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Last Voyage of the USS Enterprise


gwb123
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Is the big E really so worn that she can no longer be used? I know she's from 64 but still.

I remember reading somewhere that they couldn't make the Enterprise into a museum because they have to cut out a bunch of decks to get the reactors out. Glad to hear that the CVN-80 will carry on the name. It's to bad they couldn't have made the CV-6 into a museum. That would have been a great thing to see.

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Many vets have said it was a crime and I agree. The Enterprise and the Saratoga were the only pre WW2 carriers to survive the war if I remember correctly. They went and scraped most of the big E and they used the Saratoga at the Bikini Atoll tests! I don't see why they couldn't have at least saved one of them or even both. If you get permission and know what your doing you can dive on the Saratoga. One documentory I saw about the ships at Bikini showed planes and such. They wanted to see what would happen to a loaded carrier. They showed the ships bugle that is still laying on the floor by one of the islands doors. I think the stack might be close to collapsing unfortunantly. Another thing about the Saratoga wreck, when they swam into the hanger, there were bombs on floor racks. I think they said they were primed.

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From what I've read online, most, if not all of the ships used in the Able and Baker tests were armed and provisioned with at least some ammunition and fuel. I don't think any were loaded with their wartime loads but they had a representative sample of the ordnance and fuel on board to see what effects the nuclear weapons would have on them.

 

As for the pre-WWII US carriers remaining at the end of the war, Ranger was still around too. She served in the Atlantic for the duration of the war. IIRC, it had something to do with her underwater protection or something like that. The Navy thought she would be to vulnerable to Japanese attack.

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The old battleships are interesting to me and I figured it appropriate to use the Oklahoma since I'm also an Okie! Born in Altas Oklahoma at the Altas air force base hospital while my dad was stationed there. :D

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Been there when I was in OBC at Ft Sill. We went to an air show when my cousin was there with the Thunderbirds.

 

I'm from Perry, 60 miles north of OKC on I-35.

 

I like the old battleships too. I think my favorites are the California class because of their smooth lines and four triple 14" turrets. I really like the looks of California after her post-Pearl Harbor rebuild. That nice, compact superstructure with the four turrets and clipper bow really look nice!

 

The older, what I call blunt-nose ships, just don't do it for me. Nevada didn't look too bad with the 5"38's but I just don't like the lines of the older ships. California and Colorado's are where it was at.

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To bad there aren't more of the old ships, be it before or after the inter war years battleships around. They scraped just about everything! It's nice that a few of the old ships from the early 1900s survive though.

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Have you been on Texas? I visited her as a kid but I don't remember much about it. I'd like to take my kids and see her again. I'd really like to take a hard hat tour of her and see a lot of places most folks don't get to see.

 

I sure wish there was a light cruiser to visit. There is a CLG on the east coast somewhere (USS Little Rock maybe?) but she's not in WWII configuration after being converted to fire Talos missiles. Still wish there was another pre-war battleship and the Big E. Sob.....

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It's a shame there's not many pre WW2 ships or ships from WW2 left. No I haven't been that far South. It would be great to see the Texas in person though.Were the Enterprise still around she'd probably be the greatest piece from WW2. At least they saved a few piceces of the Big E, such as the name plate, anchor, I believe the bell to, and some other small piceces.It's to bad Halsey wasn't able to raise enough to preserve her.

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When I was a kid in the B Scouts we stayed a week at the Alameda Airbase. We had our own bunkhouse and toured the place, flew in a helicopter, sat in an f-14 and had the run of the base for 7 days. The high point of the trip was the two days spent on the Enterprise and the afternoon spent on the Coral Sea, they were birthed next to each other. From the Deck of the Enterprise you could look down, way down onto the deck of the Coral Sea, it was amazing; memories I will always cherish. Ironically enough I just bought a pile "o" patches with a couple of Enterprise pieces in it, and my last good patch buy was at the flea market on the old Alameda base which is just a few miles from my NorCal office.

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I'll have to try and get some pictures up.First I have to figure out how to do that. I've got a leather Aiverex from the 80's with 5 patches on it includeing a tomcat patch and one for the CVN-65. I don't believe it's i.d.ed though. There's also a patch that says busy taskforce.

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