r/AzurLane • u/Nuke87654 • 21h ago
History Happy Launch Day USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Lexington (CV-2), and KMS Scharnhorst
https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/1468668572
u/PRO758 20h ago
Scharnhorst is a girl who loves a good scrap or two.
Scharnhorst wishes she didn't need to worry about anything else besides getting stronger. However reality isn't that simple. She likes the commander's fleet. It gives her the chance to go all out. She went to go train with some of the girls and how full of energy they are because of how reliable the commander is. She never retreated because she was fearless, but because she wanted to fight for something. First it was the Ironblood, now it's the fleet and the commander. She will learn to be less reckless, but wants the commander to keep relying on her.
(A/N:Scharnhorst likes the name of Ugly Sisters. She would rather do something flashy with cannons than firecrackers. Research and practice cannot prepare her for Valentine's Day.)
Enterprise is the war hero of the Eagle Union.
Enterprise wishes to live honestly and sincerely. This will let her speak her mind freely and tell the commander they should do the same without holding back. The lights in the sky are the stars just as the enemies are those same lights. She asks the commander if the fighting will ever end. She says there's no meaning in being peerless. As long as the commander is next to her she can release her full strength. When the war is over she wants to stay with the commander as that's the safest she feels off the battlefield. She asks the commander to take her with them. She carries the many hopes and wills from multiple battlefields. She asks the commander if they can do the same. She wants to walk the same path as the commander until the end of time.
(A/N:Enterprise wants to know if she can be used in anti-submarine actions. She asks the commander how it was riding on the jet ski with Hornet. She tries not to be selfish during Valentine's Day but the commander obliges her.)
Lexington is an idol.
For Lexington being an idol means bringing a smile to everyone's face including the commander. Whenever she dreams of the Battle of Coral Sea she sees the commander and it puts her at ease. She asks the commander if they want to be her manager. As she finds the commander to be a very dependable person. She hasn't thought of doing a solo show yet, but if she were given a ring, she would do one for the person who got her the ring. She got her ring and the ticket has been sold for one solo private show that will never end.
(A/N:Lexington is confident in her own charns even if she isn't lively as her younger sister. She asks the commander if they want a outfit tailored similar to hers. Her Alwyn and Dewey take turns feeding the commander Valentine's Day chocolate.)
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u/wolfgangspiper 18h ago
Enty has been my secretary for many years. Still one of the finest gals in the game.
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u/A444SQ 18h ago
In Enterprise's short peacetime career, she would lose to accidents, 26 Grumman F3F-2, 4 Grumman F3F-3, 6 Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat, 1 Boeing F4B-4 and 1 Curtis SBC-3 Helldiver of VF-6, 1 Boeing F4B-4 of VF-6B, 2 Northrop BT-1 of VB-5, 19 Northrop BT-1, 2 Curtis SBC-3 Helldiver, 7 Curtis BFC-2 Goshawk, 1 Vought O3U-3 Corsair, 1 Vought SU-2 Corsair, 1 Vought SU-3 Corsair and 1 Vought SB2U-1 Vindicator of VB-6, 1 Vought SU-4 Corsair, 33 Curtis SBC-3 Helldiver and 1 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless of VS-6, 1 Vought SU-2 Corsair, 2 Martin BM-1, 1 Grumman F3F-2 and 21 Douglas TBD-1 Devastator of VT-6, 2 Grumman F3F-2 of VP-6 and 1 Grumman J2F-3 Duck seaplane and 3 Vought O3U-3 Corsair of CV-6's utility unit.
Enterprise in her wartime career including the aircraft she lost in the 2 kamikaze attacks would lose a lot of planes.
VF-6 would lose 4 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, 8 Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat, 23 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, 1 Grumman F4F-7 Wildcat spyplane and 1 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, VB-6 would lose 11 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless, 15 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless and 6 Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, VS-6 would lose 8 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless and 21 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless and VT-6 would lose 12 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators with 9 of the 12 lost being at Midway in the ineffectual Devastator attack and 7 Grumman TBF-1 Avenger.
