USS Enterprise CVN 65

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News , VA.

Date Deployed: November 25, 1961 (USS Enterprise).

Propulsion: Eight nuclear reactors, four shafts.

Length: 1,101 feet 2 inches (335.64 meters).

Beam: 133 feet (39.9 meters); 252 feet (75.6 meters).

DISPLACEMENT: 85,600 tons

Displacement: 89,600 tons ( 81,283.8 metric tons) full load.

DRAFT: 35 feet

Speed: 30+ knots (34.5 miles per hour).

Crew: Ship's Company: 3,350 - Air Wing 2,480.

Armament: Two Sea Sparrow missile launchers, three Phalanx 20 mm CIWS mounts.

Aircraft: 85.

CLASS: Enterprise

....The eighth Enterprise (CVA(N)-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched 24 September 1960 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs., William B. Franke, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 25 November 1961, Captain V. P. de Poix, in command.

.....After commissioning, Enterprise began a lengthy series of tests and training exercises, designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Immediately her superlative characteristics and performance became obvious.

.....The first air operations were conducted by Enterprise as Cmdr., George Talley made an arrested landing and catapult launch in an F8U Crusader. Although three TF Traders of VR-40 had taken off from her deck on 30 October 1961 to transport VIPs to the mainland after observing sea trials, Cmdr., Talley's flights marked the start of Enterprise fleet operations. One month later, on 20 February 1962, the nuclear-powered carrier played a role in the space age when Enterprise acted as a tracking and measuring station for the epochal flight of Friendship 7, the Project Mercury space capsule in which Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., USMC, made the United States' first orbital space flight.

.....In August, Enterprise joined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean . Soon after its return to Norfolk , Va., in October 1962, Enterprise was dispatched to its first international crisis. On a televised address to the nation 22 October 1962 President John F. Kennedy announced that U.S. reconnaissance flights had revealed a Soviet buildup of offensive missiles on the island of Cuba, 90 miles off the Florida coast. The President ordered a naval and air quarantine on shipment of offensive military equipment to Cuba and demanded the Soviets dismantle the missile sites there.

.....As the President imposed the blockade of Cuba which he had announced in his TV broadcast two days earlier, ships of the blockading force were in position at sea. Aircraft from Enterprise , USS Independence (CVA 62), USS Essex (CVA 9) and USS Randolph (CVA 15), and those from shore stations were in the air, patrolling their assigned sectors. On the same day the service tours of all officers and enlisted men were extended indefinitely.

..... Enterprise and other ships in the Second Fleet set up a "strict quarantine of all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba. " The blockade was put in place on October 24, and the first Soviet ship was stopped the next day. On October 28, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles and dismantle the missile bases in Cuba .

.....On 19 December 1962 , an E-2A piloted by Lt., Cmdr., Lee M. Ramsey was catapulted off Enterprise in the first shipboard test of nose-tow gear designed to replace the catapult bridle and reduce launching intervals. Minutes later the second nose-tow launch was made by an A-6A.

..... Enterprise made its second and third deployments to the Mediterranean in 1963 and 1964. During the latter deployment, on 13 May 1964, the world's first nuclear-powered task force was formed when USS Long Beach (CGN 9) and USS Bainbridge (CGN 7) joined Enterprise. On 31 July 1964, the ships were designated Task Force One and, leaving Gibraltar, sailed on Operation Sea Orbit, an historic 65-day, 30,216-mile voyage around the world, accomplished without a single refueling or replenishment. In October, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for its first refueling and overhaul.

.....The Big E transferred to the Pacific's Seventh Fleet in November 1965 and became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat when it launched bomb-laden aircraft in a projection of power against the Viet Cong near Bien Hoa on 2 December 1965 . Enterprise launched 125 sorties on the first day, unleashing 167 tons of bombs and rockets on the enemy's supply lines. The next day it set a record of 165 strike sorties in a single day.

.....On 23 January 1968, when word was received of the capture of USS Pueblo (AGER 2) by a North Korean patrol boat, a Task Group, composed of Enterprise and screen, was ordered to reverse course in the East China Sea and to run northward to the Sea of Japan where it operated in the vicinity of South Korea for almost a month.

.....A fire aboard Enterprise on 14 January 1969, resulting from detonation of a MK-32 Zuni rocket warhead overheated by exhaust from an aircraft starting unit, took 27 lives, injured 314 and destroyed 15 aircraft. Repairs to the ship were completed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii , in early March. On 14 April, North Korean aircraft shot down an unarmed EC-121 propeller-driven Constellation which was on a routine reconnaissance patrol over the Sea of Japan from its base at Atsugi, Japan. The entire 31-man crew was killed. U.S. response was to activate Task Force 71 to protect such flights over those international waters in the future. Initially, the TF consisted of the carriers Enterprise, USS Ticonderoga (CVA 14), USS Ranger (CVA 61) and USS Hornet (CVA 12) with cruiser and destroyer screens.

