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Big E



Enterprise deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf on April 25, 2001. Big E had nearly completed its successful deployment, including seven different liberty ports and participation in Operation Southern Watch, and was steaming south to South Africa when the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred. Enterprise steamed north once more and was first on the scene in the Northern Arabian Gulf and one of the first ships to drop ordnance during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Big E departed the operating area and returned to a jubilant crowd and homecoming at Norfolk on November 10, 2001.

In January 2002, Enterprise entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an Extended Dry dock and Selected Repair Availability. The ship completed EDSRA after 16 months in the yards and began workups and training in preperation for the next deployment. On the morning of August 29th, Enterprise got underway for its 18th deployment, steaming across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Mediterranean Sea to the Arabian Gulf. Over the next six months, the crew supported Operation: Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Operation: Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The ship also projected its power as far as Africa and coordinated maritime interceptions with the rest of Enterprise Strike Group.

USS Enterprise completed the deployment and returned to its homeport on February 29th, 2004.



Starting June 3, 2004, Enterprise Carrier Strike Group joined in a test of the Department of the Navy's new Fleet Response Plan by deploying on Summer Pulse '04. Over the following two months, USS Enterprise teamed up with nations ranging from England to Morocco in a series of multi-national exercises.

Spain hosted the first exercise, Neo Tapon, testing NATO warfare and strike mission capabilities. The next exercies, the British-hosted Joint Maritime Course, gave Enterprise the opportunity to strengthen maritime capabilities. Un-scripted scenarios tested the crew's ability to react to unexpected situations.

Following Neo Tapon and JMC, the Enterprise crew celebrated Independence Day with a four-day port visit to England.

Majestic Eagle was the final exercise of the Pulse. The naval forces of 10 nations met off the coast of Morocco for another opportunity to test interoperability and to strengthen coalition bonds.

Summer Pulse '04 concluded for Enterprise when the ship returned to its home port at Norfolk, Va. on July 23, 2004.

Nearly five weeks later, on September 3, 2004, USS Enterprise made the move to Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard in Newport News, Va. for an extended yard period.



Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv65-enterprise/cv65-enterprise.html
www.enterprise.navy.mil/
1 posted on 09/24/2005 9:05:21 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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To: All
Related sad news that may have been missed because of other news coverage:

Navy releases identities of aviators killed in Fla.
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 21, 2005
Last updated: 11:30 PM

The Navy released the names of two aviators killed Wednesday when their S-3B Viking crashed during a landing approach in Jacksonville, Fla.

Killed were Lt. Cmdr. Thomas E. Blake , 33 , a native of Spencer, Neb .; and Lt. Cmdr. Scott T. Bracher , 33 , of Malverne, N.Y.

According to the Commander, Navy Region Southeast, Bracher was the pilot and Blake the flight officer and mission commander. Both were 11-year Navy veterans and had been members of the Jacksonville-based Sea Control Squadron 32 for six months.

The “Maulers” are part of Carrier Air Wing 1, assigned to the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Enterprise.

The Viking, used as a mid-air refueling tanker for carrier-based jets, typically has a two-person crew.

No one on the ground was injured.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.


2 posted on 09/24/2005 9:06:09 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: Allen H; Colonial Warrior; texianyankee; vox_PL; Bigturbowski; ruoflaw; Bombardier; Steelerfan; ...




To The FReeper Foxhole

Good Saturday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.


3 posted on 09/24/2005 9:07:57 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 24:
1501 Gerolamo Cardano, mathematician, author of Games of Chance, the first systematic computation of probabilities.
1717 Horace Walpole England, writer (The Castle of Otranto)
1755 John Marshall Va, 4th Supreme Court Chief Justice (1801-35)
1825 Frances E.W. Harper famous African
1870 Georges Claude inventor (neon light)
1890 Sir Alan Herbert England, journalist/writer (Punch, Helen)
1896 F Scott Fitzgerald St Paul Minn, author (Great Gatsby)
1898 Baron Florey Aust, pathologist; purified penicillin (Nobel '45)
1914 Herb Jeffries Detroit Mich, actor (Where's Huddles)
1919 Vaclav Nelhybel Polanka Czechoslovakia, composer (Everyman)
1921 Jim McKay Phila Pa, sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports)
1922 Theresa Merritt Newport News Va, actress (Mama-That's My Mama)
1924 Sheila MacRae London England, actress (Jackie Gleason Show)
1924 Walter Fufido Bronx NY, Iwo Jima casualty (WW II)
1930 John W Young SF Calif, astronaut (Gem 3 10, Apol 10 16, STS 1 9)
1931 Anthony Newley actor/song writer/singer (Dr Doolittle)
1934 John Brunner Britain, sci-fi author (Sheep Look Up)
1936 Jim Henson Greenville Miss, muppeteer (Sesame Street, Muppet Show)
1943 Lee Aaker LA Calif, actor (Rusty-Rin Tin Tin)
1946 "Mean" Joe Greene NFL tackle (Pitts Steelers), Coke spokesman
1948 Phil Hartman (comedian, actor
1962 Joseph Kennedy II (FORMER Rep-D-Mass)
1971 Shane Conrad actress (Cody-High Mountain Rangers)



