The Big E's last hurrah.

We sailors tend to be a romantic lot when it comes to our old ships, but it's just  not fun to watch something you put your blood, sweat, toil and tears into being gutted and cut up like a dead carcass.

warshipguy

I do understand the difficulties involved in removing her reactors; I was on the USS Ethan Allen (SSBN/SSN 608) when she was denuked in Bremerton.  I just hate to see historic ships thrown away.

Bill

 The problems involved in denuking include removing every pipe or tank that may have even had the remotest possibility of ever containig a radioactive liquid or having come into contact with a radioactive substance and cannot be positively verified (in an economically feasible way) not to retain this substance any longer. On Enterprise, this would involve a immense amount of verification and the removal of these systems will necessitate a lot of cutting of metal using methods that do not allow the spread of metal bits to spread to the outside of containments. Some of this piping snakes around into the most remote nooks and crannies of the ship and some actually passes through compartments that are regularly inhabited by the crew.

  Another problem is the isolation of the reactor compartments themselves. After defueling the reactors, the reactor compartments are then prepared to be removed as one piece units. This means that the shielded containment compartments have an area cleared of all interference (machinery, piping, electrical systems decking, everything! ) resulting in a complete gap around these very large compartments of about three meters. These reactor compartment contain all of the main components of the reactor including the steam generators, reactor coolant pumps, pressurizer, etc. They are very large and there are eight of them. I would imagine that instead of pulling them up out of the hangar deck and flight deck, that the hull will probably be split open laterally to gain access to them. There will be no way that she would be put back together again after that butchery. This work will take years and gazillions of $$. I've participated in denuking quite a few submarines and cruisers  I'm just glad that I'm retiring before this project starts, I want no part of it.

Gentlemen,

While people talk about her shortcomings, we must remember that she was the first.  In spite of flaws, she did serve 50 years and was usually among the first sent in to deal with a given crisis. While I understand that there are technical problems associated with removing her reactors and preserving the shell, it is still a shame to me to have yet another Enterprise dismantled.

I do understand the difficulties involved in removing her reactors; I was on the USS Ethan Allen (SSBN/SSN 608) when she was denuked in Bremerton.  I just hate to see historic ships thrown away.

Bill

stikpusher

She served long and well, in Wars and Peace,  thanks to her many hardworking crews. Many thanks to all who ever sailed on her. Only another carrier can carry on the grand tradition.

Couldn't agree more. I have to say, us taxpayers really got our moneys worth out of this one, despite a few faults, she's been one of the best there is!

She served long and well, in Wars and Peace,  thanks to her many hardworking crews. Many thanks to all who ever sailed on her. Only another carrier can carry on the grand tradition.

Well, that's it!  Every Navy ship that I've set foot, except a couple of the Aegis cruisers are either a museum, scrapped, decomm'd, or a fish reef.

USS Hoel DDG13

USS Okinawa LPH3

USS England CG22

USS Midway CV41

USS David R Ray DD971

USS Missouri BB63

Yesterday I also read the article about the Big E's last cruise with a bit of nostalgia. As a RM2 I pulled a 45 day TDY on her in '67 off the coast of 'Nam.  I still have the USS Enterprise ball cap I picked up at the ship's store back then. Its showing its age, as she is, but I still regularly wear it.  I remember getting lost more than once just going from the berthing compartment I'd been assigned to Radio I. While on board, I wrote my mother as to where I was and she responded that there was a guy I'd been in Boy Scouts with also assigned to the Big E. However, she didn't know what division he was in and I discovered that bit of info was critical of locating anyone. I never did see him during my TDY. With around 5500 personnel assigned, the odds of that happening were pretty slim. Years later, after I had been discharged, I ran into the guy in my home town and we talked about our Navy days over a few Coors. He had indeed been on board at the same time as I had. People who have never had the opportunity of being on board a modern carrier have no comprehension as to just how huge they are.  A couple of years back a friend of mine got a chance of going on a family  cruise on the Reagan with his nephew who was assigned there. He called me and wanted to know just how big I thought it was. I told him to picture the flight deck as being about the same size as the parking lot at a good sized WalMart.

Bravo Zulu CVN-65!

Even re-fueling was major effort, necessitating cutting through multiple deck levels.  As Subfixer stated, removing all the reactors would essentially gut the ship.    

Although preserving her is a nice thought, just how many museum carriers do we need and who is going to pay for the ongoing maintenance and upkeep?  Even the Intrepid Museum in NYC struggles to find money to maintain it, and some areas of the ship are in horrible condition. 

There has been some discussion about naming one of the new Ford-class ships Enterprise, which I think would be a better way to carry on the heritage of the name.

Mark

Well, no matter what, the eight reactors on Enterprise will be removed. That is standard procedure for all decommed nuke ships. But the removal of the Big E's reactors will tear her up beyond recognition. I can see no way that she would ever become a museum unless she is essentially rebuilt, a project that would be obscenely expensive. Say goodbye to the "Prize" after this deployment. I hate to say this, but as a shipyarder that has had to deal with her reactor systems for the last few decades, it will be a bittersweet relief not having to treat the Mobile Chernobyl's woes any longer. 

warshipguy

but it could be done if the Navy wanted to make it happen. Granted, it would take careful planning and effort, and tons of money.

I can hear the Tea Party now,  "You want to increase our taxes to do what?".

It has been said that a boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money.   A ship is a bigger hole which takes more money to fill. 

It goes without saying that CV-6 should have been saved.  And, you guys are making my point . . . no will, no way.  Each of those reactors have had periodic reactor core changes throughout Enterprise's career.  I know it would be a difficult transition, but it could be done if the Navy wanted to make it happen. Granted, it would take careful planning and effort, and tons of money.

Bill

About time! That thing's been ready to decom for years, but Rickover (who made the nuclear navy, for those who don't know) promised Congress that the Enterprise would last 50 years. We can't make him look like a liar now, can we?

As for a museum, that would be a nightmare. I have known many people who were on that ship, and you cannot imagine the amount of extra work that would be. We also propsed the idea of replacing the Navy's very outdated nuclear prototype training platforms with the 'prise, but were told even that would be unbelievably expensive.

Maybe when a Nimitz class retires, with its far better design and only two reactors, it can be a museum.

Unitl then, why didn't we save the old Enterprise that survived WW2? Now if there was ever a ship that deserved to be a museum...

Captain, I have orders from Starfleet Command. We're to put back to Spacedock immediately...to be decommissioned.

If I were human, I believe my response would be...go to Hell.  If I were human.

nautilus had 1 reactor compared to 8 on the enterprise. only 1 hole thru the pressure hull to remove the nautilus reactor but many decks including flight deck to remove 8 reactors from enterprise.

It's a real shame that there will be no floating museum. The USS Nautilus is also nuclear powered; she is a museum here in Groton.  Granted, there is a permanent RADCON team stationed on board, but if the Navy really had the will, there would be a way.

Bill