Posted on 09/11/2019 2:56:19 PM PDT by csvset
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A piece of the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will serve another 25 years in the Navy.
The former Enterprise carrier (CVN 65) was decommissioned in 2017 after several years of inactivation work was completed at Newport News Shipbuilding.
Now one of the anchors from the Enterprise has been installed on another aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington.
That ship just reached the midway point of its midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding.
During the overhaul process, shipbuilders inspecting the Washington found that one anchor on the carrier needed to be replaced. Enter the anchor from the Enterprise.
As the ship underwent the inactivation process at Newport News, where it was originally built, the anchors were preserved and stored.
The 32-ton starboard side anchor was built in 1957 and stayed on Enterprise throughout the ship’s naval service. It was refurbished and installed on the Washington.
This is not the first time an anchor from the Enterprise has seen continued life.
The port side anchor from Enterprise was installed on the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2014 as the Lincoln underwent RCOH in Newport News.
The Enterprise served the Navy for 51 years from 1961 to 2012. The name will live on with CVN-80, which will also be built by Newport News Shipbuilding.
They never actually use those things, do they?
This is cool!
Only when they're out fishing for bluefish....
Sure they do! You wouldn’t be able to sing “Anchors Aweigh!” without one! Sheesh! Even this Marine knows that!
I drift for bluefish. Even when chumming.
I guess they anchor in some foreign ports without enough slips.
When they’re attacked by Somali pirates they can surrender the anchor. Problem solved.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! MAGA! :)
Besides, they have to drop anchor when everyone goes swimming in the Marianas Trench as a Navy Right of Passage. :)
I remember going through boot camp in 1974 in San Diego and the big “65” was moving past the school buildings and dwarfing them all. What a beautiful sight to witness!
Good to hear the third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy will bear the name Enterprise (CVN-80), to become the ninth United States naval vessel so named...
Construction began August 2017, and the new “Big E” is scheduled to begin operation in 2027.
JMHO, there should always be an “Enterprise” in commission...
What goes wrong with such an anchor that it needs to be replaced?
They get scratched.
Cracked or bent ? They didn’t say. They did say they were inspecting it. X-ray perhaps?
Most harbors are too shallow for pierside docking by US aircraft carriers.
Those humongous anchors are used.
Here you go!
SPLASH
It was hired by CNN to host a new show?
“I remember going through boot camp in 1974 in San Diego and the big “65” was moving past the school buildings and dwarfing them all. What a beautiful sight to witness!”
I was in one of those 14 foot Boston Whalers (rec center rental) when she went by. We got out of the way. They look even bigger when the flight deck is hanging over your head.
There are youtube videos of runaway anchors, where they lose the anchor and the chain. Heap big snafu when that happens. Each link of a carrier’s anchor chain weighs 365 pounds.
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