Deaths which occurred on September 24:
0768 Pippin III, the short, King of France, dies at 53
0786 Al-Hadi, Arabic kalief of Islam (185-86), dies
0996 Hugo Capet, king of the Franks (987-96), dies
1180 Manuel I Comnenus Byzantine emperor (1143-80), dies
1601 Tycho Brahe, astronomer, dies in Prague at 54
1815 John Sevier indian fighter, dies at 70
1975 Ian Hunter actor (Sir Richard-Robin Hood), dies at 75
1984 Neil Hamilton actor (Com Gordon-Batman), dies of asthma at 85
1991 Theodore Geisel (Dr Seuss), dies at 87



Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
24-Sep-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Specialist Michael Andrade Balad - Salah ad Din Non-hostile - vehicle accident

24-Sep-2004 4 | US: 4 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US 2nd Lieutenant Ryan Leduc Ar Rutbah - Anbar Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Sergeant Timothy Folmar Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Ramon Mateo Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Aaron Boyles Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire


Afghanistan/other
09/24/02
Foraker, Ryan D. Sgt. 31 Army Guantanamo Logan Ohio


http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging. What's more Ma will bake you some cookies. That's right COOKIEMADNESS!!!
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php


On this day...
0312 Start of Imperial Indication
0366 Liberius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0622 Mohammed's Hegira("flight" from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution.)
0673 Synod of Hertford opens; canons made for English Church
0787 2nd Council of Nicaea (7th ecumenical council) opens in Asia Minor
1493 Columbus' 2nd expedition to the New World
1625 Dutch attack San Juan, Puerto Rico
1683 Jews are expelled from all French possessions in America
1789 Congress creates the Post Office
1789 Congress' 1st Judiciary Act, Attorney General & Supreme Court
1829 Russia & Ottoman Empire sign Peace Treaty of Adrianople
1838 Anti-Corn-Law League forms to repeal English Corn Law
1841 Sarawak obtained by Britain from Sultan of Brunei
1845 1st baseball team is organized
1852 A new invention, the dirigible, is demonstrated
1862 President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus against anyone suspected of being a Southern sympathizer
1862 Confederate Congress adopts confederacy seal
1864 Battle of Pilot Knob (Fort Davidson), Missouri
1865 James Cooke walks tightrope from Cliff House to Seal Rocks, SF
1869 Black Friday; Wall St panic after Gould & Fisk attempt to corner gold
1883 National black convention meets in Louisville, Kentucky
1890 Wilford Woodruff, Pres of Mormon Church in Salt Lake City issues a manifesto advising members that teaching & practice of polygamy should be abandoned.
1895 1st round-the-world trip by a woman on a bicycle (took 15 months) (Would of taken 10 months BUT she kept stopping to ask directions)
1906 Devils Tower, designated first US National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt
1919 Babe Ruth sets season homer mark at 28 off of Yankee Bob Shawkey
1922 Roger Hornsby sets the NL HR mark at 42
1927 NHL's Toronto St Patricks become the Maple Leafs
1927 Yanks set record of 106 victories
1929 Lt James H Doolittle guides a Consolidated N-Y-2 Biplane over Mitchell Field in NY in the 1st all-instrument flight
1938 Don Budge becomes 1st tennis player to grand slam
1941 9 Allied govts pledged adherence to Atlantic Charter
1950 "Operation Magic Carpet"-All Jews from Yemen move to Israel
1952 Underwater volcano explodes under research vessel Kaiyo-maru-5
1954 Tonight Show premiers on NBC (Johnny takes over 8 years later)
1955 Pres Eisenhower suffers a heart attack on vacation in Denver
1957 Bkln Dodgers play last game at Ebbets Field, defeat Pirates 2-0
1957 Eisenhower orders US troops to desegregate Little Rock schools
1958 1st welded aluminum girder highway bridge completed, Urbandale, Ia
1960 1st nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, launches (USS Enterprise)
1960 Internationl Development Assn (UN agency) comes into existence
1962 The University of Mississippi agrees to admit James Meredith as the first black university student, sparking more rioting.
1963 Senate ratifies treaty with Britain & USSR limit nuclear testing
1964 "The Munsters" premiers
1968 "60 Minutes" premiers
1969 Trial of "Chicago 8" (protesters at Dem Natl Conv) begins (Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis)
1971 Houston Astros beat SD Padres, 2-1, in 21 innings
1972 Jack Tatum, Oakland, returns a fumble 104 yds vs Green Bay (rec)
1972 NY Jet Joe Namath passes for 6 touchdowns vs Balt Colt (44-34)
1973 Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau) declares independence
1973 The world is introduced to Sxytxredhead73. If this is a good thing or not is still under Investigation by a team of high level scientists. On the plus side it' is reported that she is neither cheap nor easy...unlike a certain Txradioguy, And to her credit she has managed to make an honest man of him. How she was able to do this remains a mystery to this day, it is whispered that cookies were involved. HOWEVER rumors still abound that mention certain shadowy government agencies...wetwork being done in certain 3rd world nations and shortages of black forest cake in these counties.....be we will speak no more of these thing, as SOMETHINGS are best left unsaid.

Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again. ~Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Happy Birthday!
1974 Al Kaline gets his 3,000th career hit
1976 Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst sentenced to 7 years for her part in a 1974 bank robbery. Released after 22 months by Pres Carter
1977 Ken Hinton of CFL British Columbia Lions returns a punt 130 yards
1978 Ron Guidry beats Cleveland 4-0, raising his record to 23-3 ERA 1.74
1979 CompuServe system started
1981 Four Armenian gunmen seized the Turkish consulate in Paris, holding 60 hostages for 15 hours before surrendering.
1982 US, Italian & French peacekeeping troops begin arriving in Lebanon
1985 Apollo Computer Inc. lays off 300 employees
1985 Fastest English Channel crossing by a relay team set (15h 30m)
1985 Montreal Expo Andre Dawson is 9th to get 6 RBIs in an inning (5th)
1988 Barbara C Harris of Mass, elected 1st woman Episcopal bishop
1988 Jackie Joyner-Kersee of USA sets the heptathlon woman's record(7,291)
1990 Supreme Soviet gives approval to switch to free market
1991 Robin Yount is 37th to hit 2,000 singles
1996 Israel opened a second entrance to a tunnel used by archeologists at the Temple Mount, sacred to Muslims as well as Jews. The action sparked deadly rioting.
1996 Stephen King releases two books at once
1998 Iran's foreign minister announced that Iran had dropped its 1989 call for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses" which many Muslims found blasphemous.
2000 Fflooding in Bangladesh forces some 60,000 to flee their homes and at least 9 people sere killed. (And where was George Bush?)
2001 President Bush orders a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism, including Islamic terrorist & worldclass POS Osama bin Laden.


Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Pennsylvania Dutch : Schwenkenfelder Thanksgiving Day (1734)
US : American Indian Day (1916)
Safety Awareness Week (Day 5)
National Ballroom Dance Week ends
National Mind Mapping for Problem Solving Week (Day 4)
National Rabbit Day
Thanksgiving Day for the Pennsylvania Dutch
Potato Bread Month


Religious Observances
Succoth.
RC-Dominican Republic : Commemoration of Our Lady of Ransom


Religious History
787 The Second Nicene Council opened under Pope Hadrian I. Numbered by some as the 7th of the church's 21 ecumenical councils, Nicea II condemned iconoclasm (belief that the veneration of Christian images and relics is idolatry).
1889 In Holland, the Declaration of Utrecht was signed and became the doctrinal basis of the Old Catholic Church. ("Old Catholics" reject clerical celibacy, papal authority and the Council of Trent decisions.) Today in Europe, Old Catholics are active in Holland, Germany and Switzerland.
1956 In Minneapolis-St. Paul, a congregation of worshipers was organized into the first Southern Baptist church to be established in Minnesota.
1977 Rev. John T. Walker was installed as the sixth -- and first African American -- bishop of the Episcopal diocese in Washington, D.C.
1988 The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts elected Barbara C. Harris, 58, as a suffragen (assistant) bishop, making her the first woman to be so ordained in the Anglican communion.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.


