USS ENTERPRISE CVA(N) / CVN-65 The World’s First Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier Dave McKay Foreword by Vice Admiral Vincent de Poix USN (Ret.) Midword by Admiral James L. Holloway III USN (Ret.) A erword by Captain William C. Hamilton Jr. USN FOREWORD Vice Adm. Vincent de Poix, USN (Ret.) his is the story of a ship that has imperative of “showing the flag” at sea Tno peer. From the day she was and in every port visited, and entertain- placed in commission in late 1961 she ing important personages and groups, has performed for 50 years as though she both civilian and military, including was an animate entity, knowledgeable heads of state. of her responsibilities in our country’s The entire crew of Enterprise fully defense and determined to meet or sur- appreciated that none of the ship’s pass every one of them. She showed these demonstrated operational excellence or traits as soon as she was taken to sea by accolades received would have been cer- her plankowner crew, breaking records tain, or even likely, but for the genius of during sea trials and continuing to top Admiral Rickover in insuring that the previous records for aircraft carriers at design, built-in reliability, and attention every opportunity following commis- to every detail were a full-bore, ongoing sioning. Witness that she received the effort at Naval Reactors, the Newport highest marks ever awarded a carrier News Shipbuilding Company, and by Captain de Poix, the first Commanding Officer during shakedown training and that the ship’s crew. Our first of its kind light of USS Enterprise she won the Battle Efficiency “E” for reactor nuclear propulsion plant did its (CVA(N)-65). all-round excellence her first year in the job unfailingly and surpassed design USN fleet, an accomplishment not matched by specifications in operation. any other carrier up to that time. Indeed, It is impossible to understate the sig- Enterprise, like a champion thoroughbred nificance of the part played by the crew racehorse, came out of the gate, took the in carrying off the monumental task of lead, and never looked back. getting the ship off on the right track During the entire period of the Big and keeping it there. Every officer and E’s lifetime she has performed with dis- man knew he was lucky to be part of the tinction. In the first year or two of time crew of this magnificent ship, and dem- in the fleet she bore the crushing load onstrated that fact by the operational of a new propulsion system, introduc- excellence consistently shown at sea and ing new aircraft into fleet operations and the spotless conduct of the entire crew using new-design electronics and con- ashore. trol equipment. Added to this was the There could not have been a more 11 12 USS Enterprise CVA(N) / CVN-65: The World’s First Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier worthy successor to the legendary and with CV-6, and we know it cannot with beloved CV-6, which bore a charmed a nuclear-powered carrier. But our Big – and combat distinguished – life in E, CVA(N)-65, will live on in our minds World War II in the Pacific. We wish and hearts, and those of our children and we could look forward to her preserva- their children. Suffice it to say: She has tion, particularly since it did not happen done the State some service. “MIDWORD” Adm. J. L. Holloway III, US Navy (Ret.) VA(N)-65 was commissioned want them to know that we are fully pre- Cin November 1961 as the USS pared to deal with any contingency and Enterprise, the eighth navy ship to bear it’s better for them to try to deal with us that name. Originally designed for a through diplomacy.” Enterprise made the 25-year service life, America’s military passage through the straits and into the strategy – in its role of leader of the free gulf without incident. world and the world’s only superpower – “The decision to maintain 11 car- has mandated an extension on active duty rier groups,” Panetta said, “is part of the for Enterprise well beyond its planned Defense Department’s five-year plan. In service life. effect, the Pentagon has extended Enter- On January 21, 2012, Defense Sec- prise’s operational life to fifty years in retary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the active fleet, where the veteran war- the country’s oldest aircraft carrier that ship has been engaged in nearly every the United States is committed to main- major combat operation in the past five taining a fleet of 11 of its formidable decades.” Capt. Holloway on the warships, despite budget pressures, in Enterprise’s fame goes well beyond her bridge during the second WESTPAC in 1967. part to project sea power against Iran. longevity. She was