The History of Enterprise

20th Century Enterprises...

The dawning of a new century brought some new challenges for Navies. New technology imposed new worries on the tried and true tactics of old. Six more ships bearing the name Enterprise severed their respective nations. Three ships served the Royal Navy and three the US Navy.

We shall continue the story with the Royal Navy ships. HMS Enterprise was an Emerald class light cruiser who served from 1919 until 1946 when she was sold. She entered service after World War I. Her time leading up to World War II was basically uneventful until after dropping of Edward, the Prince of Whales, and heading home she received a radio message to return and pick the prince back up, the King was ill. Enterprise made the trip from Kenya to Italy in a record eight days. During World War II she took part in the Battle of the Atlantic, Invasion of Norway, and the D-Day landings. After returning to England in 1946 she was sold for scrap.

The next two Royal Navy Enterprises were both Echo class survey ships. The role of these two ships was to conduct oceanographic surveys for submarine and amphibious operations. The first ship was commissioned in 1958 and sold in 1985. The final Royal Navy Enterprise was commissioned in 2002 and is currently still on active duty.

In 1917 the US Navy added a small motor yacht to the roles of Enterprise. motorboat that served in a non-commissioned status in the 2nd Naval District during the period of United States participation in World War I. She was assigned section patrol number 790 during the period of her naval service.

The last two ships to carry the name for the US Navy were both aircraft carriers. They both are legends in their own right and they both have elevated the name Enterprise to new heights. CV6 and CVN65 both have carried the name. CV6 was the most decorated warship in US Navy history. CVN65 is now approaching 50 years old and currently the oldest ship in commission for the US Navy.

USS Enterprise CV6 served her country from 1938 until 1947. She was called the Big E during her service in World War II. She was in nearly every major action in the PTO during the war. She earned 20 battle stars during the war, more than any US Navy ship. She was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her actions from Dec 1941 thru Nov 1942. The citation reads as follows:

For consistently outstanding performance and distinguished achievement during repeated action against enemy Japanese forces in the Pacific war area, 7 December 1941, to 15 November 1942. Participating in nearly every major carrier engagement in the first year of the war, the Enterprise and her air group, exclusive of far-flung destruction of hostile shore installations throughout the battle area, did sink or damage on her own a total of 35 Japanese vessels and shot down a total of 185 Japanese aircraft. Her aggressive spirit and superb combat efficiency are fitting tribute to the officers and men who so gallantly established her as an ahead bulwark in the defense of the American nation.

After the sinking of USS Wasp she was the only US carrier in action in the South Pacific. Try as they might the Japanese could not rid themselves of the Big E. She took all they threw at her and came back for more. She actually became the first CVN in navy service. On December 24th 1944 she left Hawaii with all of he aircraft capable of attacking at night. She was the only carrier at the time to be so equipped. So her hull number was changed to CV(N)6.

On May 14, 1945 Japanese Lt JG Tomiyyasu flew his plane into the Enterprise knocking her out of the remainder of the war. She returned stateside for repairs. Her forward elevator was blown off the ship by the kamikaze. She arrived at Puget Sound shipyard June 7 and was moored pier side on V-J Day. Following the end of the war she helped return US forces to the mainland during Operation Magic Carpet. For her service during the war she was the only ship outside the Royal Navy to be awarded the British Admiralty Pennant. Following all of this she ended the greatest career in US Navy history by being scrapped. Small portions of the ship remain her bell and her stern plate among others.

CVN65 is the current Big E. She was built as the worlds first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. She was placed in commission on November 25, 1961. Six ships were planned for this class, but none of these were built. She currently carries the first Navy ensign as the oldest commissioned warship in the Navy. Her fate is currently to be decommissioned in either 2013 or possibly as late as 2015. It is hoped she can be made into a museum ship.

During her career she has taken part in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. She was deployed to Vietnam during that conflict and spent time off the coast of Korea during one of the many problems with the North. In 1964 she made up the core of the worlds first all nuclear powered surface force. 1967 saw her off the coast of Vietnam attacking Viet Cong targets. Then in early 1968 she was back off the coast of North Korea following the Pueblo capturing.

Early in 1969 the Big E had just left Pearl Harbor heading back to Vietnam. A Zuni rocket became overheated by a poorly parked two truck. The result was a fire erupted on the flight deck. 27 men lost their lives, 314 men injured, and 15 aircraft lost. After two months of repairs she was back heading to the war in Vietnam. She spent the remainder of the war on station providing air support for US ground forces. After the war in Vietnam ended she took on the Navies newest challenge, the Tomcat.

Just as the previous carrier Enterprise this one was involved in just about every action the US Navy conducted from Viet Nam up thru the current war On Terror. Her physical appearance has changed and she has undergone name upgrades. In March 1990 she ended her Around the World Cruise in Norfolk Virginia. She then entered the Newport News Shipbuilding yard for the most complex overhaul ever attempted. She was refueled and even had her length increased. I had a friend from high school assigned to her during this time. He spent 3 years attached to a sea unit and never saw the ocean once! Not sure if I should say lucky buy, or poor guy.

Enterprise recently completed her final overhaul in April 2010. She has two more 6 month deployments before she is decommissioned. She is the BIG E and will always remain the Big E. Stories still circulate around the fleet about her speed and ability to show up anywhere in the world at a moments notice. Her mottos are a testament to her abilities, “Ready on Arrival”, “The First, The Finest”, “Eight Reactors, None Faster.”

When she ends her commission she will have over 50 years of duty to her country, more than any other carrier. Her name will live on for many years to come. No matter her fate we will remember her.

Enterprise is a name people know and trust. Sailors have manned her decks for well over 300 years. Enemies knew when Enterprise was in the area they were in trouble. Time will tell if the name mores along to another US Navy warship. Television and Hollywood has carried the name to the stars in the future as a space ship.

The Final Frontier….

The history of the name will continue. There will be more, larger, faster, and more advanced. But, no matter when or where you hear the name you will know she has a long storied past.

Sources…

The following sources were used for information and pictures.
Wikipedia, US Naval Register, Navsource, and the Naval Historic Center.
Header image "Yankee Station" by R.G. Smith