So, you all know I'm a bit of a history buff, and also a military history buff. Last year I tried to do a world history thread where I would add daily events, but it turned out to be a ton of work and a bit of a grind, and I think I got through about half a year and gave up. But I still want to scratch my history itch once in a while. So I'm going to select either important historical people or things or events a fire up a thread so that people can have a discussion if they so desired. I thought that I would start with one of the more interesting and infamous ship names in Naval history which is the Enterprise.
Now people tend to attach this name to Star Trek and the famous USS Enterprise, but the name enterprise was famous long before that with the most well known version of the Enterprise being CV-6, the Yorktown class carrier who made a name for itself in WW2.
But more about that later.
There have been 8 ships named Enterprise throughout History with a new Enterprise set to be commissioned in 2028 the Gerald R Ford class carrier will designated as CVN-80.
However today, and down below I'm going to focus on the first Enterprise which was a 70 tonne Sloop.
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So here's the Canadian connection and its not based around it being commanded by one of William Shatner's ancestors.
The Enteprise was built in St. John's Quebed as a British Schooner or Sloop of War by the British Navy. Originally it was named the George.
In 1775 the Americans under Benedict Arnold raided the ship yard on the captured Liberty and on May 18th Arnold captured the ship yard and fort as well as the George. Two hours after the raid, the Americans left with the Geoge and it was commissioned in the United States Navy armed with 12 4 pound guns and renamed Enteprise.
The Enterprise became the flag ship of the Lake Champlain Squadron and acted as the flagship for Benedict Arnold. Control of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River would have allowed the British to cut off supply routes with New England and other colonies and lead to an attack by the British on Albany.
On August 28 1775 Enterprise and a small fleet embarked with 1000 American soldiers as part of a raid against Montreal and Quebec City. The raid was partially successful as St Johns and Montreal were captured and Quebec City was attacked, but the British re-enforced and drove the Americans from Canada.
The Enterprise next saw action in October 1776 during the Battle of Valcour Island. The American fleet under Arnold was severely outgunned and he had most of his fleet shot out from under him. He did manage to slip what he had left including Enterprise past the British Fleet at night and a 2 day running battle resulted in the loss of all except for 5 American Ships including Enterprise. The survivors then sailed onto Fort Ticonderoga.
Although the American's were heavily defeated it did disrupt the British planned invasion of New York and with the onset of Winter the British plans were delayed by a year which gave the Americans a chance to build up a defense and the British Invasion was stopped by General Gates and lead to the American Alliance with France that bought in the much needed French Navy on their side.
During the British advance on on New York the Enterprise was assigned to the evacuation of Ticonderoga, they met the British Navy on Lake Champlain and were overwhelmed. Of the 5 American ships of the squadron 2 ships were captured, Enterprise and 2 other ships ran aground on July 7, 1777 and burned to prevent their capture.
Interesting enough at that time there was another Enterprise
Enterprise (1776)
This enterprise was a 25 ton schooner that was armed with 8 guns. Originally she was a successful Privateer that was purchased by the Continental Navy in 1776. She was commanded by James Campbell and operated mostly in Chesapeake Bay as a Convoy escort as well as guarding the shores against the British.
In 1777 she was given to the Maryland Council of Safety without seeing significant action.
Its interesting to note that this Enterprise was never commissioned by the Navy because there was already an Enterprise, therefore she was never given the prefix USS and was known simply as Enteprise.
Tomorrow I'll look at the Enterprise 1799, 1831, 1874 and the SP-790.
Hopefully on Tuesday I'll write about the CV-6. On Wednesday the CVN-65 and then Thursday I'll look at the CVN-80
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Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Last edited by CaptainCrunch; 12-03-2018 at 12:09 AM.
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The US Navy went without a ship named Enterprise until 1799 when they commissioned the 135 ton Schooner which was built in Baltimore for a cost of $16,240 (about $323,000 in todays dollars)
The Enterprise had a crew of 70 officers and men and mounted 12 6 pound guns. Throughout its 24 year career the Enteprise was overhauled and rebuild several times going from a 12 gun schooner to 14 gun top sale.