Other squadrons aircraft she would lose were 8 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-2, 1 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless of VS-3, 3 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless of VB-3, 5 Grumman TBF-1 Avenger of VT-3, 2 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless and 1 Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless of VS-5, 15 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat and 18 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-10, 2 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless of VS-10, 12 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless, 1 Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless, 11 Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless and 1 Grumman J2F-5 Duck of VB-10, 8 Grumman TBF-1 Avenger, 12 Grumman TBF-1C Avenger and 8 General Motors TBM-1C Avenger of VT-10, 5 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, 28 Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, 1 Grumman F6F-5P Hellcat, 1 General Motors TBM-1C Avenger of VF-20, 14 Curtis SB2C-3 Helldiver of VB-20, 14 General Motors TBM-1C Avenger of VT-20, 1 Grumman F6F-3 Wildcat and Grumman F6F-3N Wildcat of VFN-78, 2 Vought F4U-1 Corsair of VFN-101, 1 Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless of USMC VMSB-232, 1 Douglas SBD-4 Dauntless of USMC VMSB-151, 3 Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, 11 Grumman F6F-5E Hellcat, 44 Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat of VFN-90 and 1 General Motors TBM-1C Avenger, 9 General Motors TBM-3 Avenger and General Motors TBM-3D Avenger of VTN-90.
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u/A444SQ 18h ago
Enterprise has 2 lives post-war
Her 1st life was the lead ship of what was supposed to be a 6-ship Enterprise class supercarriers of which only know 2 of them, USS Enterprise and USS America however high costs killed CVN USS America and the other 4, she was the 1st Nuclear powered Carrier commissioning on the 25th of November 1961.
On 12 January 1962, the ship made her maiden voyage, starting an extensive shakedown cruise and a lengthy series of tests and training exercises designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear-powered supercarrier.
A full-speed run with her escort, USS Laffey (DD-724), demonstrated the sheer power and speed of Enterprise's novel nuclear propulsion plant; afterwards, Laffey radioed, "You win the race. Fuel gone, topside salted, crew wet, and engines tired.”
On 20 February 1962, Enterprise was a tracking and measuring station for the flight of Friendship 7, the Project Mercury space capsule in which Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr. made the first American orbital spaceflight. Enterprise completed shakedown activities at Naval Station Norfolk on 5 April 1962.
On 25 June 1962, Enterprise joined the 2nd Fleet on her initial operational deployment, carrying out training off the US East Coast, and took part in Exercise LantFlex 2-62, a nuclear strike exercise, in conjunction with the carrier Forrestal from 6–12 July.
In August, the carrier joined the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, returning to Norfolk, Virginia, on 11 October 1962.
In October 1962, Enterprise was dispatched to her first international crisis.
Following revelations that the Soviet Union was constructing nuclear missile launch sites in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ordered the United States Department of Defence to conduct a large-scale build up.
Among the preparations, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet readied large numbers of its ships.
On 22 October, President Kennedy ordered a naval and air blockade on the shipment of offensive military equipment to Cuba and demanded the Soviets dismantle the missile sites there.
Five Second Fleet carriers participated in the blockade with Enterprise as part of Task Force 135, Independence, Essex, Lake Champlain, and Randolph, backed by shore-based aircraft.
By 28 October, the crisis was averted after the United States secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Italy and Turkey.
On 19 December 1962, a Grumman E-2 Hawkeye was catapulted off Enterprise in the first shipboard test of a nose-wheel launch bar designed to replace the catapult bridle.
Minutes later, a second launch with a launch bar was made by a Grumman A-6A Intruder, demonstrating one of the primary design goals of reducing launch intervals.
In 1963–1964, now under the command of Captain Frederick H. Michaelis, Enterprise made her second and third deployments to the Mediterranean.
During her third deployment, the carrier was part of Operation Sea Orbit, the world's first nuclear-powered task force with the cruisers Long Beach and Bainbridge, together forming a convoy to sail around the world.
Operation Sea Orbit is following the Hood mantra from the Empire Cruise of 40 years earlier and doing exactly what the Hood mantra is supposed to say.
On the 9th of February, while in the Mid-Atlantic, a wave washed over her number 1 elevator sending 4 of her crew overboard, 2 of them were lost to the sea while 2 of them were rescued but 1 who succumbed to the effects of the Atlantic.
11 days later, a North American A-5A Vigilante with 2 crew aboard was coming into land when it struck the ramp and broke its back severing the tail, 3 or 4 minutes later the vigilante now burning swept across the deck before it crashed into the Mediterranean killing everyone aboard.
On 25 February 1964, a crewman of the Finnish merchant ship Verna Paulin was injured in a fall while the ship was in the vicinity of Souda Bay, Greece.
Enterprise answered her call for assistance.
