USS Enterprise (CVN 65) - Naval Cruise Book

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On March 27, 1967, ENTERPRISE iwag awarded the battle Efficiency E, heryfirstf award as part of the Pacific Fleet. A I Wg The cruise ended in June within 13,400 bat-1 tle missions flown, and ENTERPRISE ra turned to Alameda July 6, a I I I I I I 0n Oct. 9, the Secretary of the N nounced that the Big E had won Unit Commendation during her ployment. a ' u, I y . After Christmas at Alameda I PRISE sailed again on Jan. 3, third Western ,Pacific Cruise. ENTERPRISE was the Sea of Japan, USS PUEBLO by mained in the area nearly a flagship of the specially-created 71, Relieved in the Sea of She proceeded to Yankee ing combat operations on 26, the Big' E and hert Hnished their third combat . ENTERPRISE arrived a brief cost4 A of 15 fl. ight, employees be-1 the Big E , The I and of .these men were such that the worlds mightiest carrier was againigready forrsea onMarch 5. I . fAfterrfive days of sea trials, the,Big. E t itdeparted Hawaii on.March 11, en route to iVYankee Station for her fourth Vietnam tour. Sheqreacliedthe Guld of Tonkin iMarch73,l beginning immediate air strikes .against the enemy. g E a I I A 1 A When. the North Koreans shot down ya Navy EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft :on April 16, ENTERPRISE was once again or- dered into the Sea of Japan, where she was joined by three other carriers and numerous support ships. As flagship for the newly reinf, stated Task Force 71, ENTERPRISE bef came an intetgral part of the largest task force assembled in more than 25 years. EN- TERPRISE returned to Alameda in July 1969 and soon sailed for her new .home port in Norfolk, Va., arriving, in August 1969.. From Norfolk, the giant carrier returned, to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry- dock Company where she underwent her sec- I ond refueling and overhaul. Having been re- fitted and refueled, ENTERPRISE complet4 ed her sea trials in January 1971 and then began the trip around South America for her home at Alameda, Calif. In July, ENTERPRISE arrived at the Su- X! HIS TOR Yf7

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,ff ,. , ., ,C -,+ 1 f . STHE 1.1. FIGHTING GREY LADY Until after World. War II, thelmost renowed ship to carry the name was the seventh ENTERPRISE, an aircraftcarrier com- missioned .on May11.2, 1938. Knownfas the . BigE, the 25,000- ton ship fought in numerouslPacific battles, among which were the Battleiof Midway, Guadalcanal, Leyte'Gulf, lwoiglima and Okinawa She was iawardedlla tpresidiemiai Unit Citation a Navy Unit Commendatlon and 20 Battle Stars The ship was decommissioned on February 18 1947 On November 25 1961 at the commissioning ceremony of the eighth ENTERPRISE secretary of the Navy John B Con nally J r called the subject of the ceremony a worthy successor to number seven and said that she will reign a long long time as queen of the seas The new carrier went to sea Jan 12 1962 for her shakedown cruise finishing April 15 with the highest score ever attained by a new aircraft carrier Carrier Air Wing Six came aboard June 22 1962 to form along with ENTERPRISE the most powerful seaborne unit in existence at that time In August ENTERPRISE Joined the Sixth Fleet 1n the Mediterranean for her first deployment Following her return to Norfolk on Oct 11 1962 she was assigned for a month to the returning in September 1963 from a second Sixth Fleet deploy 6fI-IISTOR Y ment, the Big E alternated periods in port with deployments at sea with the Second.Fleet until Feb. 8, 1964, when she once again returned to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. I In October 1964, ENTERPRISE returned to Newport News Ship-building and Drydock Company for her first refueling and overhaul. She was ready for sea again the following Spring. The nuclear-powered surface force soon transferred to the U S Pacific Fleet. With Carrier Air Wing Nine reporting aboard in September,,the Big Ev joined the Seventh Fleet on Nov 21 , 1965, and became the first nuclear-powered warship to engage in combat. During the next six months, the Big E planes carried out bombing raids against the enemy military transport and supply areas bridges and coastal shipping in Vietnam. ENTERPRISE concluded her first combat cruise, arriving at her home port of Alameda, Calif., on June 21, 1966. ENTERPRISE again left the United States on Nov. 19 to rejoin the Seventh Fleet. Following a brief call at Pearl Harbor, she sailed for hersecond combat cruise in the Gulf of Tonkin. Air Wing Nine planes were again in the air over North Vietnam by Dec. 18, beginning six months of combat. . ' 1 , 1 ,N 21 ' ,, ' 1 1' 1 .1 1 , , , 1 Y 1 Y W gl Y 1- L l 1 's . . w . f M .. I I l ' 1 I Y I 1 1 I 4 an - L , - . 1 1 11 M N. , a N ' is . . ' 1 C i, 1 ' W 9 v 9 ' M , 1 1 1 . - . u . . 1 ' 1 1 . 7 . , . - a s H , we K, , , ,, ,. ,. A , ar- W., , ,1 i 1a2aul09-A., f ff 1.1 N-7,4 ,. 5 W' N ' 'N '5--0-ff man 'f ' gf 92,1 wif Zagj is-1 ' 4 3,352 off, W 94 P1130 5,1312 will lei? Wi moi iw' will mil mylll lllih well! MM . AM foniu lorula IW limi 011: .pl aiu e edeclll .mm Crm Salk elim: 1 sn nh Wm lfial lfllmi Villa! si.. W em! Wh Nw H lrllt lu v JM, Supmi Windy, Wu wr., lil 1, PM if lift His. . fdgk NR Y .x, 1 . lu. '

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B ILDI A N ER bic Bay Naval Base in Philip- pings, first line kin. iOn Sept. 12, 1972, ENTERPRISE depart- ed Alameda for her sixth combat deployment to Southeast Asia. it 7 The arrival of 1973 brought good news to ENTERPRISE and the world, the an- nouncement of a cease-fire in Vietnam. In March 1973, ENTERPRISE earned her sec- ond Battle Efficiency EH for attack carriers of the Pacific Fleet. The ship left Subic Bay may 30 to return to her home port of Alame- da. T 7 0n July 30, ENTERPRISE sailed from Alameda to Bremerton, WA, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, for a six-month ship- yard period of alterations and refitting in preparation for taking on the Navy's newest fighter aricraft, the F-14A Tomcat. Returning to Alameda in early February 1974, ENTERPRISE began refresher train- ing, carrier qualifications and air wing oper- ations in August. ENTERPRISE won her third Battle Efficiency EM for Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers. 8fHISTOR Y