USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

History

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and the world, as well as the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor (the USS Enterprise CV-6) of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 feet (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel ever built and the only ship of her class, which was originally planned to have five other ships. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) displacement ranks her class as the third-largest carrier class, after the Nimitz class and the Gerald R. Ford class. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members.

Enterprise was, at the time of inactivation, the third-oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled USS Constitution and USS Pueblo (AGER-2). She was inactivated at Naval Station Norfolk on 1 December 2012, and decommissioned on 3 February 2017, after over 55 years of service. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day and remains at Norfolk awaiting final disposition. The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-80).

Text from Wikipedia: USS Enterprise (CVN-65), CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1. 1963
   In 1963–1964, now under command of Captain Frederick H. Michaelis, Enterprise made her second and third deployments to the Mediterranean.
2. 1967
   Late in 1967, Enterprise was fitted with a prototype Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) installation, with two eight-round box launchers for Sea Sparrow missiles.
3. 1967
   Captain Kent Lee relieved Captain James L. Holloway as commanding officer in ceremonies on 11 July 1967.
4. 1969
   In 1969–1970, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and went through an overhaul and her second refitting.
5. 1974
   On 18 March 1974, the first operational Tomcats of VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters made their maiden takeoffs and landings from the carrier.
6. 1986
   In 1986, the carrier made her 12th WESTPAC deployment, leaving on 15 January 1986.
7. 2001
   On 25 April 2001, Enterprise began her 17th overseas deployment with CVW-8 embarked and Captain James A. Winnefeld Jr. in command.
8. 2011
   On 1 January 2011, the Virginian-Pilot leaked highlights from the final video of a set entitled "XO Movie Night" that was filmed on Enterprise and aired via closed circuit television on select Saturday evenings.
9. 2012
   Enterprise was deactivated on 1 December 2012 at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone aboard this ship

A ship history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “USS Enterprise (CVN-65)”

More history

• Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS)
• Wikipedia: USS Enterprise (CVN-65)