USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth US naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the "Big E". At 1,123 ft (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel in the world. Her 93,284 long tons (94,781 t) displacement ranks her as the 11th-heaviest supercarrier, after the 10 carriers of the Nimitz class.
The only ship of her class, Enterprise is the second-oldest vessel in commission in the United States Navy, after the wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate USS Constitution. She was originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2014 or 2015, depending on the life of her reactors and completion of her replacement, USS Gerald R. Ford. But the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 slated the ship's retirement for 2013, when she will have served for 51 consecutive years, the most of any U.S. aircraft carrier.
As of September 2010, Enterprise's home port is at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. She has one more deployment before her decommissioning.| USS Enterprise Class Aircraft Carrier | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Enterprise-class aircraft carrier |
| Builders: | Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Operators: |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Kitty Hawk-class |
| Succeeded by: | Nimitz-class |
| In commission: | 25 November 1961 |
| Planned: | 6 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Active: | 1 |
| Career (United States) |  |
| Name: | USS Enterprise |
| Ordered: | 15 November 1957 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Cost: | $451.3 million |
| Laid down: | 4 February 1958 |
| Launched: | 24 September 1960 |
| Christened: | 24 September 1960 |
| Acquired: | 29 October 1961 |
| Commissioned: | 25 November 1961 |
| Decommissioned: | Scheduled for 2013 |
| In service: | 12 January 1962 (maiden voyage) |
| Reclassified: | CVN-65 |
| Homeport: | NAVSTA Norfolk |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2011 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Enterprise-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 93,284 long tons (94,781 t) Full Load |
| Length: | 1,123 ft (342 m) |
| Beam: | 132.8 ft (40.5 m) (waterline) 257.2 ft (78.4 m) (extreme) |
| Draft: | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Propulsion: | 8 × Westinghouse A2W nuclear reactors four sets Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 × shafts 280,000 shp (210 MW) |
| Speed: | 33.6 kn (38.7 mph; 62.2 km/h) |
| Range: | Unlimited distance; 20 years |
| Complement: | 5,828 (maximum) |
| Sensors and processing systems: | AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: | AN/SLQ-32 Mark 36 SRBOC |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | 8 in (20 cm) aluminum belt (equivalent to 4 in (10 cm) rolled homogeneous steel armor), armored flight deck, hanger, magazines and reactor |
| Aircraft carried: | Hold up to 90 70 (normally) |
| Aviation facilities: | Flight deck: 1,123 ft (342 m) |
| Motto: | We Are Legend; Ready on Arrival; The First, the Finest; Eight Reactors, None Faster |
| Nickname: | "Big E", |
| Notes: | 915 engineers designed the ship. They made 16,100 drawings and 2,400 blueprints. The ship has about 625 mi (1,000 km) of electrical cables and 37 mi (60 km) of ventilation ducts. The ship has 4 steam powered catapults. |
Enterprise was meant to be the first of a class of six, but construction costs ballooned and the remaining vessels were never laid down.
Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned Terrier missile launchers. These were never installed and the ship's self-defense suite instead consisted of three shorter-range RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) launchers. 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.
Enterprise is also the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors. "This was due to the ready availability of a field-proven production design developed for nuclear submarines. Her eight-reactor propulsion design also fit well with the supercarrier hull designs of the time, 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.
Enterprise also had a phased array radar system designed to be better at tracking multiple airborne targets than conventional rotating antenna radars. These early phased arrays, which were replaced around 1980, were responsible for the distinctive square-looking island.
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