With naval aviator Commander Alan B. Shepard having become the first American in space in May, the year 1961 was already one that represented the dawning of a new era when sunlight began to illuminate the giant ship at Newport News, Virginia, on 25 November 1961. She lay in the same waters where her predecessor and namesake had joined the fleet twenty-three years before, that carrier Enterprise (CV 6) making history by her performance in the great battles of World War II. On her commissioning day, this “Big E” was making history before embarking on her first cruise. Deep within the bowels of the ship were eight A2W reactors, making her the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in history. With a length of 1,123 feet, she was also the largest warship ever built, a title that she maintains in the twenty-first century. With 13,000 people crowded into the ship’s mammoth hangar bay on that cold morning, Captain Vincent de Poix rose to address his crew. “We have inherited probably the most illustrious name in the history of our country’s Navy, that of Enterprise,” he stated. “This name carries with it glory and prestige…it also carries with it responsibility to keep the name untarnished. It must be our intention to do this and more…to add to its luster…this latest Enterprise has the potential to make its own great name in naval history.” It was a call answered by that crew, and all those that followed as Enterprise now approaches forty years of service to the nation.
The moment she put to sea, Enterprise entered a world that lived in the shadow of the Cold War, and the United States wasted no time in putting her at the forefront of the nation’s defense. Her initial period at sea included operations by the Navy’s newest heavy attack aircraft, the A3J-1 Vigilante, and by the time she made ready for her first deployment, she had recorded over 4,000 arrested landings, the milestone 4,000th one made by Lieutenant John S. McCain, III. On 3 August 1962, Enterprise put to sea for her maiden deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, where she bolstered the Sixth Fleet’s presence in those vital waters. Upon return from this cruise, she was sent steaming to the waters around Cuba in the uncertain October days of 1962 to support President John F. Kennedy’s quarantine of the island during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This time the “Big E” served on the brink of war, which would not be the case in future years.
By 1964, Enterprise had accomplished all of what was expected of her by the Navy, which decided to stage a demonstration of American naval might akin to the Great White Fleet’s voyage earlier in the century, not equal in the number of ships, but of the same purpose. Along with the nuclear-powered ships Long Beach (CGN 9) and Bainbridge (DLGN 25), the carrier formed Nuclear Task Force One, embarking on an around-the-world cruise called Operation Sea Orbit. Throughout the epic voyage, local newspaper headlines at ports of call trumpeted the ships’ arrival. The crew of Enterprise periodically published a paper called “News of the Cruise” for sailors to send home to loved ones. The 13 August 1964, issue captured the far-reaching ramifications of the time at sea. “We put on air shows for visitors from Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast. Again we achieved our purpose. The visitors were impressed with our friendliness, skill, power, and our willingness to make sacrifices to preserve the peace.” All told, the “Big E” and her escorts remained at sea for a period of 65 days, traveling a distance of over 30,000 miles. Entering drydock for her first overhaul following commissioning, the ship made ready for the future, much of which would be spent off the coast of Vietnam.
On 26 October 1965, Enterprise got underway for her first combat cruise, with Captain James L. Holloway, III, a future Chief of Naval Operations, in command. On this, the first of six combat cruises to Southeast Asia for the ship, she became the first nuclear-powered warship to attack an enemy. Like all carriers that operated on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam, the “Big E” suffered her share of losses, with thirty-eight planes launched from her deck shot down by enemy fire. Yet, perhaps the greatest tragedy to befall her occurred in peaceful seas off Hawaii on the morning of 14 January 1969. As fully armed aircraft were preparing for launch, the exhaust from a jet starter unit positioned too closed to an F-4 Phantom II fighter caused a LAU-10 Zuni rocket beneath its wing to explode. This triggered a massive fuel fire that spread across the aft part of the flight deck, creating a towering black cloud over the ship. The conflagration killed twenty-eight members of the crew and injured 343 others, also destroying fifteen aircraft.
Following the cease-fire ending the Vietnam War, Enterprise returned home to the West Coast and prepared for a 1974 deployment. She put to sea with a new aircraft on board, with Fighter Squadrons (VF) 1 and 2 becoming the first to deploy with the new F-14 Tomcat fighter. Ironically, the cruise included a return to the familiar waters off Vietnam, where during April 1975, Enterprise and her embarked air wing provided air support for Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of South Vietnam. By 1979, the carrier had completed her twelfth deployment and entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for her most ambitious overhaul yet. Workers removed the dome atop her island, which consisted of electronic countermeasures antennas, and also took off flat billboard phased array radar antennas that gave her island a boxlike appearance, dramatically altering the carrier’s appearance.
Returning to sea in 1982, Enterprise spent the ensuing years steaming through waters around the globe, notable service including participation in Operation Earnest Will, the escorting of U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf, and Operation Praying Mantis, a retaliation against Iranian oil platforms after a U.S. destroyer struck an Iranian mine. In December 1998 airplanes from the carrier’s deck struck targets in Iraq during Operation Desert Fox. When terrorists attacked New York City and Washington D.C. on the fateful day of 11 September 2001, Enterprise was at sea just like her predecessor had been when Japanese planes made the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. And just as in World War II, a ship named Enterprise was among the first to strike back at the enemy, her planes initiating Operation Enduring Freedom with attacks on Afghanistan. She subsequently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, reflecting her motto “The First, the Finest.” Scheduled to enter her fourth decade of service in 2011, the same year that naval aviation celebrates its centennial, Enterprise will eventually be replaced in the fleet by Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
Pictured above, the cover of a Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company publication showing the christening of Enterprise. The ship pictured underway during the 1960s and a view of the conical radard antenna of the island as an A-7 Corsair II prepares to launch. Enterprise towers over the pier as she returns to Naval Station Norolk, Virginia, following a deployment, 2006.