The Enterprise was first sent to the Delaware Capes in the Caribbean to protect US flagged merchentmen from French Privateers during the Quasi-War with France. The Enterprise captured 8 Privateers and rescued 11 American vessels which insured that she was retained by the Navi.
After that the Enterprise was deployed in the Mediterranean and took part in the first Barbary War, her first action came on Aug 1, 1801 when she defeated the 14 gun Tripolitan Corsair Tripoli in a one sided battle. The following is a narration of the action
Quote:
esterday captain Sterret, commander of the schooner
Enterprize
, part of the Mediterranean squadron, arrived here, with dispatches for the Secretary of the Navy.
Captain Sterret is bearer of dispatches from commodore Dale, which exhibit a detailed account of the proceedings and situation of the Mediterranean squadron.
On the 1st of August, the schooner
Enterprize
, commanded by captain Sterret, and carrying 12 six pounders and 90 men, bound to
for a supply of water, fell in with a Tripolitan cruizer, being a ship of 14 six pounders, manned by 80 men.
At this time the
Enterprize
bore British colours. Captain Sterret interrogated the commander of the Tripolitan on the object of his cruize. He replied that he came out to cruise after the Americans, and that he lamented that he had not come alongside of some of them. Captain Sterret, on this reply, hoisted American, in the room of British colours; and discharged a volley of musquetry; which the Tripolitan returned by a partial broadside.—This was the commencement of a hard fought action, which commenced at 9 am and continued for three hours.
Three times, during the action, the Tripolitan attempted to board the
Enterprize
, and was as often repulsed with great slaughter, which was greatly increased by the effective aid afforded by the Marines. Three times, also, the Tripolitan struck her colours, and as often treacherously renewed the action, with the hope of disabling the crew of captain Sterret, which, as is usual, when the enemy struck her colours, came on deck, and exposed themselves, while they gave three cheers as a mark of victory.
When for the third time, this treacherous attack was made, captain Sterret gave orders to sink the Tripolitan, on which a scene of furious combat ensuded, until the enemy cried for mercy.
Captain Sterret, listening to the voice of humanity, even after such perfidious conduct, ordered the captain either to come himself, or to send some of his officers on board the
Enterprize
. He was informed that the boat of the Tripolitan was so shattered as to be unfit for use. He asked, what security there was, that if he should send his men in his own boat, they would not be murdered?
After numerous supplications & protestations the boat was sent: The crew of the Tripolitan was discovered to be in the most deplorable state. Out of eighty men, 20 were killed, and 30 wounded. Among the killed were the second lieutenant and Surgeon; and among the wounded were the Captain and first lieutenant. And so decisive was the fire of the
Enterprize
that the Tripolitan was found to be in a most perilous condition, having received 18 shot between wind and water.
When we compare this great slaughter, with the fact that not a single individual of the crew of the
Enterprise
was in the least degree injured, we are lost in surprise at the uncommon good fortune which accompanied our seamen, and at the superior management of Captain Sterrett.
All the officers and sailors manifested the truest spirit, and sustained the greatest efforts during the engagement. All, therefore, are entitled to
for their valour and good conduct. The marines, especially, owing to the nearness of the vessels, which were within pistol shot of each other, were eminently useful.
After administering to the relief of the distresses of the wounded Tripolitans, and the wants of the crew, Capt. Sterrett ordered the ship of the enemy to be completely dismantled. Her masts were accordingly all cut down, and her guns thrown overboard. A spar was raised, on which was fixed, as a flag, a tattered sail; and in this condition the ship was dismissed.
On the arrival of the Tripolitan ship at Tripoli, so strong was the sensations of shame and indignation excited there, that the
So thunderstruck were the Tripolitans at this event, and at the apprehended destruction of their whole marine force, that the sailors, then employed at Tripoli on board of cruisers that were fitting out by the government, all deserted them, and not a man could be procured to navigate them.
The rest of her Mediterranean patrol was fairly eventful.
In 1803 she captured the Paulina a Tunisian ship, that same year she ran a 30 craft ashore and spent her time bombarding and sending raiding parties into Tripoli.
On Nov 12th 1803 she joined the frigate Consititution to capture the Ketch Masitco which later became the Intrepid, then they executed a daring raid to recapture and burn the Frigate USS Philidelphia which had been captured by the Tripoliitans.
