USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

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	1961–2012 (active) 2012–2017 (inactive)
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[1]
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
Refit	27 September 1994
Stricken	3 February 2017
Motto	We are Legend; Ready on Arrival; The First, the Finest; Eight Reactors, None Faster
Nickname(s)	Big E[2]
Status	Awaiting recycling at HII Shipyard, Newport News, Virginia
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Enterprise-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) full load[3]
Length	1,123 ft (342 m) (after refit)[4][5] 1,088 ft (332 m) (original)[3]
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 4 x Westinghouse geared steam turbines 4 × shafts 280,000 shp (210 MW)
Speed	33.6 kn (38.7 mph; 62.2 km/h)[6]
Range	Unlimited distance; 20–25 years
Complement	5,828 (maximum) Ship's company: 3,000 (2,700 Sailors, 150 Chiefs, 150 Officers) Air wing: 1,800 (250 pilots, and 1,550 support personnel)
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar MK-23 Target Acquisition System Fire Control Radar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament	3 × NATO Sea Sparrow launchers[7] 3 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts[7] 2 RAM launchers
Armor	8 in (20 cm) aluminum belt (equivalent to 4 in (10 cm) rolled homogeneous steel armor), armored flight deck, hangar, magazines and reactor[8][9]
Aircraft carried	Hold up to 90 60+ (normally)[10]
Aviation facilities	Flight deck: 1,123 ft (342 m)
Notes	Equipped with 4 steam-powered catapults.[11]

36°58′50″N 76°26′18″W / 36.9805°N 76.4384°W / 36.9805; -76.4384 USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned^[12] United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and 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),^[4][5] she is the longest naval vessel ever built and the only ship of a class that was originally planned to have five other ships. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t)^[3] 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.^[10]

Enterprise^[13] 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.^[14] She was inactivated on 1 December 2012,^[15] and officially decommissioned on 3 February 2017,^[16][17] after over 55 years of service.^[18][19] She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day.^[20] The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier: USS Enterprise (CVN-80).^[21][22]