The U.S. Navys first nuclear-propelled aircraft carrier — the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) — will soon be the Navys oldest flattop. Today the oil-burning carrier Kitty Hawk (CV 63) is the oldest. Both ships were completed in 1961. The Kitty Hawk is based in Yokosuka, Japan; the only American carrier based overseas. She will be retired next year, and be replaced in Japan by the nuclear-propelled George Washington (CVN 73).
The Navy has recently awarded contracts for more than $40 million to the Northrop Grumman Corp. — and to the firms yard at Newport News, Virginia — to continue maintenance of the Enterprise and for inactivation planning. The Big E is schedule to be decommissioned in 2013, having been in service for 52 years — a record for U.S. aircraft carriers.
Decommissioning of the Enterprise will be the most complex effort yet undertaken to remove a nuclear ship from service. Previously the Navy has decommissioned nine nuclear cruisers (each with two reactors) and more than 100 nuclear submarines (all with one reactor except for a radar picket craft, the USS Triton [SSRN 586], which had a two-reactor plant).
The Enterprise has an eight-reactor nuclear plant. The cost of removing those reactors and providing burial for them, cleaning portions of the ships massive engineering spaces, and other decommissioning procedures are expected to cost several hundred million dollars.
With the Enterprises decommissioning, the number of large carriers in the Navy will drop to ten. However, the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is expected to be completed in 2015, raising the number of carriers back to the authorized 11-ship force.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
What does the Navy plan to do with the Enterprise after decommissioning? Will she be sunk like the America? I understand the Forrestal,Constellation and Independence may join the America on the bottom. Seems like a waste of valuable high grade steel.
I hope the Navy considers naming CVN 79 and CVN 80 after the Enterprise and Lexington.These are proud names in Naval Aviation and should be assigned to carriers.
I’m just glad to see Mr. Polmar contributing! He’s a great writer, naval theorist and historian…this site is definitely looking up!
I concur with Soloman – it’s great to have Mr. Polmar here!
how long would it take for the enterprise’s nuclear reactors to become ‘non-hazardous’?
At which point we could just sink it and not pay hundreds of millions of dollars only to scrap it.
If it takes like a decade or so…then I’d just let time do its thing, and then sink it. But if it takes centurys…then yeah, a good clean-up on it is in order.
just curious.
The USS GHW Bush be on line by late 2008. The Navy will likely keep the Kitty Hawk war ready until then. She’s currently wrapping up Talisman Sabre 2007 off Australia. We’ll keep the 11 ship Carrier Fleet.
We’ve got 2 in the Persian Gulf/India – Stennis and Nimitz, 2 at home port – Reagan and Eisenhower, 2 in the Atlantic – Truman and Big E, 1 in the Coral Sea – Kitty Hawk and 1 operating in the East Pac – Lincoln. 3 ships: Vinson, Roosevelt and Washington are in various stages of overhaul/heavy maintenance.
Murc, i don’t know exactly what kind of reactors are aboard the ship, but i’m afraid it would take something like a few thousands years for the reactors to become safe enough to be simply dumped into the sea…
M
If the reactors are safe why not just park this great ship and hook her up to your national electricity grid. One cheap power plant.
lets use it for electric power
I suppose the current cabal in the White House could use it in another Gulf of Tonkin-type false flag to provoke a criminal war with Iran. The cabal has utterly no concern about the welfare of the troops and would figure the naval casualties simply part of the cost of doing ‘business’. Else why do they still use depleted uranium? And they have utterly no concern for the residents of the middle east – else why the million or so dead Iraqi mothers, children and fathers. The oil must flow.
I am sure going to be upset if they sink the BIG E
My husband was stationed on the Big E for 4 years. I would love to see it be a floating Museum. It is the one and only one that has eight-reactor nuclear plant and the first nuclear air-craft carrier with all that and how old she will be when she is done with her carrer why not but her on display for people to see how great she is and what an accomplishment we made so long ago. Yes it is going to cost a ton to decommission it why take the easy way out the just sink her. She is a very powerful and great ship that I am very proud to know that my husband was one of many people who was able to serve on her.
tom..i think the next aircraft carrier should be named enterprise. keep with the tradition and have 8 nuclear reactors…and make it bigger than any ship currently in service or to be put in service later…make its number CVN-65-A.
Hello my name is Quantraveous Salter and I’m 17yrs old I love air crafts since i was a baby when they flew over my head at speeds breaking the sound barier so if i want to fly one of those bad boys what will i have to do Would love to fly one on the air crafter carriers
The Enterprise should be retired and Converted to a Museum ship. The CVN-65 is a piece of Maritime and Aviation History. How many of America’s Great Pilots both those Military and now civilian landed and took off from teh Flight Deck of that Massive Ship.
If as Americans let our Government reduce one of the most well known and most recognisable Nuclear Carriers in the world to Scrap metal then we have failed as a people to preserve our own Culture and History. Other people of the other nations of the Earth will find ridicule that we do not honor our own History and Greatness. We as people of the United States should respect and be proud and recognizant of our technological accomplishments.
The CVN-65 replaced another and earlier Aircraft Carrier with the same name .The Role that that ship played in America’s and in the world’s role to defend the Free world from the Axis Threat has bordeline been forgotten by tghe public. The earlier Enterprise should never have been scrapped.
People of the years that ship was in existence and all the people who would have benefitted from touring that ship to ponder their careers,and own abilities can no longer be influenced positively by a creation that to us was the seagoing “Valley Forge” of our time.
The mistake of scrapping another historic ship should not be repeated. If we don’t respect, Honor, Remember and keep in the public eye our own Great Ships and Military then no one, both individual and as a Group whole Governments will have any respect for the United States and it’s own History and place in the world both past and present.
Enterprise is a “she” not an “it.”
What a great ship! She should be floating museum, but I wonder if the maintenance would be too high…if she’s just too big.
If she’s to be scrapped, I would like her to be recycled and her metal put into a future carrier. This ship is pure greatness, as fine as anything in history.