Drug dealers hitched lift from cop

Two Romanian drug dealers were arrested when they accepted a lift from a passing drugs squad officer.
Catalin Vasile and Gheorghita Marienescu, both 22, from Targu Frumos, had filled their rucksacks with 25 ounces of cannabis from their own plantation.
They started hitch-hiking on their way back into town when it started to rain - and got a lift from an off duty police officer with the local drugs squad, who soon recognised the distinctive smell.

Policeman Florin Ardelean said: "I saw the two men standing near a field trying to hitch a lift. I felt sorry for them as it had just started to pour down and so I stopped to help.
"I smelt the cannabis on them as soon as they had shut the doors."
The policeman then drove the pair straight to the police station in Targu Frumos.

He added: "It turns out they had been cultivating the drugs for some time in the field and were selling it locally."
The pair are now facing up to five years' jail on charges of growing and dealing drugs.


Thought for the day :
"Adults are obsolete children."
Dr. Theodore Seuss Geisel


5 posted on 09/24/2005 9:18:11 AM PDT by Valin (The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.)
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To: snippy_about_it

This is wonderful! Profiling Enterprise. This must truly be the greatest article ever posted on FreeRepublic.


10 posted on 09/24/2005 9:34:20 AM PDT by Enterprise (The modern Democrat Party - a toxic stew of mental illness, cultism, and organized crime.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Enterprise

This is a great presentation regarding the Big E.

Allow me to add a bit of not well known history regarding the USS ENTERPRISE.

During her first WESTPAC deployment in 65-66, she made an R&R call to Subic Bay, PI. She was tied up to the carrier pier and looked magnificent across the bay from our location at the Ship's Repair Facility Diving Barge/School.

I was attending Second Class Diving School at the time. A job order came in from the Big E. It seems the Snipes aboard E had to repack one of the rudder posts. To accomplish this job, the point under the E where the rudder post penetrates the hull had to have a "dam" set in place to prevent water from entering when the Snipes removed the packing ring deep in aft steering room of the ship.

The method we used to dam the post was to use a 1 1/2 in. line (rope) coated in "monkeys**t" - a thick black sticky substance used to pack around electrical cables as they passed through bulkheads to maintain water-tight integrity of the space. We took this line and wrapped it around the post. To give you and idea how large that rudder post is, there were four of us underwater working at arms length away from each other stuffing that rope around the post.

Once we had it in place, we pounded on the hull to let the snipes know it was safe to remove the packing glands inside. As the gland was removed, the combination of flowing water and underwater pressure forced the dam tighter into place, shutting off the flow of water.

Once the job was done on the inside, we dove again to remove the dam. Mission accomplished.

Now, an addendum to the above story...

Naval vessels have the name of the vessel painted in black block lettering just below the main deck on the stern and the ENTERPRISE is no exception. However, during the intrim period of installing that dam on the rudder post and removing it, we had some down time. One of the divers' name was Hugh AKA Hughie.

Well, during the down time, Hughie found a chipping hammer and began etching his name in the paint on the E - about 4 ft. above the waterline on the stern in large block letters.

When the Big E left Subic, her rudder post was repaired and she bore a two names - ENTERPRISE and HUGHIE.


40 posted on 09/24/2005 5:58:33 PM PDT by Diver Dave (Because He Lives, I CAN Face Tomorrow)
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To: snippy_about_it

USS Enterprise (CV-6)

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv06-enterprise/cv06-enterprise.html

Displacement: 19,800 tons
Length: 809½ feet
Beam: 83 feet 1 inch; extreme width at flight deck: 114 feet
Draft: 28 feet
Speed: 33 knots
Complement: 2,919 crew
Armament: 8 five-inch guns, .38-cal. machine guns
Class: Yorktown


The seventh Enterprise (CV-6) was launched 3 October 1936 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. Claude A. Swanson, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 12 May 1938, Captain N. H. White in command.


