USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
USS Enterprise underway in the Atlantic Ocean | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Enterprise-class aircraft carrier |
| Builders | Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Operators | United States Navy |
| Preceded by | Kitty Hawk class |
| Succeeded by | Nimitz class |
| Built | 1958–1961 |
| In service |
|
| Planned | 6 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Cancelled | 5 |
| Retired | 1 |
| History | |
| United States | |
| Name | Enterprise |
| Namesake | USS Enterprise (CV-6) |
| 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 | 3 February 2017 |
| In service | 12 January 1962 |
| Out of service | 1 December 2012 |
| Reclassified | CVN-65 from CVA(N)-65, 30 June 1975 |
| Refit | 27 September 1994 |
| Stricken | 3 February 2017 |
| Motto |
|
| Nickname(s) | Big E |
| Status | Awaiting recycling at HII Shipyard, Newport News, Virginia |
| Badge | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Enterprise-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) full load |
| Length |
|
| Beam |
|
| Draft | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33.6 kn (38.7 mph; 62.2 km/h) |
| Range | Unlimited distance; 20–25 years |
| Complement |
|
| Sensors & processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | 8 in (20 cm) aluminum belt (equivalent to 4 in (10 cm) rolled homogeneous steel armor), armored flight deck, hangar, magazines, and reactor |
| Aircraft carried |
|
| Aviation facilities | Flight deck: 1,123 ft (342 m) |
| Notes | Equipped with 4 steam-powered catapults. |
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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).