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I was a shipboard nuclear engineer who worked for NNS during the Second Refueling back in 1969 - 1971. We went on Builder’s Sea Trials in January 1971. The trials took place off of the Virginia Capes and lasted about four days. Hundreds of shipyard personnel were aboard the ship to support sea trials testing and data recording. In those days all reactor operational data was recorded around the clock by real people with clipboards, data sheets, and ballpoint pens. The Navy crew operated the ship and the shipyard engineers recorded data, ensured that equipment was operating properly, and provided expertise if equipment needed evaluated or adjusted. Anyhow, Enterprise was escorted by 3 or 4 U.S. Navy escorts out of Norfolk Navy Base -— fossil fueled destroyers and cruisers. We were also shadowed by 2 or 3 Russian cruisers that were there to see how well Enterprise would do on its first “at sea” following refueling. The Ruskies would also make runs on our escort vessels and basically be a pain in the butt. It was the middle of the afternoon on day three of trials, a clear but cold January day 50 miles off the coast of Virginia, I was “off-watch” and up in the “Island” at about the 010 level, “sightseeing”. As I recall we were running at AHEAD FULL bell. After days of being shadowed by the Russians, the Captain of the Enterprise had enough “cat and mouse”, and ordered an All AHEAD FLANK bell. That made two years of refueling and overhaul efforts dramatically worthwhile. As I watched over the stern of Enterprise, over 250,000 horsepower run through four propellers caused the “Big E” to surge forward, leave an unbelievable wake behind it and just run away from all of the accompanying ships, both U.S. and Russian. They tried to stay up with the “big E” (I could see them all sending up black smoke from their stacks as they all also rang up FLANK BELLS). But it was of no use. Thirty minutes later they were all but mere specks on the horizon. It almost brought tears to my eyes and definitely put goose bumps on my arms. Ah, fond memories, 44 years ago!