USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and the world, as well as 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), she is the longest naval vessel ever built and the only ship of her class, which was originally planned to have five other ships. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) 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.

Enterprise 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 (AGER-2). She was inactivated on 1 December 2012, and officially decommissioned on 3 February 2017, after over 55 years of service. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80).

Design

Designed under project SCB 160, USS Enterprise was intended as the lead ship of a new class of six nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, but massive increases in construction costs led to the remaining vessels being cancelled.

Enterprise is the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors, having an eight-reactor propulsion design, with each A2W reactor taking the place of one of the conventional boilers in earlier constructions. She is the only carrier with four rudders, two more than other classes, and features a more cruiser-like hull.

Originally intended to make use of the new C-14 Internal Combustion Catapult Powerplant developed by Reaction Motors, the ship was converted to use C-13 steam catapults shortly after launch at the behest of Admiral Rickover, who saw the new catapults as an unnecessary risk and expense given the ship's already extreme cost.

Armament

Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned RIM-2 Terrier missile launchers. Initially, the carrier had little defensive armament. Late in 1967, Enterprise was fitted with a prototype Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) installation, with two eight-round box launchers for Sea Sparrow missiles. A third BPDMS launcher was fitted during the ship's refit in 1970–1971.

Later upgrades added two NATO Sea Sparrow (NSSM) and three Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS gun mounts. One CIWS mount was later removed and two 21-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers were added.

Radar

Enterprise had a phased-array radar system known as SCANFAR, which was intended to be better at tracking multiple airborne targets than conventional rotating antenna radars. SCANFAR consisted of two radars, the AN/SPS-32 and the AN/SPS-33. The AN/SPS-32 was a long-range air search and target-acquisition radar developed by Hughes for the US Navy. The AN/SPS-32 operated together with the AN/SPS-33, which was the square array used for three-dimensional tracking, into one system. It was installed on only two vessels, Enterprise and the cruiser USS Long Beach, placing an unacceptable power drain on the electrical systems of both ships.

The technology of the AN/SPS-32 was based on vacuum tubes, and the system required constant repairs. The SPS-32 was a phased-array radar, which had a range of 400 nautical miles against large targets, and 200 nautical miles against small, fighter-sized targets. These early phased arrays, replaced around 1980, were responsible for the distinctive square-looking island.

The AN/SPS-32 and AN/SPS-33 radars, while ahead of their time, suffered from issues relating to the electrical beam steering mechanism and were not pursued in further ship classes. While they are considered to be an early form of "phased-array" radar, the later technology of the Aegis phased-array AN/SPY-1 with its electronically controlled beam steering was needed to make phased array radars both reliable and practical for the USN. The dome above the SCANFAR contained the unique electronic warfare suite, the Andrew Alford AA-8200 dipole antennae (which never acquired a military designation). The system consisted of six rows of antennae encircling the dome. The antennae in the upper two rows were encased in piping radomes, as they were small and fragile.

History

Commissioning and trials

The ship's keel was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Shipway 11 on 4 February 1958. On 24 September 1960, the ship was launched, sponsored by the wife of William B. Franke, then Secretary of the Navy. On 25 November 1961, Enterprise was officially commissioned, with Captain Vincent P. de Poix, formerly of Fighting Squadron 6 on her predecessor, in command. On 12 January 1962, the ship made her maiden voyage starting an extensive shakedown cruise and a lengthy series of tests and training exercises designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear powered super carrier. A full-speed run with her escort, USS Laffey, demonstrated the sheer power and speed of Enterprise's novel nuclear propulsion plant; afterwards, Laffey radioed, "You win the race. Fuel gone, topside salted, crew wet, and engines tired." On 20 February 1962, Enterprise was a tracking and measuring station for the flight of Friendship 7, the Project Mercury space capsule in which Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn Jr. made the first American orbital spaceflight. Enterprise completed shakedown activities at Naval Station Norfolk on 5 April 1962.

1960s

On 25 June 1962, Enterprise joined the 2nd Fleet on her initial operational deployment, carrying out training off the US East Coast, and took part in Exercise LantFlex 2-62, a nuclear strike exercise, in conjunction with the carrier Forrestal from 6–12 July. In August, the carrier joined the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, returning to Norfolk, Virginia, on 11 October 1962.

1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962, Enterprise was dispatched to her first international crisis. Following revelations that the Soviet Union was constructing nuclear missile launch sites on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ordered the United States Department of Defense to conduct a large-scale buildup. Among the preparations, the US Atlantic Fleet readied large numbers of its ships. On 22 October, President Kennedy ordered a naval and air "quarantine" (blockade) on shipment of offensive military equipment to Cuba and demanded the Soviets dismantle the missile sites there. Five Second Fleet carriers participated in the blockade—Enterprise (as part of Task Force 135), Independence, Essex, Lake Champlain, and Randolph, backed by shore-based aircraft. By 28 October, the crisis was both peacefully and successfully averted, after the United States secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Italy and Turkey.

Second and third deployments

On 19 December 1962, a Grumman E-2 Hawkeye was catapulted off Enterprise in the first shipboard test of a nose-wheel launch bar designed to replace the catapult bridle. Minutes later, a second launch with a launch bar was made by a Grumman A-6A Intruder, demonstrating one of the primary design goals of reducing launch intervals.

In 1963–1964, now under command of Captain Frederick H. Michaelis, Enterprise made her second and third deployments to the Mediterranean.

During her third deployment, the carrier was part of Operation Sea Orbit, the world's first nuclear-powered task force with the cruisers Long Beach and Bainbridge, together forming a convoy to sail around the world. On 25 February 1964, a crewman of the Finnish merchant ship Verna Paulin was injured in a fall while the ship was in the vicinity of Souda Bay, Greece. Enterprise answered her call for assistance. A surgeon was transferred to Verna Paulin by helicopter. In October 1964, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for her first refueling and overhaul. During this refit, her eight nuclear reactors, which had powered Enterprise as she steamed over 200,000 nmi (230,000 mi; 370,000 km), were refueled, two of her propeller shafts were replaced, and the ship's electronics were updated. Enterprise emerged from her refit on 22 June 1965 and returned to action.

Vietnam deployments

In November 1965, Enterprise was transferred to the Seventh Fleet, home-ported at NAS Alameda, California. The following month, on 2 December, she became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat when she launched aircraft against the Viet Cong near Biên Hòa City. The ship led Carrier Division Three, with Enterprise (redesignated CVA(N)-65), which had Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9) aboard, Bainbridge; Barry; and Samuel B. Roberts. Enterprise launched 125 sorties on the first day, unleashing 167 short tons (151 t) of bombs and rockets on the enemy's supply lines. On 3 December, she set a record of 165 strike sorties in a single day.