USS Enterprise (CV-6)

Type

Aircraft Carrier

Period

20th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USS Enterprise (CV-6) was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, one of the most celebrated warships of World War II. She is often nicknamed "The Big E" and became the most decorated U.S. warship of the war. Specifications: As built she displaced 19,800 tons standard and 25,500 tons full load, with a waterline length of 761 ft and an overall length of 809 ft 6 in; after an October 1943 refit displacement rose to 21,000 tons standard/32,060 tons full load and overall length grew to 827 ft 5 in. She was designed to operate roughly 80 aircraft and could make about 33 knots, making her a large and complex subject for scale modelers given her evolving air group, flight deck fittings, and anti-aircraft battery changes over the war. Service History: Commissioned on 12 May 1938 at Newport News, Virginia, Enterprise was at sea near Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941 and went on to participate in nearly every major carrier action against Japan, including the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign (Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal), the Marianas operation, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns. She was damaged by kamikaze attacks in 1945 and returned to the U.S. to help transport servicemen home after Japan's surrender. Notable Facts: Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, more than any other U.S. Navy ship, along with the Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Unit Commendation, and the British Admiralty Pennant — the only U.S. warship ever awarded the latter. Despite a postwar public campaign to preserve her as a museum ship in Washington, D.C., insufficient funds led to her being decommissioned in 1947 and eventually sold for scrapping, being broken up between 1958 and 1960.