She was rebuilt in 1805 and patroled until 1807 , she fought the Spanish off Gibralter.
In 1807 she was called home and laid up in New York.
In 1811 she was recommissioned and sailed out of Savannah and Chaleston she was then re-gigged as a Brig.
When war was declared on Britain the Enterprise cruised the US East Coash. She engated and chased the HMS Boxer in a battle where both commanding officers were killed, the Enterprise captured the Boxer and bought her to Portland where a joint service was held by the US Navy for both commanding officers.
After repairing Enteprise sailed with the USS Rattlesnake to the Caribbean where they took 3 prizes before being seperated by a heavily armed ship, the Enterprise was forced to dump her guns to outrun her enemy and made her way back to Wilmington where she passed the rest of the war protecting the East Coast.
Enteprise had one more tour in 1815 in the Med and then became the founding vessel of the East Indes Squadron.
In 1821 she took 13 prizes and rescued three vessels taken by Pirates off of the coast of Cuba.
In 1823 her career came to an end as she was stranded and broke up on Little Curacao Island in the West Indies
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Launched from the New York Navy yard in 1831, this Enterprise was a 194 ton schooner.
She patrolled off of the Brazilian coast until 1834 before returning to New York for a refit, once that was completed she returned to Brazil.
She then joined the sloop Peacock and made her way to India and then the East India, then sailed for Honolulu before going to Mexico. In 1839 she departed Chile went to Rio De Janeiro before rounding the horn and went to Philidelphia where she was inactivated in 1839.
She was recommissioned later that year and in 1940 sailed to south America where she spent a 4 year patrol protecting US Commerce. She returned to the Boston Naval Yard and was decommissioned on June 20, 1844 before being sold 5 months later.
She was crewed by 72 officers and men and carried 2 8 pounder guns and 8 24 pound cannonades.
Enterprise (1874)
This Enteprise was a 1300 ton barque rigged Screw Sloop. She was launched on June 13, 1874 .
Her first tour of duty took her down the Mississippi River on a surveying crew she then went to the Amazon and Madeira Rivers .
In 1878 Seamn Thomas Smith rescued a drowning sailor and was given the edal of honor.
In December 1878 she joined US Naval Forces in Europe and then in 1880 was decommissioned.
In 1882 she was recommissioned and set out on a three year survey cruise around the world . Her real value was the vast amount of knowledge accumulated about the Ocean bottoms and currents.
She was a neutral observer during the battle of Fuzhou during the Sino-French War. She then returned to New York in March 1890 and was decommissioned.
5 months later she was recommissioned and attached to the US Naval Academy as a training vessel, then she was lent to the Boston Maritime Academy to train their students as a school ship. She was then returned to the Navy on May4th 1909 and was sold on October 1,1909 and was burned for Salvage in 1910
Enterprise (1874) was crewed by 184 men and was lightly armed with 1 11" smooth bore, 4 9" guns and 1 60 pound gun.
USS Enterprise (SP-790)
The 6th Enterprise as a motor boat in the 2nd naval district during WW1. She was a 66ft motor patrol vessel with a crew of 8 and 1 1 pound gun.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Perhaps there's no more famous or decorated ship that bore the name Enterprise then CV-6, the Yorktown Class Aircraft carrier. She displaced over 25,500 tons until her overhaul in 1943 when she came in at a weight of 32,060 tons. She had 9 Boilers and 4 shafts and could move at a speed of 32.5 knots. At the time she was a massive war ship with a crew of 2217 officers of men.
Her flight deck was and hanger were designed to launch, recover and service 90 aircraft. She was bristling with weapons with over 75 guns to protect herself from Air raids.
She was known as the Big E, the Lucky E, The Grey Ghost and the Galloping Ghost. She was commanded through her history by some of the most famous Naval Commanders and Aviators in American history.
She received 20 Battle Stars, a Presidential Unit Citation, a Navy Unit Citation the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and the Philippine Liberation Medal among other decorations.
She is one of the most famous American Warships in history.
The Enterprise was the 6th American Aircraft Carrier in the US Navy when she was rolled off of the blocks in 1936, and one of only three carriers that were built before WW2 that survived the War.