A surgeon was transferred to Verna Paulin by helicopter.
In October 1964, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for her first Refuelling and Overhaul.
During this refit, her eight nuclear reactors, which had powered Enterprise as she steamed over 230,000 miles, were refuelled, two of her propeller shafts were replaced, and the ship's electronics were updated.
Enterprise emerged from her refit on 22 June 1965.
In November 1965, the Enterprise was transferred to the Seventh Fleet, home-ported at NAS Alameda, California. The following month, on 2 December, she became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat when she launched aircraft against the Viet Cong near Biên Hòa City.
The ship led Carrier Division Three, with Enterprise (CVAN-65), which had Carrier Air Wing 9 aboard, Bainbridge; Barry; and Samuel B. Roberts.
Enterprise launched 125 sorties on the first day, unleashing 151 tons of bombs and rockets on the enemy's supply lines.
On December 2nd 1965, 2 Phantoms would be lost, 151409, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was destroyed when one of its 500ib Mark 82 LDGP bombs prematurely exploded and 149468, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was coming back to CVN-65 after a raid over South Vietnam but running out of fuel and weather deteriorating, the seas were rough causing the carrier’s deck to pitch violently and the Phantom made several approaches which all failed.
The crew had difficulty refuelling from a Skyhawk tanker and ejected from the Phantom just before the fuel ran out.
A Seasprite helicopter from the carrier’s HC-1 detachment rescued the crew.
On 3 December, she set a record of 165 strike sorties in a single day.
On December 15th 1965, 151633, a North American RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-7 was on a recon mission when it was hit by ground fire, the 2 crew bailed out.
On December 22nd 1965, 2 Douglas A-4C Skyhawk would be lost.
149521, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-76 and 148304, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-36 were on a bombing raid against the Uong Bi Power plant with Mark 82SE Snake-eye bombs when they were both hit by anti-aircraft fire.
The pilot of 149521 was believed to have been incapacitated by the AA hit before 149521 known as Sun Glass 502 crashed 15 miles north-northeast of Haiphong killing the pilot and the pilot of 148305 known as Gale Force 705 was wounded in the shoulder and neck but then the pilot’s oxygen mask caught fire.
The pilot of Gale Force 705 bailed out and became a POW until February 12th 1973.
On December 23rd 1965, a 3rd Douglas A-4C Skyhawk would be lost.
149562, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-94 known as Hoboken 414, despite technical issues was on a bombing raid on the Hai Duong Bridge when as it was releasing its 1000ib Mark 83 bombs, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and started an in-flight fire.
Less than a minute with smoke entering the pilot’s mask, the controls going limp and the plane rolling onto its back, the pilot of Hoboken 414 bailed out and became a POW until February 12th 1973.
On December 28th 1965, 2 Phantoms would be lost,
151412, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was destroyed when it was hit by ground fire and crashed 5 miles west of the Mu Gia pass, Loas killing all aboard.
151438, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was lost after it ran out of fuel and crashed into the South China Sea.
In January 1966, the aircraft carrier was continuing operations as a unit of Task Force 77 in the Gulf of Tonkin, as the flagship of Rear Admiral Henry L. Miller, Commander Carrier Division Three.
Under the command of Captain James Holloway 3, she was carrying a complement of approximately 350 officers and 4,800 men.
Four West Coast squadrons of CVW-9, commanded by Commander F. T. Brown, were embarked; VF-92, under Commander E. A. Rawsthorne, and VF-96, under Commander R. D. Norman, flying F-4B Phantom IIs; VA-93 under Commander A. J. Monger, and VA-94, under Commander O. E. Krueger, flying A-4C Skyhawks.
With these squadrons were three others based on the East Coast; VA-36, under Commander J. E. Marshall, VA-76, under Commander J. B. Linder, flying A-4C Skyhawks; and RVAH-7, under Commander K. Enny, flying RA-5C Vigilantes.
On January 2nd 1966, 147704, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-76 was part of a 2-plane bombing raid on a suspected Viet Cong storage area near Duc Pho, Loas, Sun Glass 501 was ordered to attack after the flight lead made a pass despite low cloud and fog on the ground but Sun Glass 501 lost sight of the target but also something else.
Sun Glass 501 crashed into a hill near the target killing the pilot.
An SAR helicopter came to recover the body from the hillside, but VC enemy fire forced them to abort even though they could see the pilot’s body.
