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US Navy taking apart world's first nuclear-powered aircraft (carrier) after 50 years of service
dailymail.co.uk ^ | 16 August 2014 | By Zoe Szathmary

Posted on 08/17/2014 9:23:43 AM PDT by virgil283

"The USS Enterprise, a Navy ship stationed in Virginia, is slowly being taken apart.

According to The Daily Press, the ship's 'inactivation' is being handled in Newport News. The Enterprise was active between 1962 and 2012 - and is 'the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,' The Press said.A ninth USS Enterprise will eventually be built and may include parts of the eighth ship being disassembled, the newspaper said.

.....;

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: aircraftcarrier; nuclearpowered; ussenterprise
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To: F15Eagle
Yea but the carriers demise is necessary for crew and public safety. 50 year old propulsion plants at 1200 PSI super heated steam are deadly.

Our country is a different matter. It is purposely being sabotaged by a movement called Political Correctness. The Captain at her helm is unfit for command {in a Naval terminology sense}. So are the ones under him.

21 posted on 08/17/2014 10:42:21 AM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: cripplecreek
One of the really bad ideas of the 1950s Cold War era was the US-USSR idea of a nuclear powered bomber. The idea was an aircraft with unlimited range in a time before ICBMs. The bomber was only limited by the crew need for food, water, and hygiene considerations. The drawbacks were obvious, buy not appreciated by those air forces on both sides: 1) a crashed aircraft would contaminate a large area with radioactive contents, and 2) the engine exhaust residue was radioactive.

Undeterred, NRDC converted a bomber, the NB-36H, to carry a fully functional nuclear reactor as a feasibility study. Whenever the NB-36 flew from the Convair facility at Dallas-Fort Worth it had a C-119 full of armed paratroopers as a chase plane. If the NB-36 went down, it was the paratroopers’ job to parachute into the crash site and cordon it off until crash investigators and decontamination crews arrived. No word on protective gear for the paratroopers, so they might have been considered expendable.

The stupidity of the NB-36 program was realized and it, along with its now radioactive servicing equipment, were put into very long term secure storage. The pit for the installation and removal of the reactor is still visible at the former Convair (now Lockheed-Martin) site at DFW.

22 posted on 08/17/2014 10:58:25 AM PDT by MasterGunner01
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To: virgil283

When I was a young girl, the USS Enterprise came to Boston. It was too big to dock, so it moored out in the Harbor. Dad and i sailed out to see it on a 13.5 foot Sunfish.

I will NEVER forget that as long as I live!


23 posted on 08/17/2014 11:04:29 AM PDT by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: MasterGunner01

Typo: “but” and not “buy”.


24 posted on 08/17/2014 11:09:55 AM PDT by MasterGunner01
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Been on her 3 times....all carrier quals for our new pilots. get on the flight deck with rookie pilots and tell me its boring you dip. USS Hancock, Midway & Coralsea, Top Gun Miramar been around the block or two. You need to go away for you not know what you speak of


25 posted on 08/17/2014 11:15:04 AM PDT by VF-51vnv
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To: left that other site
"Dad and i sailed out to see it on a 13.5 foot Sunfish.".............You are right, approaching a carrier in a small boat is an awesome perspective......
26 posted on 08/17/2014 11:32:57 AM PDT by virgil283 (Life is hard .....its harder if you re stupid.... - John Wayne)
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To: DIRTYSECRET
The ships are pretty boring to be on.

Try working the flight deck during Air Ops...

In bad weather...

At night...

(actually, MOST of what happens at sea is NOT boring, except for the grunts on board the Gator Navy) Then get back to us.

27 posted on 08/17/2014 11:53:41 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ( "Our Emperor may have no clothes, but doesn't he have a wonderful tan" - MSM)
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To: virgil283

I still think the smartest thing to have done would have been to simply give her to Israel. Her compatibility was a problem for us but would not pose a problem to Israeli engineers. It would have cost $0. It would have made Israel more able to defend itself, needing less reliance on us. It would have decreased everyone’s will to invade them.

Heck, I’d even toss in a few surface ships and an air wing or 2. I’m growing weary of futilely trying to keep the peace there. Israel would be more than willing to defend themselves if better armed.


28 posted on 08/17/2014 12:17:15 PM PDT by FreeInWV (Have you had enough change yet?)
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To: BigCinBigD

Photos over the years of the carrier Enterprise:
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/uss-enterprise-cvn-65-retires-l-photos/

Past & Future Enterprises:
http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Images/CartoonsMoviesTV/StarTrekWallpaper2800.jpg

Seven USS Enterprises docked
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4400000/The-Old-The-New-star-trek-4412237-1280-800.jpg


29 posted on 08/17/2014 1:57:03 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: virgil283

The Enterprise was nuclear powered.

The Sunfish was powered by the WIND.

That’s quite a contrast! LOL! “Awesome” indeed! ;-0


30 posted on 08/17/2014 3:35:10 PM PDT by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: cva66snipe

Enterprise’s nuc power plant did not operate with 1200 psi,
superheated steam. Nuclear power plants are not superheated they run on saturated steam. You are very correct in stating her removal from service was necessary for safety.


31 posted on 08/17/2014 5:14:15 PM PDT by X Fretensis (How)
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To: X Fretensis

Thanks. I didn’t know that. Well at least unlike superheated you might see a leak. Superheated was an unseen killer. It’s an old plant though steam piping wise and likely reactor wise. USN got it’s life & moneys worth out of her.


32 posted on 08/17/2014 5:22:56 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: F15Eagle

Not really, the fate of almost all ships in the world is either the bottom, or the breakers. Warships are no different. Of the thousands of warships built for out Navy, most have been scrapped, some were used as targets, a couple a dozen wind up as museums.


33 posted on 08/17/2014 5:26:01 PM PDT by X Fretensis (How)
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To: left that other site
How about a carrier in dry dock for perspective .....this is the bow of a carrier in dry dock; .....This is the stern...;
34 posted on 08/17/2014 5:26:12 PM PDT by virgil283 (Life is hard .....its harder if you re stupid.... - John Wayne)
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To: virgil283
LOL...that's BIG!
35 posted on 08/17/2014 5:36:33 PM PDT by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: virgil283

I took a walk under the America a few times 1979-80 overhaul. I’ve also been inside the boiler up to the base of the stack where I could look up and see sky. I saw spaces then that I would have never otherwise seen.


36 posted on 08/17/2014 5:42:44 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: cva66snipe

I think we were higher up off the drydock floor though. We could literally stand up and walk underneath the ship. It felt weird though.


37 posted on 08/17/2014 5:50:48 PM PDT by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: virgil283

Heh, I have done more than a turn or two around those old girls in small boats...liberty launches...:)


38 posted on 08/17/2014 6:02:32 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Anyone who will shift their stance so fluidly in the pursuit of support isn't worth supporting.")
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To: Chode

Hey, Chode...thanks for the pings, I always appreciate them!


39 posted on 08/17/2014 6:04:22 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Anyone who will shift their stance so fluidly in the pursuit of support isn't worth supporting.")
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To: rlmorel
most welcome... how ya been???
40 posted on 08/17/2014 6:20:07 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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