Enterprise (CVN-65) USS (1960)

[john sefton]

The importance of aircraft carriers was confirmed in the course of the Second World War when aircraft, taking off from their decks, decided the battle off Midway, which concluded the war in the Pacific. After the war, naval designers concentrated on increasing engine power and on adapting carriers for a greater number of faster and heavier aircraft. The culmination of these efforts was the construc¬tion of the U.S. carrier Enterprise, which is driven by nuclear power. The keel was laid in February 1958 in the Newport News yards and the Enterprise was finished in December 1961. In 1965 the ship joined the U.S. Pacific fleet.
Her aircraft deck has a surface of 4.5 acres and carries 70 to 100 aircraft, which are brought up to the deck by four elevators. The Enterprise has no funnels and the tower superstructure carries radar scanners, aerials, remote control devices and the deck gear control. Four screw propellers are driven by steam turbines, developing 300,000 h.p. The steam is supplied by eight nuclear reactors cooled by pressurised water. The average speed of the ship is 33 knots and the operational radius at this speed is 140,000 sea miles.
Dimensions: length o.a. 1,123 feet (341 metres), beam 133 feet (40.5 metres), draught 37 feet (11.3 metres), width of the flight deck 257 feet (78.3 metres), displacement 75,700 tons, crew 2,870 men, flying crew 1,430 men.

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth U.S. naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the "Big E." At 1,123 ft (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel in the world, though her 93,500 tons displacement places her as the second heaviest supercarrier, surpassed only by the Nimitz-class.

Enterprise is a single class ship and is currently the oldest active vessel still in commission under the United States Navy, excluding the ceremonial commission of USS Constitution. As the oldest carrier in the fleet, she is currently scheduled for decommissioning some time in 2014-2015 depending on the life of her current reactors and when the construction of her replacement, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is completed. Efforts for an earlier retirement in 2012-2013 is under consideration but has to be approved by Congress. At earlist possible date, Enterprise would retire with just over 50 years of continuous service, serving as the longest of any aircraft carrier in the history of the United States Navy.

Enterprise is currently homeported at Norfolk, Virginia. Her current commanding officer is Captain Ronald Horton.

Various web sites.
Grenada SG1630

[aukepalmhof]

01 December 2012 decommissioned.
In May 2017, Newport News Shipbuilding moved the former USS ENTERPRISE to a different area of the yard in order to continue work on its inactivation and eventual towing out of Hampton Roads. Tugboats guided the carrier from Drydock 10 to Pier 2. The shipyard had completed all dry dock-related work, and moving it to the pier will allow the shipyard to complete the remaining tasks involved with inactivation. That includes closing compartments and preparation work related to dismantling and towing.
Wikipeda

Sierra Leone 2017 Le9800 sg?, scott?
Guinea-Bissau 2015 800FCFA sgMS?, scott?
For the 55th anniversary of the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ENTERPRISE CVN-65 (CVN-65 and F/A-18 Hornet) Guinea-Bissau issued in 2015 a miniature sheet of 800FCFA.