The World’s First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier: USS Enterprise

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. She was the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed “Big E”. At 1,123 ft (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel ever built. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 tonnes) displacement ranked her as the 12th-heaviest supercarrier, after the 10 carriers of the Nimitz class and the USS Gerald R. Ford. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members.

The only ship of her class, Enterprise was, at the time of inactivation, the third-oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled USS Constitution and USS Pueblo. She was originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2014 or 2015, depending on the life of her reactors and completion of her replacement, USS Gerald R. Ford, but the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 slated the ship’s retirement for 2013, when she would have served for 51 consecutive years, longer than any other U.S. aircraft carrier.

Enterprise’s home port was Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, as of September 2012. Her second home port was Naval Air Station Alameda until its closure in 1997. When in port at NAS Alameda, she was visible to those crossing the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. She was the flagship of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz while he lived in Berkeley, California, until his death in 1966.