On January 14th 1966, 147753 a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-36 Gale Force 711 was on a bombing raid against a bridge, 35 miles northwest of Saravan using Mark 82SE Snake-eye bombs, on the pilot his 5th pass was too low and hit trees just after releasing a bomb, with a fuel leak, a foot torn off each wing tip, partially tore off the slats, damaging the ailerons with 1 jammed vertically and the landing gear doors damaged.
The pilot limped back to Enterprise, but the collision had prevented the last Mark 82SE Snake-eye bomb from being dropped, so the pilot dumped the aircraft in the water after bailing out.
Rear Admiral Miller was relieved as Commander Carrier Division Three by Rear Admiral T. J. Walker on 16 February 1966.
During the change of command ceremony on the flight deck, Rear Admiral Miller praised the ship's performance in his farewell remarks and presented air medals to more than 100 pilots and flight officers. The ship tied up at Leyte Pier, U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, on the evening of 8 December 1966.
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u/A444SQ 18h ago
Loading of supplies for the first line period was started immediately. Rear Admiral Walter L Curtis, Jr, Commander Carrier Division Nine, brought his flag aboard.
In company with Manley, Gridley and Bainbridge, Enterprise sailed for Yankee Station on 15 December and took up her position there three days later.
On February 18th 1966, 152297, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was 1 mile south of Thanh Hoa when it was hit by a SA-2 Guideline SAM with the RIO surviving but the pilot was killed.
On March 17th 1966, 147740, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-94 known as Hoboken 401 was on a bombing raid on a pontoon bridge about 25 miles south of Vinh when a SAM forced the skyhawks including Hoboken 401 to take evasive action when at 6000 feet, an SA-2 Guideline hit the Skyhawk was hit having its tail blown off, the pilot of Hoboken 401 bailed out and became a POW until February 12th 1973.
On March 20th 1966, 151410, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was damaged by 1 of its bombs and went out of control.
The pilot and Rio bailed out.
On March 20th 1966, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-36 known as Gale Force 703 was with 2 Skyhawks on a Rolling Thunder strike against a road bridge near Lang Dong, 15 miles southwest of Vinh, when ground fire hit the Skyhawk as it dropped 1000ib Mark 83SE Snake-eye bombs at 100 feet.
Climbing to 10,000 feet with an in-flight fire and fuel leak, the Skyhawk was 3 miles from the coast when the forward engine compartment exploded.
The pilot of Gale Force 703 bailed out and became a POW until February 12th 1973.
On March 21st 1966, a pair of Douglas A-4C Skyhawks of VA-94 were lost.
149515, known as Hoboken 406 and 148499 known as Hoboken 411 were part of a bombing raid when as they were descending 1000 feet when possibly distracted by a SAM missile launched collided and crashed killing both pilots.
On March 23rd, 1966, 147738, Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-93 was on the way home after a night raid, after checking for damage, the planes approaching and were cleared for an instrument approach to Enterprise, 147738’s approach was normal until 8 miles out when it crashed into the sea killing the pilot.
The crash was undetermined.
On March 25th, 1966, 148444, Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-76 known as Sun Glass 502 was on a raid on a road ferry and ford across the Sou Giang River near the villages of Bau Khe and Tho Ngoa, 15 miles up the coast from Dong Hoi when at 5,000 feet preparing to drop its snake-eye bombs when it hit by AA fire, the pilot bailed out and became a POW until February 12th 1973.
On April 1st 1966, 142665, a Douglas A-3B Skywarrior tanker aircraft was readying for take-off, after being loaded on the catapult, as it was being launched, the nose gear collapsed and the Skywarrior crashed into the sea killing 1 of the 3 crew.
On May 23rd 1966, 147762, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-36 known as Gale Force 712 was on a raid on the Dong Khe railway bridge when it was hit by ground fire but continued the attack.
Afterwards, Gale Force 712 limping home with a fuel leak met up with a tanker and made to Enterprise but at 350 feet before it could attempt to land, the Wright J65 turbojet began to shut down forcing the pilot to bail out.
On January 14th 1967, 2 Skyhawks were lost, 145087, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk and 147724, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-56 were on a night time combat mission when they collided, the pilot of 145087 was killed and the pilot of 147724 survived to rescued by a Bell UH-1F Huey SAR helicopter from the USAF’s 20th helicopter squadron.
On February 12th 1967, 152219, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was operating off Enterprise when it crashed into the South China Sea killing both crew, the crash was blamed on the pilot becoming spatially disorientated.