the first nuclear-pow- Panetta also told the crowd of 1,700 ered aircraft carrier in history. Of perhaps USN gathered in the hangar bay of the USS greater significance, Enterprise also was Enterprise that the ship was heading to the first nuclear-powered ship to engage the Persian Gulf region and would steam in combat. through the Strait of Hormuz as a direct That event occurred in December message to Tehran. Iran had warned it 1965 and was recognized at the time by would block the strait, a major transit a message from the admiral embarked point for global oil supplies, and bluntly as the carrier division commander, to told the United States not to send carri- the Secretary of the Navy, stating: “I ers into the gulf. The United States has have the distinct honor and pleasure to said it will continue to deploy ships there. announce to you that on the Second “That’s what this carrier is all about,” said Day of December 1965 at 0720H, the Panetta. “That’s the reason we maintain first nuclear-powered task group of your a presence in the Middle East … We Pacific Fleet and the United States Navy 213 214 USS Enterprise CVA(N) / CVN-65: The World’s First Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier engaged the enemy in Vietnam.” At of outright patriotism in the atmosphere. 0700, when the Enterprise commenced All three of the Bay area’s main news- air operations, “The carrier’s bridge and papers devoted their full front pages on every available spot on the superstructure June 21, 1966 to the Enterprise’s return were covered with newsmen and military from Vietnam to its new homeport, the observers watching this unprecedented Naval Air Station Alameda, CA. The first in the history of war at sea: the use country was looking for a tangible hero of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in to fuss over and for now, Enterprise was combat operations. With Enterprise’s “IT.” entrance into combat, a new era was In June of 1967 Enterprise completed opened before the world.” So reported her second combat tour in Vietnam and the wire services dispatch covering the again headed for Alameda. The carrier occasion. Enterprise and Air Wing Nine had been 230 days out of homeport and completed every mission on that daily served five uninterrupted 30-day stints flight schedule. CVW-9 flew 125 strike at Yankee Station, flying a total of more sorties on that date, unloading 167 tons than 14,000 sorties from her flight deck, of bombs and rockets on the enemy. of which 11,470 were combat sorties, From that day forward, Enterprise and delivering a total of 14,023 tons of would embark on an operational career ordnance. This amounted to 114 tons of that not only set performance records TNT per day against a well-defended among the carriers conducting combat enemy. As in all combat tours, Enterprise operations in the Vietnam War; she also and her air wing paid a price, losing 20 established the persuasive justification for aircraft and 18 air crewmen to hostile fire. the incorporation of nuclear power in all The finest recognition of Enterprise, her future aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy. embarked air wing and her gallant sailors In spite of being a relatively new ship, for the 1965–1967 combat deployments fighting in a high tempo war for the first to Vietnam was the award of the coveted time, Enterprise won the Battle Efficiency Navy Unit Commendation. “E” award for being the best carrier in the Although Enterprise’s early fleet Pacific fleet for the year 1965. operations included a circumnavigation Enterprise returned from her first of the globe and successful combat tours combat deployment in Vietnam to San in Vietnam, follow-on nuclear-powered Francisco in late June of 1966 to a real carriers were not immediately to come hero’s welcome. At that time she had about. The stumbling block was Secre- an impressive cachet. She was the larg- tary of Defense Robert McNamara, who est ship in the world, the first and only cited the increased costs of nuclear power nuclear carrier, and her eight reactors in the carrier and was unable or unwill- gave her a speed of more than 40 miles an ing to quantify the improved operational hour. Then, too, at that time the major- advantages that resulted. In his view, ity of the American people supported the the nuclear-powered carrier was not war. The Bay Area had declared the day “cost effective.” Consequently, the next of return “Enterprise Day,” and any sailor two carriers, America (CV-66) and John with an Enterprise shoulder patch could F. Kennedy (CV-67) in the fiscal year get a free drink in most of the bars in San 1961 and 1963 programs respectively, Francisco on that day.