Say Goodbye to the USS Enterprise... Forever

[Rhykker]

Say Goodbye to the USS Enterprise... Forever

The USS Enterprise US Navy aircraft carrier has been undergoing decommissioning since 2012. Once this "inactivation" is completed, the vessel will be scrapped in 2015.

While Star Trek's aircraft carrier [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135293-Updated-NASA-Shows-Off-Gorgeous-Concept-for-a-Real-Life-Enterprise], and at 1,123 feet in length, she is the longest naval ship in the world.

In service since 1962, the USS Enterprise has been undergoing decommissioning since 2013. She served for 51 consecutive years - longer than any other US aircraft carrier. Her final deployment ended November 2012.

One of the veteran shipbuilders that got to escort the Enterprise on her goodbye voyage was Rodger Morefield, who speaks of her like only a shipbuilder could.

"She's the only girlfriend I'm allowed to have, I'll put it that way," Morefield said. "She has been high maintenance, but she has been worth it."

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Now, her "inactivation" has nearly completed. The nuclear [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133586-U-S-Navy-to-Test-Star-Wars-Rail-Gun-in-2016]-powered aircraft carrier before, and it has cost $745 million to do it. In January 2015, the Enterprise will be towed from its current location - Pier 2 at Newport News Shipbuilding - to Dry Dock 11 in Washington, where she will be dismantled and recycled.

"Serving on Enterprise was almost a badge of honor among those who were nuclear trained," said Rear Admiral Thomas Moore, the Navy's program executive officer of aircraft carriers. "If you didn't serve on Enterprise, you really haven't lived."

"This is something nobody wants to do, but it has to be done," said Captain William C. Hamilton Jr., commander of the Enterprise. "So let's have people who love the ship do it. That's the dignity of it."

Another ship will carry on the legacy of the name: the third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, construction of which is years away. The current Enterprise was the eighth vessel to bear the name, and her predecessor was the most decorated warship in US history.

Hooyah.

Source: Daily Press [http://articles.dailypress.com/2014-08-11/business/dp-nws-enterprise-inactivation-20140811_1_aircraft-carrier-huntington-ingalls-industries-navy-parlance]

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[Baresark]

We'll send the scrap to China on the cheap. Then they can use it to make goods to sell back to us!

 

[Something Amyss]

We'll send the scrap to China on the cheap. Then they can use it to make goods to sell back to us!

Especially if it's irradiated and they can find a way to put it in our children's toys.

In ten years, we'll be begging for lead again!

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

So we really aren't saying goodbye to the USS Enterprise forever then, eh?

 

[Remus]

As Picard once said, there's plenty more letters in the alphabet. So the next Enterprise will technically be the Enterprise-I

 

[Thaluikhain]

We'll send the scrap to China on the cheap. Then they can use it to make goods to sell back to us!

Make sure to scrap it, and then sell it to China. Not the other way round like with the Melbourne.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

So we really aren't saying goodbye to the USS Enterprise forever then, eh?

If the name lives on, the title is wrong. I was actually expecting the article to say they were retiring the name or something.

Oh well. She is a nice looking hunk of steel. The price of her replacement would never be something my country would invest in however.

 

[MatthewGeer]

Shame she won't be converted to a museum the way some of the older oil-fired carriers have, but, as I understand it, to remove all of the nuclear reactor components, they've got to cut some pretty massive holes in her, which would cost an inordinate amount of money to repair after the fact.

If the John F Kennedy is made into a museum, it may very well be the last US fleet carrier ever preserved.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

So we really aren't saying goodbye to the USS Enterprise forever then, eh?

If the name lives on, the title is wrong. I was actually expecting the article to say they were retiring the name or something.

Oh well. She is a nice looking hunk of steel. The price of her replacement would never be something my country would invest in however.

And the power from its reactor could probably power your entire country!

 

[The Great JT]

Shame she won't be converted to a museum the way some of the older oil-fired carriers have, but, as I understand it, to remove all of the nuclear reactor components, they've got to cut some pretty massive holes in her, which would cost an inordinate amount of money to repair after the fact.

If the John F Kennedy is made into a museum, it may very well be the last US fleet carrier ever preserved.

Makes me glad the state saved the USS North Carolina. It's unfortunate they can't save the Enterprise, but she's leaving a hell of a legacy.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

So we really aren't saying goodbye to the USS Enterprise forever then, eh?

If the name lives on, the title is wrong. I was actually expecting the article to say they were retiring the name or something.

Oh well. She is a nice looking hunk of steel. The price of her replacement would never be something my country would invest in however.

And the power from its reactor could probably power your entire country!

Reactors, she had 8 of them compared to 2 of nearly every other nuclear powered ship.

Her namesake would have been a better candidate for preservation but this successor will be missed.

 

[FalloutJack]

Old war vessels shouldn't be scrapped. They should be sent somewhere to die in battle. Nevertheless, if they break her down into something worthwhile, she'll be there in spirit. Now, about that space vessel...

 

[Remus]

Old war vessels shouldn't be scrapped. They should be sent somewhere to die in battle. Nevertheless, if they break her down into something worthwhile, she'll be there in spirit. Now, about that space vessel...

Indeed. NASA has a beautiful concept in mind.

 

[FalloutJack]

(Sweet image of experimental space vessel idea here)

Yeah, that's the one.

People have felt the desire to make science fiction - Star Trek especially - a reality, so much so that in some ways we're already past Kirk and in other ways we're still catching up. Still, the pieces are coming together, ever so slowly. A most innovative Enterprise...

 

[Baresark]

We'll send the scrap to China on the cheap. Then they can use it to make goods to sell back to us!

Make sure to scrap it, and then sell it to China. Not the other way round like with the Melbourne.

That's the one! I couldn't think of the name of the ship they did that with. What jackasses the government can be.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I bet if Chekov and Uhura hadn't drained the reactor, it'd still be in service.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

It was a fine ship, fully worthy of it's name. Let's hope it successor will be able to carry it's name just as well.

 

[Me55enger]

And since 2013, William Shatner has attempted to kick the reactor rods back into alignment.

 

[Brian Tams]

I actually had the pleasure to spend a few day on that ship for what's called a "Tiger Cruiser". Massive ship, Air craft carriers are floating mini-cities.

Its shame it won't be converted into a museum, though.