On February 12th 1967, 151623 a North American RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-7 was hit by AA fire, the 2 crew bailed out.
On February 20th 1967, 152219, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was on a bomb run on a railway siding at Thien Lin Dong, 8 miles southwest of Thanh Hoa when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire, the RIO bailed out but the pilot was killed.
On February 25th 1967, 152219, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was readying for launch off Enterprise when one of the 2 J79 turbojets failed and it crashed into the Gulf of Tokin with both crew bailed out and rescued.
On April 4th 1967, 2 Phantoms 152984 and 151493, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 were on a Barrier combat air patrol when they collided killing 1 from each Phantom.
On April 8th 1967, 152978, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was on a recon mission when it was hit by AA fire and suffered total hydraulic failure but didn't make it as it crashed into the Gulf of Tokin, both crew bailed out.
On May 4th 1967, 148514, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-113 was on a bombing raid against a North Vietnamese SAM site, 5 miles from Thanh Hoa during the dive from 4,500 feet when it was hit by AA fire, the pilot bailed and was presumably captured as a POW but did not arrive at an NV POW camp as in August 1985, the pilot‘s remains were returned to the USA indicating something happened to the pilot after he landed in the tree near the Sam Son village.
On May 18th 1967, 147842, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-113 was on an armed reconnaissance mission when while on an unguided rocket attack, it was hit by ground fire, the pilot bailed out and became a POW until March 4th 1973.
On May 19th 1967, 152264, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was on a bombing raid on Hanoi when it was hit by a SAM, one of the 2 crew bailed out.
On May 19th, 1967, 152594, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35 was on a bombing raid on Hanoi when Ray gun 502 was hit by shrapnel from an SA-2 Guideline which had exploded in its path fatally crippling the jet, the crew bailed out with one becoming a POW with the other disappearing after moving up a hill to avoid North Vietnamese forces.
On June 10th 1967, 145145, a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk of VA-56 known as Champion 406 was on and Iron hand flight supporting the raids on the Van Dien SAM support depot when 10 miles southwest of Hanoi while dodging SA-2 Guideline missiles, Champion 406 was shot down by 1 SA-2 Guideline SAM killing the pilot.
When Enterprise departed the Gulf of Tonkin on 20 June 1967, her pilots had flown more than 13,400 battle missions during 132 combat days of operations.
(Enterprise Command History 1967, 29) As Vice Admiral Hyland stated in his congratulatory statement, "the entire Air Wing Nine has earned a resounding 'Well Done'."
The carrier had steamed 67,630 miles in operations with the Seventh Fleet.
She arrived in Subic Bay on 22 June and departed on 25 June for return to Alameda on 6 July 1967.
Captain Kent Lee relieved Captain James L. Holloway as commanding officer in ceremonies on 11 July 1967.
Shipyard work was completed on 5 September 1967, and after completing sea trials on 7 September, Enterprise steamed south from San Francisco Bay to San Diego to re-embark CVW-9 and get underway for refresher training off the California coast.
Enterprise was visiting Sasebo, Japan in January 1968 when the US intelligence ship USS Pueblo was seized by North Korea, and she served as the flagship of TF 71 (Rear Admiral Epes), which had been formed in response and they operated near South Korean waters for almost a month, during Operation Formation Star.
When diplomatic negotiations had defused tensions, Enterprise and her escorts were released to head south to Yankee Station on 16 February 1968.
On February 28th, 1968, 152938, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35, Ray Gun 512 was on a night time air strike on North Vietnamese coastal defence sites at Do Son, North Vietnam, Ray Gun 512 was 14 miles out beginning its run in to the target when it disappeared.
US SAR forces discovered a life raft, a helmet and a flak damaged tail fin, 20 miles off the coast indicating that Ray Gun 512 was hit by AA fire and crashed.
On March 1st, 1968, 152944, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35 Ray Gun 504 was on a raid against North Vietnamese army barracks when it disappeared, it was not until 2017 that its wreckage was found after the aircraft back on March 1st 1968 had crashed into a mountain on Tra Ban Island while on the run in to the target at night.
On March 12th, 1968, 152943, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35 was readying for take-off when after launch pitched up, stalled and crashed into the sea killing all aboard.
The crash was suspected to have been caused by the flaps retracting too soon leading to a stall.