.....In all, Enterprise made six combat deployments to Southeast Asia from 1965 to 1972. Between combat tours, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company in 1970 for an overhaul and second refueling. On 19 January 1971, she completed sea trials with her newly-designed nuclear reactor cores which contained enough energy to power her for the next 10 years.

.....In Vietnam, with USS Oriskany (CVA 34), USS Midway (CVA 41), and Enterprise serving intermittently on station, a total of 22 two-carrier days and nine single-carrier days resulted in a strike sortie count of 2,001 on 30 July 1971. Strike operations during the month of July were disrupted when the carriers on station evaded three different typhoons — Harriet, Kim and Jean. A slight increase in South Vietnam strike sorties occurred during the month. These were mainly visual strikes against enemy troop positions and in support of U.S. helicopter operations.

.....During August 1971, dual carrier operations were conducted only during the first week — and, as of 16 August, Enterprise filled in the remainder of the month alone on station. Thus, a total of eight two-carrier days and 23 single-carrier days represented a near reversal of July's carrier mix, producing a strike sortie count for the month of 1,915.

.....Single carrier operations on Yankee Station were conducted throughout September 1971, except for one two-carrier day. The schedule had Enterprise flying the first four days, Oriskany the middle of the month and Midway completing the last four days. The single carrier posture, combined with the low intended sortie rate, produced 1,243 strike sorties during the month. Oriskany flyers participated in a joint USAF/USN protective reaction strike in southern North Vietnam on 21 September.

.....On Yankee Station during October 1971, single carrier operations were conducted except for the last day. Midway completed her final line period 10 October, with Enterprise taking over the next day for the remainder of the month. Oriskany joined the last day, and together the three carriers recorded a total of 1,024 ordnance-delivering strike sorties, 30 of them in South Vietnam, the remainder in Laos . The air warfare posture in North Vietnam was altered 20 October through the deployment of six MiG aircraft south of 20º north — two each at Vinh, Quan Lang and Bai Thuong.

.....Alternating on Yankee Station, Oriskany, USS Constellation and Enterprise provided 22 two-carrier days on the line during November 1971, delivering 1,766 ordnance-bearing strike sorties, twelve and nine of them into North Vietnam and South Vietnam respectively. Two reconnaissance missions were flown during the month, with the airfield at Vinh the mission assignment. Escort aircraft on both missions expended ordnance in a protective reaction role against firing antiaircraft artillery sites near the field. Other protective reaction strikes were executed.

.....On 23 October 1972, the U.S., ended all tactical air sorties into North Vietnam above the 20th parallel and brought to a close Linebacker I operations. This goodwill gesture of terminating the bombing in North Vietnam above the 20th parallel was designed to help promote the peace negotiations being held in Paris, France. During May through October, the Navy flew a total of 23,652 tactical air attack sorties into North Vietnam. U.S. tactical air sorties during Linebacker I operations helped stem the flow of supplies into North Vietnam, thereby limiting the operating capabilities of North Vietnam 's invading army. Carriers involved in Linebacker I operations were Enterprise, Constellation, USS Coral Sea (CVA 43), USS Hancock (CVA 19), USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63), Midway, USS Saratoga (CVA 60), Oriskany, and USS America (CVA 66).

.....During the 23 October through 17 December 1972 bombing halt above the 20th parallel in North Vietnam, no MiG kills or U.S. losses were recorded. Three to four carriers alternated on Yankee Station during the bombing halt. These were: Enterprise, Kitty Hawk Midway, Saratoga, Oriskany, America and Ranger.

.....Linebacker II operations were initiated on 18 December 1972 when negotiations in the Paris peace talks stalemated. The Linebacker II operations ended on 29 December when the North Vietnamese returned to the peace table. These operations involved the resumed bombing of North Vietnam above the 20th parallel and were an intensified version of Linebacker I. The reseeding of mine fields in Haiphong harbor was resumed and concentrated strikes were carried out against surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft artillery sites, enemy army barracks, petroleum storage areas, Haiphong naval and shipyard areas, and railroad and truck stations. Navy tactical air attack sorties under Linebacker II were centered in the coastal areas around Hanoi and Haiphong. There were 705 Navy sorties in this area during Linebacker II.

.....Between 18 and 22 December the Navy conducted 119 Linebacker II strikes in North Vietnam. Bad weather was the main limiting factor on the number of tactical air strikes flown during this operation. On 28 December 1972, an F-4J Phantom II from VF-142 on board Enterprise downed a MiG-21, the 24th downed by Navy and Marine Corps pilots during the Vietnam War. The following carriers participated in Linebacker II operations: Enterprise, Saratoga, Oriskany, America and Ranger.