Sailors of the USS Enterprise are welcomed home after 184 days at sea

MSNBC ^ | July 15, 2011 | Robert Hood

[Ready4Freddy]

According to the USS Enterprise's website the ship is the eighth to bear this name, and it is the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It is also the world's largest active warship.

[Ready4Freddy]

Good pics of Enterprise' homecoming at Naval Station Norfolk.

[driftdiver]

Tremendous ship, stood beside it on the docks. On the other side was the USS Iowa which I was fortunate enough to tour.

[theDentist]

My neighbor pulled in a couple hours ago, her 2 munchkins hanging over her. No camera, but I’ll remember that view forever. Welcome home Big E!

[Ready4Freddy]

MC2 Rafael Martie In this photo provided by the Navy Visual News Service, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) arrives Friday, July 15, 2011 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., after a six-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. (AP Photo/Navy Visual News Service, MC2 Rafael Martie)

[boomop1]

Will soon be in mothballs, don’t doubt me.

[oyez]

184 day and nights of grey steel walls, cramped living spaces, drills plus more drills, water rations, no lovie-poo, constant motion, mechanical smell, port and starbord duty, 24 hour a day flight ops, navy chow, slow mail, and all that goes with it. No stack gas with the Big-E, though.

Thanks guys, you really, really make a difference.

[Aroostook25]

Welcome home to that crew!

Now if the carrier crews would do what submarine crews do.
Gold crew comes home after six months.
After a brief resupply and refurbishment,
Blue crew goes out for six months.

Crew Rotation in the Navy: The Long-Term Effect on Forward Presence

[freedumb2003]

6 months! Welcome home...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVYxekAaFRU

[nascarnation]

Will soon be in mothballs,

If that's the case, let's scrap it. China needs the steel. And Baraq can loan the nuke reactor to Iran.

[colorado tanker]

Actually the Big E is the longest aircraft carrier, not the largest. The Nimitz Class displaces more tonnage.

[buccaneer81]

Will soon be in mothballs, don’t doubt me.

Will soon be decommissioned and dismantled to safely dispose of the reactors. She may only have two cruises left as the plan I last saw was to decommission her in 2013.

[oyez]

50 year of service, it time to retire.. I was on the Intrepid when it was 25+ years and falling apart. The “E” must be a maintenance nightmare.

[Frank_2001]

Don’t forget to watch Ginger dance in short shorts;)

[Ready4Freddy]

Correct, ct, but that's what they have on her navy.mil site.

Elsewhere:

"Her 93,284 long tons (94,781 t) displacement ranks her as the 11th-heaviest supercarrier, after the 10 carriers of the Nimitz class."

[antisocial]

Dang, I hope they locked up all the women first! LOL

[Astronaut]

Yes, Enterprise is due to be decommissioned in approx 2013, but hopefully the Navy will name one of the new class of carriers “Enterprise” and the ship’s proud legacy will live on.

[colorado tanker]

Guess I can’t blame them for embellishing a little. I’d be really proud of that ship too. :-))

[tanknetter]

Will soon be decommissioned and dismantled to safely dispose of the reactors. She may only have two cruises left as the plan I last saw was to decommission her in 2013.

This was he last scheduled deployment. She'll be kept operational for another 18 months as a hedge.

According to her previous captain, saving the ship as a museum isn't an option since everything two decks below the hangar deck has to be cut apart to get the reactors out. Monthballing isn't an option at all - not only has the USN never mothballed a nuclear ship, if they wanted to (not possible, I think) the Enterprise's 50 year old reactors make the thought ridiculous.

[politicianslie]

the Enterprise's 50 year old reactors make the thought ridiculous

I trained on the Enterprise reactors in Idaho in the mid-1970's before I did submarine deployments out of Charleston, SC. Ancient technology is an understatement.

[tanknetter]

50 year of service, it time to retire.. I was on the Intrepid when it was 25+ years and falling apart. The “E” must be a maintenance nightmare.

Yup. According to guys I know who've served on the Enterprise in recent years, a big debate is which of the following is the more popular nickname:

Ghettoprise

Enterprison

Mobile Chernobyl

Quarter Mile Island (ok, she's about a 1/5 of a mile long)

I was reading an article stating that she has all sorts of equipment aboard that is clearly labeled "Retired In Place" - meaning that it is no longer used but the Navy decided not to actually remove it.