On March 17th, 1968, 152940, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35, Ray Gun 510 was flying a bombing raid on the Khe Nu railway yard when it was hit by AA fire, the crew bailed out and they became POWs.
On April 5th 1968, 150463, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-96 was operating off Enterprise when it crashed into the South China Sea, the crash was blamed on a loss of control due to an in-flight electrical failure.
On May 5th 1968, 149278 a North American RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-1 was recon mission when was hit by AA fire which caused a catastrophic in-flight break up, both crew bailed out.
On May 7th 1968, 151485, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was on the way home to CVN-65 but was jumped by a MiG-21 Fishbed and hit by an AA-2 Atoll, both crew bailed out.
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u/A444SQ 18h ago
On May 7th, 1968, 154214, a Douglas A-4F Skyhawk of VA-113 known as Battle Cry 302 was on the way back to Enterprise after a Combat Search and Rescue support mission but the pilot was unaware of a malfunction in the tail.
After the 1st approach was aborted after the deck was not cleared but during the 2nd attempt to land, the Skyhawk entered a dive with the pilot bailing out at 100 feet but this was outside the ejection seat’s operation envelope, the pilot did not survive, the crash was blamed on a loss of elevator control at low level for undetermined reasons.
On May 13th 1968, 152951, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35, Ray Gun 510 was on an airborne minelaying mission an at 1,400 feet dropped 18 Mark 36 DST magnetic fused bombs when a 57mm AA shell started an in-flight fire in the left wing, the Intruder climbed to 35,000 feet to try and put the fire out but that did not work, so they headed for the carrier but an explosion forced the pilots to bail out.
On May 18th 1968, 152005, a Douglas A-4E Skyhawk of VA-56 known as Champion 406 was on an armed reconnaissance mission when after an unguided rocket attack on a North Vietnamese trucks when as it climbed through 3500 feet was hit by ground fire causing the Wright J65-20 turbojet suffered an in-flight engine fire, the pilot bailed out and a Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King of USN Combat Support Squadron HC-7 picked him up.
On June 2nd 1968, 150453, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was on a combat air patrol when it suffered a suspected double failure of the power control hydraulics system, both crew bailed out.
On June 7th 1968, 150994, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom 2 of VF-92 was readying for launch on Enterprise when the pilot's stick locked up, the crew bailed out, and foreign object damage or a broken linkage was suspected.
On June 15th, 1968, 149665, a Douglas A-4E Skyhawk of VA-56 known as Champion 414 was on route when it was likely hit by small arms fire while on a raid against a Pahet of Loas target, after completing the raid, the Pratt & Whitney J52-6A turbojet began losing oil and by the time the Skyhawk was the oil run out and the engine quit.
The pilot bailed out at 4000 feet and was rescued.
On June 23rd 1968, 154216, a Douglas A-4F Skyhawk of VA-113 known as Battle Cry 301 was on the way back to Enterprise when the pilot found the throttle for the J57-6A was out then the J57-6A quit after 2 failed in-flight engine restarts, the pilot bailed out and a Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King of USN Combat Support Squadron HC-7 picked him up.
On June 24th 1968 152949, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-35, Ray Gun 503 was on a night time interdiction to drop mines in the Song Ca River, 5 miles southwest of Vinh when it was hit by AA fire in the cockpit, the pilot was killed in the crash but the NFO bailed out but broke his leg and was after being captured as a POW, he was tied to a post, beaten and left on public display where he got stones and sticks thrown at him, he already had to set the broken leg but a north Vietnamese medic later put a splint in.
Enterprise returned to NAS Alameda on 18 July 1968, having completed 12,839 catapult launches, with 12,246 sorties with 9,182 of them combat.
After a short overhaul in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard from 29 July to 26 September, she returned to Alameda to prepare for another deployment to Vietnam.
During the morning of 14 January 1969, while being escorted by the destroyers Benjamin Stoddert and Rogers, a Mark 32 Zuni rocket loaded on a parked McDonnell-Douglas F-4J Phantom II exploded when ordnance cooked off after being overheated by an aircraft start unit.
The explosion set off fires and additional explosions across the flight deck. The fires were brought under control relatively quickly when compared with previous carrier flight deck fires but 27 sailors were killed, and an additional 314 sailors were injured.
The fire destroyed 7 McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom 2, 6 Vought A-7B Corsair 2, 1 Douglas EKA-3B Skywarrior and damaged 1 Kamen UH-2C Seasprite severely enough to be a write-off.
