Nuclear propulsion offered many advantages over oil propulsion. Harnessing the power could mean virtually limitless endurance for ships so fitted and deployments could be tailored around the limits of the crew only. There would be no need for constant fuel and food supply replenishments to be co-ordinated into the ship’s schedule and from a military viewpoint the ships could be on station for longer than with conventionally powered contemporaries. But atomic power in the 1950s was in its infancy, it offered a brave, bright new future, but under the umbrella of the mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The biggest disadvantage of building ships with nuclear powerplants was the staggering cost and only one nation on the planet had the wherewithal to even consider such audacious schemes, the United States of America.
In the immediate post war period following the successful conclusion of the Second World War, the United States Navy had a healthy number of aircraft carriers and a clear role in policing the world. In 1949, the United States Air Force (USAF) was created out of the former United States Army Air Corps and the new military arm wanted to establish itself from the get-go with a strong resolve and a purpose. The USAF determined it should be the home of America’s nuclear arsenal and be the instrument of delivering the atomic bombs to her enemies, a role traditionally played by the US Navy. The inter service rivalry led directly to the cancellation of the US Navy’s planned United States-class of aircraft carriers while the USAF ploughed forward with its fleet of strategic bomber aircraft.
The delivery in October 1955, of the world’s first supercarrier USS Forrestal changed the situation once again. This vessel was a breakthrough in design and at the time of its acceptance was the largest warship afloat in the world. The ship could carry nearly 100 modern aircraft into combat anywhere in the world and provide pressure to America’s adversaries. Crucially, it was designed to operate aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons. USS Forrestal and its sister ships, for all their hi-tech advances was still encumbered with the need to refuel their oil tanks frequently, what was needed was a way to break free from these particular chains. The solution was nuclear power.
When it came to naming the new ship, there simply was only one choice. To commemorate and honour the legacy of the wartime carrier, the name chosen for the new ship was USS Enterprise. Design work started in the early 1950s with Congress authorising the construction in 1954. Central to its design was the need to incorporate as much power as possible. To this end, the ship was given eight Westinghouse second-generation A2W nuclear reactors. The four Westinghouse steam turbines produced 280,000hp more than any other nuclear powered ship before. To accommodate these, the dimensions of the warship grew steadily until displacement stood at 85,600 tons (full load), length was 1101ft, beam was 133ft, and draught was set at 35ft. The propulsion system drove four propeller shafts and gave the ship an impressive top speed of more than 30 knots. Such a massive ship also had an appropriately huge ship’s complement standing at 4,600 sailors.
Originally conceived as the first of a class of eight ships to the same design, runaway costs meant that the other seven vessels were soon abandoned, and the next aircraft carrier ordered by the US Navy, USS John F Kennedy, reverted to oil fired propulsion. Only with the construction of the Nimitz-class from the early 1970s did the US Navy totally commit to a future with all nuclear aircraft carriers. The $453.3 million award to build the new aircraft carrier was appropriately enough awarded to the same shipyard that had constructed the seventh USS Enterprise, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia. Construction of the huge warship commenced many months ahead of the first steel being laid down as many long led items would take years to manufacture and supply, principal among them being the eight Westinghouse A2W nuclear reactors. With great fanfare, on 4 February 1958, the first components were brought together in the build of the new aircraft carrier. It was launched on 24 September 1960 sponsored by Mrs. William B. Franke, wife of the then Secretary of the Navy. Many months of work to complete the ship remained and it wasn’t until 25 November 1961 that USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier was commissioned into service with the US Navy under the command of Captain Vincent P. de Poix.
Shakedown and 1st Mediterranean deployment
During the ship’s trials programme, USS Enterprise displayed vividly just how much power was available when it literally left its conventionally powered destroyer escort in its wake. The new year of 1962 saw Enterprise undertake its shakedown cruise that saw all the components of its airwing come together as a cohesive military force. During this period, the ship became involved in America’s first foray into manned spaceflight when it was one of three carriers deployed for ten days as part of Project Mercury Recovery Force off Bermuda. In the, end delays in the launch postponed astronaut Gus Grissom’s spaceflight and USS Enterprise had returned to Norfolk Naval Station.
The following weeks saw the carrier continue its shakedown with Phantom F-4Bs, A-4C Skyhawks, Douglas A-1H Skyraiders and F-8B Crusaders and RF-8A Photographic Reconnaissance Crusaders and Grumman E-1B Tracers embarked as its air group. Later, Heavy Attack Squadron VAH-7 flying North American A-5A Vigilantes also joined the ship. USS Enterprise conducted its flying training in the waters of the Caribbean and in particular off Guantánamo Bay. On its return to Norfolk, the ship was prepared for a Presidential Cruise when on 14 April 1961 President John F Kennedy, numerous congressmen and 30 foreign ambassadors boarded the warship for a demonstration of the power projection capabilities of the new aircraft carrier. The dignitaries witnessed 20 US Navy warships conduct serials off the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia.
