set the standard
for excellence aboard the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
- proudly furthering the legend begun by the first Enterprise Sailors
more than two centuries ago.
* En motiu de la retirada del servei del USS Enterprise, compartim amb vosaltres aquest
article. Una llegenda de la Història militar, que ha estat 51 ANYS EN SERVEI! Al teu honor "Big E"
_participates_in_NATO_exercise_Odin-One.jpg/800px-The_Norwegian_ULA_class_submarine_Utstein_(KNM_302)_participates_in_NATO_exercise_Odin-One.jpg)