photo The USS Enterprise Goes On 22nd and last deployment
Tomorrow will be the last deployment for The USS Enterprise the fabled USS Enterprise sets out on its 22nd and last deployment, sailing from its home port of Norfolk Virginia to the Middle East. The aircraft carrier has been in service to our flag and country for a record 52 years, albeit with a major facelift and renovation for the old girl in 1979.
The Enterprise is bound for a seven-month deployment, where it will be on standby in case of problems with Iran, among other things.
Following its return to Virginia in the fall, there will be a deactivation ceremony on December 1st. President Barack Obama has been invited to attend, on which I'll reserve comment. After the ceremony, the Enterprise will be towed back to its birthplace, the Newport News shipyard where it was built so that its nuclear fuel can be removed, a process that will reportedly take until 2015. After that, the hulk will be taken to Washington state so it can be scrapped.
The Enterprise, named after her famous WWII namesake was built in 1960. She was America's first nuclear powered carrier, and hosts a record number of 8 onboard reactors. The ship has participated in US military actions from the Cuban Missile Crisis to Vietnam to the Persian Gulf.
When the Enterprise first joined our fleet in October of 1961, she was one of 24 carriers, and the only nuclear-powered carrier, in a Navy of 870 ships. Today she is one of 11 nuclear-powered carriers in a Navy of 285 ships.
Will there be another Enterprise? Perhaps. This is the eighth American ship to bear the name. Her immediate predecessor, the USS Enterprise was the most decorated ship in World War II, while the first Enterprise joined the U.S. fleet after it was captured from the British in 1775.
