After decades of service, the USS Enterprise will take her final bow Friday

WKTR ^ | 1/31/2017 | Todd Corillo

[TermLimitsforAll]

The sun is setting on one of the most famous warships to ever serve in the U.S. Naval Fleet.

On Feb. 3, the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) will be officially decommissioned at the Newport News Shipyard, the same place where the ship was built decades ago.

On December 1, 2012, the USS Enterprise was inactivated at Naval Station Norfolk less than a month after returning from her final deployment, marking her 25th and final homecoming after 51 years of service.

In June 2013, the USS Enterprise made her final voyage, transiting from Naval Station Norfolk to the Newport News Shipyard where the ship has spent the past several years having nuclear fuel removed from its eight nuclear reactors.

[rmlew]

The Midway is the only aircraft carrier born a straight decker, then converted to an angle deck. Touring the ship take a full day...

No. The British developed the angled deck, first refitting HMS Triumph. USS Midway was the first American ship be rebuilt with an angled deck. However, many of our Essex class carriers (mostly the long Essex Class ships) were rebuilt. If you come to New York City, you can see our museum ship, USS Intrepid. The "Evil I" has an angled deck. I loved it as a kid.

[rmlew]

Notice the unsucessful phased array radars on the USS Enterprise and USS Long Beach. Shame they didn’t get Aegis upgrades.

[going hot]

The National geographic had a full article on her when she was commissioned. There was a picture of her going in a circle, and she was catching her own wake.

The reporter, while having a cup of coffee with the captain in his quarters, asked how she handles in a storm, as they sat quietly sipping. He replied that they were at that moment sailing into a full gale.

It was the mid sixties I remember the article well.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I’ve read that the Brits also developed the steam catapult for carriers.
I’ve visited NYC once in my life when an old girlfriend was going to school in NJ and I drove over from Iowa City to pick her up for Christmas break.

I had read in the NYT that Bob & Ray were appearing on stage at a little theater. We went and I laughed and laughed at their routine. She didn’t get any of it...

[AFreeBird]

Whole lot of infrastructure goes behind those panels. Big E’s contribution was the reactors.