Enterprise sailed south on a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After her return she operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until April of 1939 when she was ordered to duty in the Pacific. Based first out of San Diego and then in Pearl Harbor, the carrier trained herself and her aircraft squadrons for any eventuality, and carried aircraft among the island bases of the Pacific. Enterprise had just completed one such mission, delivering Marine Corps Fighter Squadron 211 to Wake Island on 2 December 1941, and was en route to Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.


Enterprise's scout planes arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack and, though surprised, immediately went into action in defense of the naval base. The carrier, meanwhile, launched her remaining aircraft in a fruitless search for the Japanese striking force. Enterprise put into Pearl Harbor for fuel and supplies on December and sailed early the next morning to patrol against possible additional attacks on the Hawaiian Islands. While the group did not encounter any surface ships, Enterprise aircraft scored a kill by sinking the Japanese submarine 1-170 in 23º 45' N., 155º 35' W., on 10 December 1941.


During the last two weeks of December 1941, Enterprise and her group steamed to the westward of Hawaii to cover those islands while two other carrier groups made a belated attempt to relieve Wake Island. After a brief rest at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise group sailed on 11 January 1942 to protect convoys reinforcing Samoa. On 1 February the task force dealt a hard blow to Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap in the Marshall Islands, sinking three ships, damaging eight, and destroying numerous airplanes and ground facilities. Enterprise received only minor damage in the Japanese counterattack, as her force retired to Pearl Harbor.


During the next month Enterprise's force swept the central Pacific, blasting enemy installations on Wake and Marcus Islands, then received minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor. On 8 April 1942 she departed to rendezvous with USS Hornet (CV 8) and sail westward to launch 16 Army B-25 bombers in a raid on Tokyo. While Enterprise fighters flew combat air patrol, the B-25s roared into the air on 18 April and raced undetected the 600 miles to their target. The task force, its presence known to the enemy, reversed course and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April.


Five days later, the "Big E" was speeding toward the South Pacific to reinforce the U.S. carriers operating in the Coral Sea. Distance proved too great to conquer in time, and the Battle of the Coral Sea was history before Enterprise could reach her destination. Ordered back to Hawaii, the carrier entered Pearl Harbor on 26 May and began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway Island. Two days later she sortied as flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander Task Force 16 (CTF 16), with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics." With Enterprise in TF 16 were Hornet, 6 cruisers, and 10 destroyers. On 30 May, TF 17, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in USS Yorktown (CV 5), with two cruisers, and six destroyers, sailed to support TF 16; as senior officer, Rear Admiral Fletcher became "Officer in Tactical Command."



The battle was joined on the morning of 4 June 1942 when four Japanese carriers, unaware of the presence of U.S. forces, launched attacks on Midway Island. Just 3 hours after the first bomb fell on Midway, planes from Hornet struck the enemy force, and 30 minutes later Enterprise and Yorktown aircraft streaked in to join in smashing the Japanese carriers. Each side hurled attacks at the other during the day in one of history's most decisive battles. Though the forces were in contact to 7 June, by the end of the 4th the outcome had been decided and the tide of the war in the Pacific had been turned in the United States' favor. Yorktown and USS Hammann (DD-412) were the only United States ships sunk, but TFs 16 and 17 lost a total of 113 planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses, far more severe, consisted of 4 carriers, one cruiser, and 272 carrier aircraft. Enterprise and all other ships of TFs 16 and 17 came through undamaged, returning to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1942.


After a month of rest and overhaul, Enterprise sailed on 15 July for the South Pacific where she joined TF 61 to support the amphibious landings in the Solomon Islands on 8 August. For the next 2 weeks, the carrier and her planes guarded seaborne communication lines southwest of the Solomons. On 24 August 1942, a strong Japanese force was sighted some 200 miles north of Guadalcanal and TF 61 sent planes to the attack. An enemy light carrier was sent to the bottom and the Japanese troops intended for Guadalcanal were forced back. Enterprise suffered most heavily of the United States ships, 3 direct hits and 4 near misses killed 74, wounded 9S, and inflicted serious damage on the carrier. But well-trained damage control parties, and quick hard work patched her up so that she was able to return to Hawaii under her own power.



