On December 1, 2012, a ceremony was held at the Norfolk Naval Base (Virginia) to deactivate the "nuclear heart" of the mighty aircraft carrier Enterprise. Fifty years of service in the name of democracy flew by like one day - and now, the 340-meter ship forever froze at the quay wall.
From March to November 2012, the Enterprise made its last military campaign in the Persian Gulf. Alas, an interesting conspiracy hypothesis about the sacrifice of an old ship as a pretext for an attack on Iran was not confirmed - the aircraft carrier group completed tasks in the Arabian Sea and returned safely to Norfolk.
Even when approaching the shores of North America, right in the open ocean, an operation to unload ammunition began: day and night for several days, elevators lifted thousands of ammunition onto the flight deck, which were then, with the help of helicopters, delivered to transports abeam the Enterprise. supply. It took 1260 helicopter flights to empty the giant cellars of the old aircraft carrier. At the moment, nuclear fuel is being unloaded from eight reactors of the aircraft carrier "Enterprise": huge technological holes are mercilessly cut out in its powerful hull to extract the entire reactor compartments.
The unarmed and stationary ship will remain in the fleet until at least mid-2013. Only after the launch of the new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Gerald R. Ford" will the official ceremony of withdrawing the "Enterprise" from the Navy take place. In the career of the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the final phase will begin: the ship will be cut into metal. The dismantlement of the Enterprise should be completed by 2015.
The proposal to turn the Enterprise into a floating museum did not receive support: it was too expensive, difficult and unsafe. The only thing that can remain from the old aircraft carrier is its “island” superstructure, which is planned to be installed on the shore as a memorial.
Life and death of a strike aircraft carrier
The Enterprise (respectfully referred to by the sailors as "Big E") was a kind of epoch-making ship in maritime history - the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, laid down in 1958, for many decades turned into a worldwide scarecrow, personifying American imperialism with its sinister and fantastic appearance.
The very first combat mission of the Enterprise almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster. During the blockade of Cuba (Caribbean crisis, 1962), the newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was one of the Pentagon's "trump cards".
Taking advantage of the worldwide popularity of the Enterprise, the Americans tried to “spin up” their super-ship to the maximum: On July 31, 1964, Task Force 1 departed from Gibraltar as part of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise, the nuclear-powered cruiser Long Beach and the light nuclear cruiser. Bainbridge ". The purpose of Operation Sea Orbit * was to sail around the world to demonstrate the capabilities of the US Navy and intimidate all geopolitical opponents. For 65 days of the "around the world" the squadron covered 30 thousand nautical miles, making calls at the ports of Karachi (Pakistan), Sydney (Australia) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
On the account of "Enterprise" - the quintessence of all advanced scientific achievements, there were many other world records:
- the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the 60s held the title of the largest ship (full in / and "Enterprise" 93 thousand tons), - for the first time appeared on the Enterprise a phased array radar (SCANFAR), - the first ship with purely aviation weapons (cost overruns forced the designers to abandon any self-defense systems, only in 1967 the first Sea Sparrow air defense systems were installed on the ship)
- the largest number of nuclear reactors is installed on board the Enterprise - as many as 8 units (a dubious achievement that speaks only of the imperfection of nuclear technologies in the 50s), - the first ship with a nuclear power plant to take part in hostilities, - in December 1969, during the Vietnam War, aircraft from the aircraft carrier "Enterprise" set a still unbroken record, completing 178 sorties per day, - the longest service in the active composition of the fleet (51 years), - Finally, the Enterprise is the first of the giant nuclear aircraft carriers to undergo a scrapping process.
Behind the striking achievements and interesting technical details, combat everyday life is hidden: a bloody trail stretched for the Enterprise across the entire globe. Vietnam, Iraq, tanker war and the pogrom of the Iranian fleet (Operation Praying Mantis), the Philippines, the Balkans, Afghanistan … the schedule of military campaigns was so intense that the reactor core burned out in two years instead of the planned 13 years of operation.
Alas, none of the victims had time to get even with their abuser - the Enterprise bombed them all and calmly rested in glory and prosperity.
Judgment Day
However, "Enterprise" for all his vile deeds was once revenged by nature itself: on January 14, 1969, the newest super-aircraft carrier nearly burned down off the coast of Hawaii. The plot is simple: a carelessly parked tractor with an auxiliary power unit caused heating of the ammunition suspended under the wing of the ready-to-fly Phantom. Bang! It was detonated by a 127 mm Zuni rocket, the entire feed of the Enterprise in an instant turned into a hell of a hell.
Amid the roar of detonating bombs and a flash of fireworks from flying shrapnel, the crew rushed to extinguish their ship. As it was established later, 18 explosions thundered on the deck (including detonated eight bombs weighing 227 kg and several tens of tons of aviation kerosene)! Through holes in the armored flight deck, the flame descended into the hangar, where it raged for more than three hours - from many aircraft only refractory elements of the engine structure remained.
In the crash, 27 sailors were killed, 300 were injured and burned. The fire destroyed 15 aircraft, and ten more were damaged. The explosions seriously damaged the structure of the flight deck, and repairs to the Enterprise lasted a whole month.
Hello Enterprise
The current "Enterprise" (operational code CVN-65) - the eighth warship in US history with this name, was in turn named after the hero of the Second World War, the heavy aircraft carrier "Enterprise" (of the "Yorktown" type).
On December 1, 2012, during the deactivation ceremony of the aircraft carrier Enterprise, the Minister of the Navy, Ray Mabus, announced that his name, according to tradition, will be transferred to the future aircraft carrier CVN-80 (type "Ford"). The statement was greeted with thunderous applause.
As a testament to the crew of the future Enterprise, the sailors of the current ship have prepared a 200-pound "time capsule" that will be built into the design of the new aircraft carrier. It contains notes, souvenirs, wishes, particles of the old ship's hull. Say what you like, the aircraft carrier "Daring" (this is how you can translate "Enterprise") beautifully ended its life.
Now the number of American aircraft carriers has decreased to 10 units, and this situation will continue until 2015.
