Photo Tribute: 50 Years of USS Enterprise

[Sailor]

DT wishes a happy birthday to the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. She was commissioned 50 years ago this month and despite being the only ship of her class built, paved the way for the very successful Nimitz class nuclear carriers. In addition to her eight nuclear reactors, the Enterprise was equipped with an early version of another weapon system that would one day become a hallmark of the U.S. Navy; the massive SCANFAR phased array radars that led to the development of the powerful Aegis radar system now used on all U.S. cruisers and destroyers. The Big E’s eight reactors would be replaced by two far more powerful and efficient reactors in the Nimitz class ships and he SCANFAR radars had plenty of problems. Still, she taught valuable lessons about both of these technologies and served as a springboard for serious technological leaps. Oh yeah, and she’s seen plenty of combat.

She’s set to decommission sometime in the next few years to make way for the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Read more: defensetech.org/2011/11/09/dt-photo-tribute-50-years-of-the-uss-enterprise/#ixzz1dLkuH5V0 Defense.org

"The next few years" is actually sometime in 2012 from what I'm hearing locally.

[chillyd]

It's that CIA secret funding:

[Sailor]

"Let's make sure history never forgets... the name... Enterprise. Picard out."

The stern nameplate from the greatest ship to ever carry the name ... CV-6.

www.navsource.org/archives/02/020673b.jpg

[Sailor]

Panoramic images | Aboard the carrier Enterprise at 50

An estimated 250,000 sailors have served aboard the Big "E." This week, about 1,000 will gather in Norfolk for a birthday salute as the carrier turns 50 years old.

Come aboard the ship in these 360-degree images. Hold and drag your cursor across an image or use the controls. Click the final control button to view an image full screen.

hamptonroads.com/2011/11/panoramic-images-aboard-carrier-enterprise-50

hamptonroads.com/2011/11/more-panoramic-images-aboard-carrier-enterprise

[Sailor]

Enterprise veterans return to carrier for birthday celebration

The aircraft carrier Enterprise celebrated its 50th birthday today by welcoming hundreds of former crew members aboard, including scores assigned to the ship when it entered service in 1961.

Known as “The Big E,” it was the Navy’s first nuclear-powered carrier and has participated in almost every armed conflict since the commissioning, starting with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Don Rasmussen remembers that well. He was aboard as an aviation machinist’s mate. The Enterprise had just returned to Norfolk after weeks at sea and was ordered back out days later.

Rasmussen called his parents in Minnesota. “I said, ‘I can’t tell you where we’re going, but I think if you read the newspaper, you’ll know.’”

The 69-year-old sported his original blue wool cracker jack jumper and the traditional white Dixie cup hat. Being aboard his old ship brought back lots of memories. He teared up trying to explain the significance of that period in his life - from a teenager who’d never left Minnesota to a sailor exploring foreign ports in Brazil, Pakistan and Australia.

“This was part of my life – a big part of my life. You lived so close to the next guy. You get close to everybody.”

More:
hamptonroads.com/2011/11/enterprise-veterans-return-carrier-birthday-celebration