The summer of 1962 was spent operating off the Atlantic coast but spent Independence Day anchored in Boston Harbor. On completion, the ship sailed in company with USS Forrestal for the nuclear strike exercise LantFlex 2-62. After leave on 3 August, USS Enterprise made its first foreign deployment sailing for the Mediterranean passing Gibraltar on 16 August in so doing becoming the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier to operate in the sea. A full schedule of port visits to Cannes and Naples and exercises followed including Exercise Rip Tide III, Lafayette II, Indian Summer, FallEx/High Heels II. On 28 September, USS Enterprise was relieved by USS Franklin D. Roosevelt and returned to Norfolk on 11 October.
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962, was a month that the world held its breath fearful of a nuclear holocaust as America and Russia went face to face over the island of Cuba. The Cuban missile crisis began secretly when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev deployed SS-4 Sandal medium range and SS-5 Skean intermediate range ballistic missiles capable of striking at the heart of the United States on the Caribbean Island. President John F Kennedy’s response was to ‘quarantine’ the island behind a naval blockade to prevent further supplies and weapons from reaching Cuba. On 19 October, USS Enterprise sailed from its homeport of Norfolk in great haste, some idea of the speed can be gauged by the fact that sufficient stores and provisions were loaded in two hours and not the usual ten. The ship’s airwing joined the ship on route to the Caribbean as did its escorting destroyers USS Fiske, USS Hawkins and USS William R. Rush. Soon thereafter, TF 135 (Task Force 135) under the command of Rear Admiral Robert J. Stroh was formed, centred on the USS Enterprise and USS Independence.
Kennedy’s blockade of Cuba came into force on 20 October 1962, with orders to stop and search any vessel suspected of smuggling offensive weapons. The next day, USS Enterprise was positioned some 25 miles southeast of San Salvador, Bahama Island making best speed for its operating area to the south of Cuba. The tension ratcheted up to fever pitch with neither side prepared to step back. At 1900 on 22 October, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff set Defence Condition 3 for all American forces worldwide, the first time it had reached this point. On 25 October, a A-1H Skyraider detected a surfaced Russian submarine. The next day the contact was lost resulting in nervousness aboard the aircraft carrier and a zigzag course was implemented to try and lose the lurking submarine. Meanwhile, planning for a possible invasion of Cuba was in an advance state and USS Enterprise’s airwing would play a crucial role in attacking enemy positions ashore ahead of any land invasion. The Russian submarine 911 after being under constant surveillance by American warships was forced to surface after 35 hours as their crew had reached the limits of human endurance. It was a small but important victory for the American blockade of Cuba. By this time in the crisis, it was a game of blinkmanship, whether it was Kennedy or Khrushchev who would blink first. On 28 October, the Russian leader accepted American terms for a cessation of the confrontation and the world breathed a huge sigh of relief.
USS Enterprise and its six escorting destroyers continued to operate off Cuba into November supporting the ongoing quarantine mission. Finally, on 20 November, the order to discontinue the operation was given and TG 135 was dissolved. For the designers and builders of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, still less than a year old, it was vindication of the power projection capability of the warship as its aircraft had completely dominated the southern Caribbean intercepting aerial, surface and subsurface targets with impunity. Enterprise had spent 49 continuous days at sea throughout the Cuban Missile Crisis. It spent Christmas and New Year at Norfolk before starting its second Mediterranean deployment.
2nd Mediterranean Deployment
On 6 February 1963, the aircraft carrier departed the familiar surroundings of Norfolk. The next afternoon it met up with the nuclear-powered guided missile frigate USS This rendezvous was an important milestone in the US Navy’s ambitious nuclear propulsion programme as it marked the first time two atomic surface warships had met at sea off the coast of North Carolina. The two ships were part of the 21 ship strong TF 25. Near the Azores the carrier task group was overflown by Soviet Bear reconnaissance aircraft before the American ships sailed into the Mediterranean. Later during visited Cannes and Piraeus in Greece where King Paul I Oldenburg and Queen Frederica of Hanover toured the warship. The visit was followed by a large scale naval exercise in the Crete area called MedLandEx and an amphibious landing at Timbakion. Further exercises took place off Southern Italy, Greece, Turkey and France where the ship operated with the French aircraft carrier and the USS In late May and early June, visited Corfu and Taranto in Italy and Ródhos, Greece. The deployment continued with a port of call to Beirut in Lebanon before conducting further training as the ship steamed westwards. On 26 June, the 20,000 landing on its flight deck was recorded just ahead of USS arriving at Genoa where the ship stayed for a week from 1 July. Further visits to Cannes and Naples followed as TF 25 sailed across the Mediterranean towards Spain where it visited Barcelona between 15 and 22 August. After leaving Spain behind, another milestone in the US Navy’s nuclear programme was marked when the aircraft carrier rendezvoused with the guided missile cruiser USS the first encounter between the two ships at sea on 23 August.