She rolled out of the Newport News Shipyards on October 3,1936 and was sponsored by Lulie Swanson who was the wife of the Secretary of the Navy, she completed her shakedown and received her pendant on May 12, 1938, her first captain was Newton H White Jr.
One of the first ships to receive early radar she was based out of San Diego, but moved to Pearl Harbor after Roosevelt ordered the Navy to be forward based.
On the 28th of November 1941 she left Pearl to transport aircraft to Wake Island and was out to sea when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor after the attack and Admiral Halsey ordered the Enterprise to patrol against further attacks, The Enterprise sank the Japanese Sub I-70 becoming the first American ship to sink a Japanese vessel in WW2.
The Enterprises next action was as the flag for Task Force 8, they raided the Marshall Islands sinking 3 ships, damaging 8 and received minor damage before returning to her home port.
The next month the Enterprise swept the Pacific and attacked Japanese installations on Wake and Marcus Islands.
Her next historic moment occurred in April of 1942 when she and her sister ship Hornet launched the Doolittle Raid where 16 B-25's launched from the deck of the Hornet to attack Tokyo while Enterprise provided cover.
At this point, the war was going poorly for the Americans, with the destruction of most of their regular pacific navy at Pearl it force the American's to change tactics and realize that this was was going to be won and lost with carriers not with guns and Battleships. The issue was that the Japanese Navy at this point seemed to be unbeatable with their sizeable force of Carriers and Battleships they held a numbers and technology advantage over the Americans' as well as a experience and leadership edge.
After the Doolittle raid the Enterprise sortied to Coral Sea however she arrived to late to help and the Battle of Coral Sea while considered a saw off as the Americans traded ship losses with the numerically superior Japanese. The Yorkton suffered severe damage and limped back to Pearly leaving the Americans with the Hornet and Enterprise to protect from a suspected Japanese land invasion of the West Coast.
However due to the brilliance of American code breakers and some subterfuge using a false message the American's learned that the Japanese were heading to Midway. At the same time Admiral Halsey came down with Shingles and was beached his choice of his replacement Admiral Raymond A Spruce a former Cruiser Commander was inspired as Spruce performed brilliantly at Midway.
The Hornet, Yorktown who had managed to repair its damage and set to sea in a matter of days instead of months with the Enterprise as the fleet flag steamed out to Midway to bush wack the Japanese Navy.
There was no reason to believe that the Americans' would prevail, the Japanese outnumber the American Carriers 4 to 3 but also had significantly more ships and aircraft. If the Americans' lost their carriers at Midway the war would have probably ended with a Japanese victory .
The Japanese planes unaware of the American Carriers launched their attack on Midway. Shortly after the Japanese started bombing Midway and American Force of Torpedo Planes and Dive Bombers attacked. Torpedo squadron 8 was wiped out but drew Japanese fighter cover to sea level and opened the way for a devastating dive Bomber attack that devastated the Japanese Carriers Kaga and Akagi and left them burning.
As a side note the Battle of Midway exposed the Japanese Carriers as not only having serious design flaws in how they stored ammunition and fuel, but that the Japanese weren't as good at fire fighting and damage control as the American's were. At the same time planes off of the Hiryu caught the Hornet and crippled it with bomb strikes and 2 Torpedo hits, but the Yorkton was able to put out its fires and relight its boilers.
The Enterprise and Hornet struck back and crippled the Hiryu, the American's also crippled the Soryu while planes from the enterprise returned and finished off the Akaga and Kaga.
The Japanese lost 4 carriers a cruiser and 272 aircraft. It had the guts torn out of its experienced pilot roster. The American's lost Yorktown and the Cruiser Hammann and lost a total of 113 aircraft.
Yamamoto ordered the carriers scuttled and retreated. The American's had gutted the Japanese and turned the war.
After Midway, the Enterprise sailed on to join TF-61 and supported the landings in the Solomon Islands. There they caught a strong Japanese taskforce at Guadalcanal and forced the Japanese to abandon their invasion. The Enterprise was lucky to survive after taking 3 bomb hits and she was forced back to Pearl Harbor.
