Nuclear aircraft carriers, America's game-changing weapon

The successful development of the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, paved the way for later supercarriers, helping the US Navy dominate the oceans.

The US Navy will permanently decommission the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, after more than 50 years of service. National Interest magazine said that Enterprise is one of the most famous aircraft carriers in the world.

Designed to be the backbone of a task force, the USS Enterprise set the standard for today's American supercarriers.

Only 2 years to complete

In August 1950, Admiral Forrest Sherman, Chief of Naval Operations, requested a feasibility study for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Scientists developed a shore-based nuclear reactor for testing. The A1W reactor was successfully tested and licensed. Funding for the construction of a nuclear aircraft carrier was approved in 1958.

USS Enterprise on its way back to the US after the evacuation from Saigon, Vietnam in 1975. Photo: US Navy

Newport News Shipbuilding took just two years to complete the longest aircraft carrier ever built. USS Enterprise was delivered to the US Navy in October 1961. The ship is 342 m long, 78.4 m wide at its widest, and displaces 93,248 tons.

The ship is equipped with 8 A2W nuclear reactors (improved version of A1W), providing energy for 4 steam turbines with a total capacity of 280,000 horsepower, driving 4-shaft propellers, maximum speed of 35 knots. The ship is operated by a crew of 5,500 people, including aviation staff.

Enterprise was similar in design to previous aircraft carriers such as Kitty Hawk and Constellation. It had four steam catapults and four elevators. Its unique superstructure was likened to a “beehive”. The ship was nicknamed “Big E”.

The ship of the "best"

USS Enterprise was the first aircraft carrier to be equipped with phased array radar and sophisticated electronic warfare systems. Enterprise was also the first aircraft carrier to be launched without a self-defense weapon. By 1967, two Mk25 launchers for the new Sea Sparrow missile were installed. In 1980, three Mk15 Phalanx 20 mm close-in weapon systems were added.

USS Enterprise with cruiser USS Long Beach and destroyer USS Bainbridge during a round-the-world mission in 1964. Photo: US Navy

Enterprise is home to many famous carrier-based aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom, F-14 Tomcat, A-1 Skyraiders, A-3 Skywarrior, A-4 Skyhawk bombers, A-7 Crusaders. The last carrier-based fighter to operate on CVN-65 was a pair of F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets.

CVN-65 began its operational deployment in 1962, when the ship participated in the blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In 1964, Enterprise, along with the guided-missile cruiser USS Long Beach, the destroyer USS Bainbridge, and three nuclear-powered ships, made a round-the-world voyage, traveling 30,000 miles in 65 days, also known as Operation Sea Orbit.

The operation demonstrated that nuclear-powered fleets can move quickly to respond to threats around the globe.

In 1988, Enterprise deployed to the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War. Its fighters sank an Iranian corvette. In the 1990s, CVN-65 enforced no-fly zones in Iraq and Bosnia. In early 2000, Enterprise conducted airstrikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists.

In December 2012, CVN-65 was withdrawn from active duty in preparation for decommissioning. USS Enterprise will be officially decommissioned permanently in February. A formal ceremony is scheduled to be held at the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia.

During its 50 years of operation, the USS Enterprise set many records, circumnavigating the world three times, carrying out 25 missions around the world, and successfully landing and taking off 400,000 aircraft on board. Hundreds of thousands of sailors took turns on duty on the ship.

CVN-65 will be decommissioned, but the Enterprise name will live on. In 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the third Ford-class supercarrier would be named USS Enterprise (CVN-80).

According to Zing