How the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier lives on in other US Navy flattops
- The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, may be out of action, but it lives on in other active US Navy aircraft carriers, according to Defense One.
- Parts from the "Big E" are being harvested and have so far been incorporated into the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS George Washington.
- After 51 years of service, the Enterprise is sitting lifeless at a shipyard in Virginia, where it waits for a decision by the Navy on exactly what to do with the decommissioned flattop.
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The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier — the USS Enterprise — is being harvested for parts for other US Navy flattops.
The Enterprise waged war from Vietnam to Afghanistan during its 51 years of service. Decommissioned a little over two years ago, the "Big E" rests at the James River shipyard at Newport News in Virginia, where it waits on the Navy to figure out what to do with the enormous one-of-a-kind ship.
But while CVN 65 is no longer taking the fight to the enemy on the high seas, it will live on in its successors.
"We are harvesting as many parts as we can from the Enterprise," Chris Miner, vice president of in-service carriers at Newport News, told Defense One's Marcus Weisgerber and Brad Peniston during a visit to Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding. "She's still giving back even today."
Parts from the Enterprise are being incorporated into existing Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Pieces of the retired Navy vessel will also be added to future Ford-class carriers, including one that bears the same name.
The USS Abraham Lincoln was a recipient of one of the Enterprise's anchors.
Source: Defense One
The anchor for a Nimitz-class carrier weighs 60,000 pounds. The chains add another 20,500 pounds.
Source: The Drive
The USS George Washington, along with the Lincoln, received components of the Enterprise's aircraft-launching catapults.
Source: Defense One
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