After a month of repairs The Enterprise returned to action at the Battle of Santa Cruz . The Enterprise was struck and seriously damaged but continued on and took on the surviving aircrew from the Hornet which was sank. With the Hornet and Yorktown finished the Enterprise was the only carrier left in the Pacific Fleet and she had suffered heavy damage. The Ship's motto became "Enterprise Vs Japan".
The Enterprise put in for repairs but the Japanese attacked New Caldonia and the Enterprise sortied with a repair crew still on board. During the battle the Seebee detachment continued its repair work as the Enterprise was under attack.
On November 15th 1942 the Enterprise attacked and sand the Hiei the first Japanese Battleship sank during the war. When the Battle of Guadalcanal ended the Enterprise was credited with sinking 16 ships and 8 others, she returned to port for repairs.
After several small scrimmages and with the new American Essex and Independence class carriers coming on line the Enterprise was relieved of duty and returned to Puget Sound for a overhaul.
On November 7th 1943 the Enterprise returned to duty. She participated in the battle of Makin and became the carrier to receive an N at the end of her name and became CVN-6 due to her ability to carrier night fighters.
From there Enterprise headed to the Phillipines and took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the largest carrier battle of the war. The American's savaged the Japanese Navy sinking 3 carriers and destroying 426 Japanese planes in what was called the Great Marianas Turkey shoot. The Japanese had lost most of their most experienced pilots and the American's took advantage of their edge in experience and the American had gained a aircraft quality and technology edge over the Japanese Zero.
From there there the Enterprise assisted in and around the Phillipines before taking place in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Enterprise supported attacks on Japanese installations and supported ground operations. On October 23 she fought a 3 day battle with three enemy groups and savaged the Japanese battle ships and destroyers who had little air cover due to the decimation of their carrier forces.
From there she continued to support the American Forces including a night time raid on Tokyo, she then supported the Marines at Iwo Jima including keeping a steady rotation of air cover over a 174 hours.
She then aided in the attack on Okiawa but was struck by a Kamikaze attack suffering her last wound of the war.
With the war over the Enterprise was repaired and participated in Operation Magic Carpet, she bought home POW's and injured Soldiers and military personal due to discharge. In total she returned more then 10,000 American's to their waiting families.
With the end of the war and the American's building 2 dozen larger and more advanced Aircraft Carriers, the Enterprise was deemed surplus. She entered the New York Naval Ship Yard on the 18th of January 1946 to be deactivated. From there she was to become a floating museum but this plan was suspended and money couldn't be raised to save her.
A memorial Plague was installed at Enterprise Tower at the Naval Academy's football stadium, and a permanent exhibit was built at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. The Ships Bell was given to the Naval Academy where its rung after midshipmen Victories over West Point. The name plate sits near a little league ball park in New Jersey and her commissioning plaque and one of her anchors resides at the Washington Naval Yard.
Tomorrow we'll look at the CVN-64 Enterprise Class Carrier which was the first Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier and longest serving ship in the navy.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Last edited by CaptainCrunch; 12-04-2018 at 04:46 PM.
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The Big-E was unique in more ways them one, it was the longest naval vessel of its generation, was three times heavier then the CV-6, but more importantly it was the first Nuclear Powered Aircraft carrier ever built. The Enterprise came after the Kitty-Hawk Class Carrier and originally the Enterprise Class Carrier was supposed to number 6 in its class, but 5 were cancelled and only the Enterprise herself remained. After the Enterprise class was cancelled the US Navy focused on building the Nimitz Class Carrier.
As mentioned the Enterprise was the first of 6 of its class, but massive cost over runs meant that the remaining vessels were cancelled. Because of the over runs the Enterprise was built with a more limited air defense suite based around the Rim-7-Sea Sparrows.
From a propulsion standpoint the Enterprise was the only carrier to house more then 2 reactors having a eight reactor system and a unique cruiser style hull configuration. Because of that she had a top speed of over 33 knots out of sea trial.
The ship itself was built to house up to 90 air craft and featured a crew of 5828 officers and me.
The Enterprises keel was laid at the Newport News Ship yards in 1958 and launched in 1960, she went through her sea trials and received her pennant in 1961.
On February 1962 her first task was a tracking and measuring station for the Friendship 7 space craft piloted by John Glenn, from there she joined the 6th fleet.
Her first combat role was in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis as she took place in the blockade of Cuba and provided over head cover as part of Task Force 135.
