Enterprise was designed in the late ’50s for a 25-year lifespan, while the newer Nimitz-class carriers were designed for 50 years. “To effectively double the service life of a ship as complex as Enterprise speaks volumes about the design strengths of the world’s first nuclear-powered carrier, the Navy’s commitment to cost effectiveness, and our sailors’ hard work and innovation throughout the last half-century to keep her going strong,” said Hamilton.

 

Birth of a ‘Supercarrier’

The ship was built at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding, which has built every nuclear carrier for the U.S. Navy.

Her keel was laid on Feb. 4, 1958, and some of her construction was done under strict security. In fact, there is relatively little publicly releasable imagery of her while building, especially of her reactors and propulsion plant. She was “launched” and christened on Sept. 24, 1960. Mrs. William B. Franke, wife of the secretary of the Navy, was the ship’s sponsor, breaking the traditional bottle of champagne on her bow in proper naval tradition.

“Nearly everything that can be said about this ship must be done in superlatives or in terms of the first, the largest, the fastest, greatest striking capability and highest operational flexibility,” said Secretary of the Navy John Connally at her commissioning ceremony on Nov. 26, 1961.

“This year marks the beginning of an epoch in our Navy, for this is the year we added nuclear powered surface ships to our fleet,” Connally said. “The Enterprise is the first carrier, of course, while the Long Beach was the first cruiser and they are to be followed by the Bainbridge next fall. It is an awesome beginning, and worldwide attention will be paid to what Enterprise does when she goes to sea.”

“To preserve our security and that of our allies, each of our Armed Forces must be strong enough to convince those bent on destroying our way of life that they cannot achieve their goal by armed aggression in any form. The strength to achieve our purpose is not solely dependent upon sea power, but cannot be realized without it,” Connally said. “That power at sea, which soon will be epitomized by a task group of nuclear powered ships, Enterprise, Long Beach and Bainbridge, guarantees the life lines that tie together our free world resources of manpower, industry and raw materials. The range of this particular force will be limited only by the endurance of her crews. Vast distances, approximating five non-stop trips around our globe at high speed are within their capabilities.”

In his remarks, Connally spoke about the value proposition for nuclear propulsion, an argument that continues to this day. “A nuclear carrier has proved to be considerably more expensive than a conventionally powered one, in the present state of nuclear development. However, a carrier is a relatively inexpensive method of providing airfields throughout three-fourths of the surface of the earth. The highly skilled and courageous pilots who fly the F4H, the A3D, the F8U, can, in effect, carry this mobile landing strip with them. A nuclear carrier cannot be pre-targeted, for she is constantly on the move. Little attention need be given to the problem of refueling.”

“However, in our constant strive to economize, where it is prudent to do so, we shall recommend that the next carrier be conventionally powered. This decision, when it is approved, will provide an additional modern carrier when we need it, and the time to complete our present efforts to reduce the size and cost of nuclear carriers,” said Connally.

Connally said a considerable number of experience factors would be gained during the operations with the first nuclear carrier. “There is little doubt that we will desire more nuclear carriers at some date in the future, when it is considered that the optimum point in economy and efficiency has been reached.”

Connally correctly foretold of the ship’s longevity. “It is therefore apparent that this great ship we are in, will rule for a long, long time as ‘Queen of the Seas,’ and is not in any sense a prototype for a family of ever-larger, more expensive sister ships.”

According to a 1960 DoD news release on the ship’s construction, the new carrier was “powered by “eight nuclear reactors that are expected to operate for five years on their first charge of fuel.”

Only three other U.S. ships at that time were built with more than one reactor. The attack submarine USS Triton had two reactors, as did the cruiser Long Beach and frigate Bainbridge.