Repaired at Pearl Harbor from 10 September to 16 October 1942, Enterprise departed once more for the South Pacific where with Hornet, she formed TF 61. On 26 October, Enterprise scout planes located a Japanese carrier force and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Island was underway. Enterprise aircraft struck carriers, battleships, and cruisers during the struggle, while the "Big E" herself underwent intensive attack. Hit twice by bombs, Enterprise lost 44 killed and had 75 wounded. Despite serious damage, she continued in action and took on board a large number of planes from Hornet when that carrier had to be abandoned. Though the American losses of a carrier and a destroyer were more severe than the Japanese loss of one light cruiser, the battle gained priceless time to reinforce Guadalcanal against the next enemy onslaught.


Enterprise entered Noumea, New Caledonia, on 30 October 1942 for repairs, but a new Japanese thrust at the Solomons demanded her presence and she sailed on 11 November, repair crews from USS Vestal (AR-4) still on board, working vigorously. Two days later, "Big E" planes swarmed down on an enemy force and disabled a battleship which was sunk later by other American aircraft, and on 14 November, aviators from Enterprise helped to despatch a heavy cruiser. When the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended on 15 November 1942, Enterprise had shared in sinking 16 ships and damaging 8 more. The carrier returned to Noumea on 16 November to complete her repairs.


Sailing again on 4 December, Enterprise trained out of Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, until 28 January 1943 when she departed for the Solomons area. On 30 January her fighters flew combat air patrol for a cruiser- destroyer group during the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite the destruction of a large majority of the attacking Japanese bombers by Enterprise planes, USS Chicago (CA-29) was sunk by aerial torpedoes. Detached after the battle, the carrier arrived at Espiritu Santo on 1 February, and for the next 3 months operated out of that base, covering U.S. surface forces up to the Solomons. Enterprise then steamed to Pearl Harbor where on 27 May 1943, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz presented the ship with the first Presidential Unit Citation won by an aircraft carrier. On 20 July 1943 she entered Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., for a much needed overhaul.



Back in action waters by mid-November, Enterprise joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Island, from 19 to 21 November. On the night of 26 November 1943, the "Big E" introduced carrier-based night fighter operations in the Pacific when a three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking TG 50.2. After heavy strike by aircraft of TF 50 against Kwajalein on 4 December, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor six days later. The carrier's next operation was with TF 58 in softening up the Marshall Islands and supporting the landings on Kwajalein, from 29 January to 3 February 1944. Then Enterprise sailed, still with TF 58, to strike the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, on 7 February. Again the "Big E" made aviation history when she launched the first night radar bombing attack from any U.S. carrier. The 12 torpedo bombers in this strike achieved excellent results, accounting for nearly one-third of the 200,000 tons of shipping destroyed by the aircraft of the task force.


Detached from TF 58, Enterprise launched raids on Jaluit Atoll on 20 February, then steamed to Majuro and Espiritu Santo. Sailing 15 March 1944 in TG 36.1, she provided air cover and close support for the landings on Emirau Island (19-25 March). The carrier rejoined CF 58 on 26 March and for the next 12 days joined in the series of hard-hitting strikes against the Yap, Ulithi, Woleai, and the Palau Islands. After a week's rest and replenishment at Majuro, Enterprise sailed 14 April to support landings in the Hollandia area of few Guinea, and then hit Truk again (29-30 April).


On 6 June 1944, the "Big E" and her companions of TG 58.3 sortied from Majuro to strike with the rest of TF 58, the Mariana Islands. Blasting Saipan, Rota, and Guam between 11 and 14 June, Enterprise pilots gave direct support to the landings on Saipan on 15 June, and covered the troops ashore for the next two days. Aware of a major Japanese attempt to break up the invasion of Saipan, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander 6th Fleet, positioned TF 58 to meet the thrust. On 19 June 1944 took place the greatest carrier aircraft battle in history. For over eight hours airmen of the United States and Imperial Japanese navies fought in the skies over TF 58 and the Marianas. By the end of the day, a United States victory was apparent, and at the conclusion of the strikes against the Japanese fleet on 20 June, the triumph became complete. Six American ships had been damaged, and 130 planes and a total of 76 pilots and aircrewmen had been lost. But with a major assist from U.S. submarines, 3 Japanese carriers were sunk, and 426 ship-based aircraft were destroyed. Japanese naval aviation never recovered from this blow.


