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from the but-will-the-next-one-have-phasers? dept.
The aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) , was decommissioned during a ceremony held in the ship's hangar bay, Feb. 3. The ceremony not only marked the end the ship's nearly 55-year career, it also served as the very first decommissioning of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Capt. Todd Beltz, commanding officer of the Enterprise, addressed the ship's company, former commanding officers and distinguished visitors and spoke of where the true spirit of "The Big E" comes from. "For all that Enterprise represents to this nation, it's the people that bring this ship to life," said Beltz. "So as I stand in this ship that we all care so much about, I feel it's appropriate to underscore the contributions of the thousands of Sailors and individuals that kept this ship alive and made its reputation. We are 'The Big E.'"
Enterprise was the eighth naval vessel to carry the name. It was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. and was christened Sep. 24, 1960, by Mrs. Bertha Irene Franke, wife of former Secretary of the Navy William B. Franke. The ship was put to sea in 1961 and safely steamed more than 1 million nautical miles on nuclear power over its entire career of more than 50 years.
CVN-80, a Gerald R Ford class aircraft carrier, is scheduled to begin construction in 2018, be delivered by 2025, and be in operation by 2027. She is tentatively slated to be named the USS Enterprise and will replace the USS Nimitz, currently the oldest US aircraft carrier still in service.
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Related Video:
http://www.navy.mil/viewVideoDVIDS.asp?id=49&story_id=98707
(Score: 2, Interesting) by purdy on Sunday February 05 2017, @12:24PM
There have been about 80 nuc ships/boats scrapped. Mostly SSN/SSBNs but there have been about 10 surface fleet nuc ships scrapped as well. The Big E is the first CVN (nuclear carrier) to be scrapped though. Interestingly, with the exception of the Nautilus (SSN-571) the Navy does not allow nuc ships to become museum ships. Parts of the ship can become 'memorials' but never the reactors spaces, in part because of concerns over hot spots.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @02:34PM
There's a decommissioned reactor museum open to the public in Idaho.
The walls and support structures look like swiss cheese.
Apparently, steel around a reactor gets an occasional hit which makes a localized hot spot.
To make the building safe, they had to go over the whole structure with a geiger counter and drill out the hot spots.
A ship is a pretty complicated structure for this sort of operation.
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Sunday February 05 2017, @03:06PM
Wrong. USS Nautilus (SSN-571) is a museum ship in Groton.
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Sunday February 05 2017, @03:07PM
Damn, I should give up speed reading before coffee...
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday February 06 2017, @04:38AM
I knew a guy who was a nuclear shipyard worker. According to him, the E couldn't be turned into a museum at all because there was just so much radioactivity anywhere near the reactors. Plus, unlike a Nimitz which only has 2 reactors, the E has 8. Making the thing safe just wasn't at all feasible.