Come aboard USS Enterprise, CVN-65, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. For three days in the middle of May 1975, Navy camera operators shot color film from helicopters slowly circling the Enterprise while underway, as well as from the ship itself.
It was a time long before the Navy consolidated much of its shipboard inventory around F/A-18 and EA-18 Hornet and Growler aircraft. It may have been a logistics nightmare to service aircraft from so many manufacturers aboard the Enterprise, but the variety was a photographer's dream. Grumman F-14 Tomcats and EA-6B Prowlers, Douglas A-3 Skywarriors, a Grumman Tracker or Trader, Vought A-7 Corsairs, the occasional North American RA-5 Vigilante, and Lockheed S-3 Vikings are seen.
USS Enterprise was to have been the first of six nuclear carriers in the same class, but developmental costs quelled interest in building any more like Enterprise. USS Enterprise employed a total of eight nuclear reactors for propulsion, where other nuclear carriers have topped out at two reactors.
The distinctive blocky square superstructure on Enterprise accommodated early iterations of phased-array radar. Construction began on Enterprise in February 1958. More than two-and-a-half years later, Enterprise was launched in September 1960. Commissioning came in November 1961.
USS Enterprise was part of the U.S. flotilla that challenged Soviet ambitions in Cuba in October 1962. As early as December 1965, Enterprise launched jets against Viet Cong targets in the war in Southeast Asia.
On 14 January 1969, an overheated Zuni rocket mounted to a McDonnell F-4 aboard Enterprise caused a cook-off explosion that quickly led to fires and explosions on deck. Even as the fires were brought under control quickly, 27 sailors died in the inferno and more than 300 were injured. Fifteen aircraft were consumed, and the deck's damage required repairs that were made at Pearl Harbor.
In September 1974, USS Enterprise made history as the first carrier to operationally deploy with F-14 Tomcats.
Enterprise struck submerged terrain off the California coast on 2 November 1985, resulting in an outer hull gash and damage to steering and propulsion, but averting a nuclear disaster.
In 1996, aircraft from Enterprise enforced no-fly zones over Bosnia. Persian Gulf activities saw support from Enterprise. As the years unfolded, Enterprise became the oldest active combat ship in the Navy.
1 December 2012 saw deactivation of USS Enterprise after a half-century of service. The complexity of removing the ship's nuclear reactors involves partially dismantling the carrier, and was cited as a reason Enterprise could not be saved as a museum ship. Steel from the CVN-65 Enterprise has been incorporated into the namesake CVN-80 Enterprise under construction now, a member of the new Gerald R. Ford-class of aircraft carriers.
As this video comes online, Enterprise CVN-65 is partially scrapped, with that effort ongoing.
I'm Fred Johnsen for the Airailimages Channel. We bring you a unique blend of vintage and modern aviation and railroad films and video. Hit the Subscribe button, and join more than 117,000 subscribers who appreciate our growing library.