The Battle of the Philippine Sea over, Enterprise and her companions continued to support the Saipan campaign through 5 July 1944. Enterprise then sailed for Pearl Harbor and a month of rest and overhaul. Back in action waters on 24 August, the carrier sailed with TF 38 in that force's aerial assault on the Volcano and Bonin Islands from 31 August to 2 September, and Yap, Ulithi, and the Palaus from 6 to 8 September. After operating west of the Palau Islands, the "Big E" joined other units of TF 38 on 7 October, and shaped course to the northward. From 10 to 20 October her aviators roared over Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines, blasting enemy airfields, shore installations, and shipping in preparation for the assault on Leyte. After supporting the Leyte landings on 20 October, Enterprise headed for Ulithi to replenish but the approach of the Japanese fleet on 23 October, brought her racing back into action. In the Battle for Leyte Gulf (23-26 October), Enterprise planes struck all three groups of enemy forces, battering battleships and destroyers before the action ended. The carrier remained on patrol east of Samar and Leyte until the end of October, then retired to Ulithi for supplies. During November, her aircraft struck targets in the Manila area, and the island of Yap. The "Big E" returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1944.



Sailing 24 December for the Philippine area, Enterprise carried on board an air group specially trained in night carrier operations. She joined TG 38.5 and swept the waters north of Luzon and of the China Sea during January of 1945, striking shore targets and shipping from Formosa to Indochina. After a brief visit to Ulithi, the "Big E" joined TG 58.5 on 10 February 1945 and provided day and night combat air patrol for TF 58 as it struck Tokyo on 16 and 17 February. She then supported the Marines on Iwo Jima from the day of the landings, 19 February 1945, until 9 March when she sailed for Ulithi. During one part of that period, Enterprise kept aircraft aloft continuously over Iwo Jima for 174 hours. Departing Ulithi 15 March, the carrier continued her night work in raids against Kyushu, Honshu, and shipping in the Inland Sea of Japan. Damaged slightly by an enemy bomb on 18 March, Enterprise entered Ulithi six days later for repairs. Back in action on 5 April, she supported the Okinawa operation until again damaged (11 April), this time by a suicide plane, and forced back to Ulithi. Off Okinawa once more on 6 May 1945, Enterprise flew patrols around the clock as the menace of the kamikaze increased. On 14 May 1945, the "Big E" suffered her last wound of World War II when a suicide plane destroyed her forward elevator, killing 14 and wounding 34 men. The carrier sailed for repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 7 June 1945.


Restored to peak condition, Enterprise voyaged to Pearl Harbor, returning to the States with some 1,100 servicemen due for discharge, then sailed on to New York, arriving 17 October 1945. Two weeks later she proceeded to Boston for installation of additional berthing facilities, then began a series of "Magic Carpet" voyages to Europe, bringing more than 10,000 veterans home in her final service to her country.


Enterprise entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 18 January 1946 for inactivation, and was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. The "Big E" was sold on 1 July 1958.


In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation, Enterprise received the Navy Unit Commendation and 20 battle stars for World War II service.


41 posted on 09/24/2005 6:24:15 PM PDT by Valin (The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.)
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To: snippy_about_it

Don't forget the fire.

USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN-65) - On January 14, 1969 the nuclear powered ENTERPRISE lost 27 seamen who were killed by intense flames. Another 85 were injured. The cause of the explosion was attributed to a loose bomb falling onto the flight deck from a landing plane. The ENTERPRISE lost 50 yards of her flight deck due to the explosion of rockets, bombs and 20 millimeter ammunition. It took 40 minutes to bring the fire under control

http://members.tripod.com/~ffhiker/index-7.html


49 posted on 09/24/2005 11:26:32 PM PDT by quietolong
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To: snippy_about_it

Opps should read before cut & paste

The cause of the accident was a aircraft hander left the tow bar in the wrong spot. So when the Huffer (a small jet turbine used to start the aircraft engines) was brought in to start the engines, it could not be placed correctly. And the exhaust was blowing over a rocket warhead and cooked it off.


51 posted on 09/24/2005 11:54:01 PM PDT by quietolong
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