LT's Star Trek Webase

  Enterprise is defined by the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (1963) as, "Boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs". Ships that have beared the name "Enterprise", real or fiction, have been inspirational to many throughout the United States and the world. Click the links below to read about ships that have beared this famous name.

  Ships of the sea that have been called "Enterprise" date back to before the year 1705, when Britain captured a French vessel called L'Enterprise. More than two centuries later...

    Of the two vessels, both aircraft carriers, to bear the name Enterprise in the 20^th Century, The Yorktown class Carrier Vessel (CV) 6 is the most famous of the two. CV-6 was commissioned on 12 May 1938, 28 and a half years after its predecessor was sold by the US Navy. This carrier would serve in almost every major Pacific Theater battle of World War II. This vessel's aircraft would duel with Japanese attackers on December 7, 1941. CV-6 escorted its sister ship, USS Hornet in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in early 1942. The vessel's aircraft participated in the sinking of three Japanese aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway. Enterprise fought with distinction until the end of World War II. The ship was severely damaged by a Japanese Kamikaze attack on May 14, 1945. Repairs kept the vessel out of service until the end of the war. The carrier returned 10,000 soldiers to the United States after the war ended. The vessel was decommissioned and placed in reserve on February 17, 1947. The vessel was reclassified twice; first as an attack carrier (CVA) on 1 October 1952, then as a antisubmarine carrier (CVS) on August 8, 1953. Enterprise was removed from the Naval Vessels Register on October 2, 1956. Attempts to turn the ship into a museum in 1949 & 1956 failed. The US Navy sold it for scrap on July 1, 1958 and the ship was completely dismantled by the end of March 1960. During the vessel's distinguished career, it received 20 of 22 combat stars. The vessel was credited with the sinking of 71 enemy ships and shooting down 911 aircraft. Enterprise was the most decorated ship of World War II.

   The second USS Enterprise of the 20^th Century was commissioned as Nuclear Powered Attack Carrier Vessel (CVAN) 65 on November 25, 1961. CVAN-65 was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier and longest warship built at that time. The vessel was built with a square island that supported phased array radar and a then complex EW system. Enterprise participated in the blockade of Cuba in 1961, and circled the globe in 1963 with the nuclear powered vessels USS Long Beach and USS Bainbridge. CVAN-65 was the first nuclear vessel in combat where the vessel's aircraft struck targets in Vietnam during the Vietnam Conflict. The ship assisted in the evacuation of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) at the end of that conflict in 1975. Also in 1975, Enterprise was reclassified CVN-65 on 30 June of that year. Between 1979 and 1982, the ship received improvements at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Also, between 1990 to 1995, Enterprise was updated and reconstructed at Newport News Naval Shipyard for service through 2015. CVN-65 has had 18 commanding officers since the ship came into service and is currently under the command of Captain Lawerence S. Rice. As of 03 September 2004, Enterprise is station at the Newport News Naval Yards in Newport News, VA for an "extended yard period", according to the vessel's web site. (Information incomplete since the ship is still in service. For further information on CVN-65, click on the image of the Enterprise, which is courtesy of the USS Enterprise [CVN-65] web site.)