Her second and third deployments which took her to 1964 as part of the Mediterranean Fleet as part of Operation Sea Orbit which paired her with the nuclear powered cruisers Long Beach and Banbridge where they sailed around the world.
In 1965 The Enterprise was added to the 7th fleet and became the first nuclear powered ship to take part in combat as she launched aircraft against the Vietcong near Baen Hola City. On average she launched 125 sorties a day.
The Enterprise continued its deployment as part of Task Force 77 in the Gulf of Tonkin, between 1966 and June 20, 2967 the Enteprise pilots had flow more then 13,400 battle missions and steamed over 67,000 miles.
On January 14, 1969 a Mk-32 Zuni rocket loaded on a F-4 exploded during an aircraft startup and the explosion swept the flight deck. 27 Sailors were killed and over 300 wounded. The fire destroyed 15 aircraft.
The Enterprise went through an overhaul in 1969 and 1970 and replaced her reactors, from there she returned to Vietnam.
On December 18, 1972, the Americans resumed bombing campaigns in North Korea under the name of Linebacker II. The Enterprise conducted strikes against North Vietnam's rail and ship yards and anti-aircraft sites.
This forced the North Vietnamese back to the negotiating table and a formal cease fire was announced.
After the Vietnam War the Enterprise returned for a transition refit to take on the newest Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters and became the first carrier to deploy operational F-14 squadrons.
In April 1975 The Enterprise returned to Vietnam during Operation Frequent Wind which was to aid in the evacuation of of American citizens and at-risk Vietnamese from Saigon.
From 1976 to 1978 the Enterprise was deployed around the world before returning home.
In 1986 the Enterprise became the first nuclear powered Aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal. She participated in Operation Praying Mantis after the Samuel B Roberts struck an Iranian mine in international waters.
In the 1990's the Enterprise joined Operation Joint Endeavor to enforce no fly zones in Bosnia and provided over flights of Iraq during Southern March. Its also important to note that those deployments marked the end of the A-6 Intruder.
In the early 2000's the Enterprise embarked on its 17th deployment and was on its way home when the 911 attacks occurred and without orders the Enterprise returned to the waters off of Southwest Asia outrunning her escorts and launched air attacks against Al-Qaeda and Taliban installations in Afghanistan.
From September 2003 to February 2004 the Enterprise took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the invasion of Iraq. She continually deployed to the Persian Gulf until April 2008 when she returned to port for a 18 month docking and was scheduled to be decommissioned in 2014 after 51 years of service.
It was decided that Enterprise would receive one final deployment and was refurbished at a cost of $662 million dollars. during that deployment the Enterprise participated in anti-pirate operations off the coast of Somolia, made final port visits to Naples which was also the site of its first Port of Call, resailed the Suez Canal, and returned to Norfolk Naval Station.
Enterprise was deactivate on Dec 1, 2012 at Norfolk. While there were calls for her to be converted to a museum it was deemed to expensive and the ship would have had to be dissembled to remove its 8 reactors.
The reactors were defueled over the next 4 years and on the 3rd of Feb 2017 the USS Enterprise CV-65 was stricken from the Naval registry. while the recycling has been delayed it was announced that the steel from Enterprise would be recycled and used in the construction of CVN-80. The Enterprise is stored at Hampton Roads while it waits for disposal.
The Enterprise CV-65 received the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy Unit Commendation with three stars, meritorious Unit Commendation with 6 stars, Navy E Ribbon with three Battle E devices, The Nay Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal with two stars, Armed Forces Expeditionary medal with 9 stars. Vietnam Service Medal with 9 Stars, War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal with 4 Stars, Armed forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Sea Service deployment medal with 12 stars, Republic of Vietnam Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Citation and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Tomorrow the name Enterprise goes where no man has gone before.
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Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Got me reading into the future of the next Enterprise, CVN-80. Pretty neat that some steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and re-used on the new one. But also, wow, these things are insane. And insanely expensive. Canada couldn't even buy two with their total military spending in a year. Let alone maintain them
Got me reading into the future of the next Enterprise, CVN-80. Pretty neat that some steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and re-used on the new one. But also, wow, these things are insane. And insanely expensive. Canada couldn't even buy two with their total military spending in a year. Let alone maintain them
Its kinda sad when you realize that Canada's navy did have an aviation presence.
We had the HMCS Warrior from 1946 until 1948 which was classed as a light escort carrier, it carried four squadrons 2 of Submarine Spitfires and 2 of Fairey Firefly long range recon fighters.
We had the HMCS Magnificent from 1948 to 1957 it was a Majestic Class Light Carrier and carried 37 aircraft made up of Sea Fury's and Firefly IV's
We then purchased another Majestic Class Carrier to replace the Magnificent and named it the Bonaventure. It lasted from 1957 until 1970.
It originally carried 34 Banshee Jet Fighters, then in 1962 they decided that our carrier didn't need fighters and made it a pure ASW asset and loaded it up with Sea King Helicopters.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I remember that coming up in a different thread a while ago. Very sad that the Canadian Navy is in the state it is today after how strong it was after WW2.
The Enterprise was the first orbiter of the Space Shuttle age. It was rolled out on September 17, 1976. It was originally built as a test vehicle to test how the Shuttle would handle the glide portion of atmospheric flight so it had no engines or heat shield.
Originally the Enterprise was not the same as the design for the Columbia. It's fuselage was different, and it couldn't have some of the sub systems that the later shuttles could add. Originally it was designed to be refit for spaceflight after the sub orbital tests. But it was cheaper to build the Challenger and the other shuttle instead.
Construction began on June, 1974, and it was originally going to be named the Constitution, but a letter writing campaign by Star Trek Fans who asked President Ford to change its name succeeded and the Enterprise was born.
On September 17th Enterprise rolled out of Rockwell's plant in Palmdale California and Gene Roddenberry and most of the cast of Star Trek were on hand for the dedication.
In one of Shatner's books he did talk about the dedication ceremony where a bunch of the Engineers decided to build a model of the USS Enterprise, but failed miserably when the model fell apart on presentation.
On August 12th the Enterprise flew on its own for the first time when it was released from the top of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier.
Following the conclusion of the landing tests the Enterprise was moved to Marshal Space Flight Center where it was used again as a test bed to look at ground vibrations and vibrations that would occur during a launch.
At the conclusion of its testing the Enterprise was to be retrofitted with engines, systems and a heat shield and prepared for launch in July 1981. Its mission would be to launch a satellite and retrieve the Long Duration Exposure Facility. It was then expected to take part in two Space Lab Missions.
Unfortunately in the period between this refitting and the rollout of Columbia the shuttle went through some significant design changes which meant that refitting the Enterprise for space flight would be extremely expensive. Instead Nasa decided to build the Challenger instead.
Enterprise instead returned to its test bed duty and in 1979 was mated with boosters to check the launch configuration.
With all testing completed in 1979 the Enterprise returned to Palmdale and was partially disassembled and used for spare part on other shuttles. The Enterprise was then sent on a world tour before being given to first the Smithsonian, then in 2011 the Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York.
After the Challenger disaster NASA considered refitting the Enterprise as a replacement, but instead Nasa used other spares to build the Endeavor.
in 2003 after the breakup of the Columbia they used the Enterprise as a test bed to try and simulate the accident.
In 2012 the Enterprise was damaged by Hurricane Sandy but was repared.
Enterprise is listed on the National Register of Historic Places with the reference number 1300071 in recognition of its role in the development of the space Shuttle Program.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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For anyone that's interested in Carrier history, I picked up an excellent book called Carrier's in Combat at a use book sale by Chester Hearns.
Its a comprehensive look at carriers from their early development in about 1902 right through to the Gulf War. It covers all of the nations that develops carriers, the advancements, the battles and the tactics.
If I had one complaint, its an old person complaint that the text is tiny. But an excellent look right from CV-1 Langley to the mega carriers in the US inventory.
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history thread - Ships named enterprise
Perhaps there's no more famous or decorated ship that bore the name Enterprise then CV-6, the Yorktown Class Aircraft carrier. She displaced over 25,500 tons until her overhaul in 1943 when she came in at a weight of 32,060 tons. She had 9 Boilers and 4 shafts and could move at a speed of 32.5 knots. At the time she was a massive war ship with a crew of 2217 officers of men. 