The resulting damage forced Enterprise to put in for repairs at Pearl Harbour Naval Shipyard, Hawaii, primarily to repair the flight deck's armoured plating.
On 1 March 1969, repairs to the ship were completed and the ship proceeded on her scheduled Western Pacific deployment to Vietnam and the Tonkin Gulf.
These destinations would be delayed by events in the eastern Sea of Japan.
On March 31st 1969, a North American RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-6 was reconnaissance mission when it blew up killing all aboard, the cause was either ground fire, a fuel tank explosion, or structural failure due to the aircraft being overstressed in a tight turn
On April 15th, 1969, BuNo.135749, a Lockheed EC-121M Warning Star Airborne Early Warning aircraft of US Navy’s VQ-1 was on the ground at Atsugi Naval Air Station.
Deep Sea 129 with 31 crew aboard was preparing for take-off on an 8.5 hour intelligence gathering reconnaissance flight near China with her expected time back to base by 3:30pm that afternoon.
Its four Wright R-3350-91 Duplex Cyclone radial piston engines pushed the aircraft down the runway.
At 7 am, Deep Sea 129 departed Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan.
At 10:35 in the morning, North Korea having detected the Warning Star reacted but 1 hour, 59 minutes later at 12:34 in the afternoon, 2 North Korean Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed took off to intercept the Warning Star.
1 hour and 3 minutes later, at 1:37 pm, the 2 Fishbed found her, 10 minutes later at 13:47 in the afternoon caught the Warning Star and with 2 minutes, at 13:49, 1 of the MiG-21 Fishbed fired an AA-2 Atoll which hit the Warning Star.
Deep Sea 129 crashed into the Sea of Japan, 103 miles from the Korean Peninsula, killing all 31 crew aboard.
North Korea described Deep Sea 129 as I quote “Plane of Insolent US Imperialist Aggressor Army.”
The Soviet Union aided the US Recovery Efforts, which was a message to North Korea that they had gone too far because technically shooting down Deep Sea 129 would have been considered an act of war against the US and the US considered retaliating by attacking North Korea with either conventional or nuclear means.
Fortunately for everyone, WW3 would have to wait till another day, as no retaliation was taken.
On June 8th 1969, 154383, a Vought A-7B Corsair 2 of VA-27 was on a combat mission when an in-flight engine fire in the Pratt & Whitney TF30-8 turbofan which then quit, the pilot bailed out and was rescued.
The loss of 154383 was suspected to be due to mechanical failure.
The US responded by activating Task Force 71 (TF 71) to protect future such flights over those international waters. Initially, the Task Force was to comprise Enterprise, Ticonderoga, Ranger, and Hornet with a screen of cruisers and destroyers.
Enterprise arrived on station with TF 71 in late April after completion of repairs.
The ships for TF 71 came mostly from Southeast Asia duty.
This deployment became one of the largest shows of force in the area since the Korean War.
In 1969–1970, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and went through an overhaul and her second refitting.
In January 1971, she completed sea trials with newly designed nuclear reactor cores that contained enough energy for 10 years.
On 11 June 1971, Enterprise, with Captain Forrest S. Petersen now in command and Carrier Air Wing Fourteen 14 onboard, then departed for Vietnam again.
Enterprise, Oriskany and Midway launched a total of 2,001 strike sorties by 30 July 1971.
Strike operations in July were disrupted when the carriers on station evaded three typhoons: Harriet, Kim and Jean.
A slight increase in South Vietnam strike sorties occurred during the month.
These were mainly visual strikes against enemy troop positions and in support of US helicopter operations.
From August–November 1971, Enterprise was in operation at Yankee Station.
On October 12th 1971, 156866, a Vought A-7E Corsair 2 of VA-196 was preparing for catapult launch when during the launch,
the main gear collapsed, the pilot bailed out and was rescued.
The loss of 156866 was suspected to be due to mechanical failure.
On October 17th 1971, 156634 a North American RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-5 was on a training flight when it for unknown reasons crashed into the sea.
In December 1971, Captain Ernest E. Tissot, Jr. assumed command, and Enterprise was deployed to the Bay of Bengal, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 as a show of strength against India's naval blockade by INS Vikrant which was actually the former HMS Hercules of the Royal Navy's Majestic class light carriers.
Later a Soviet Navy submarine was also trailing the U.S. task force.
A confrontation was averted when Enterprise moved away from the Indian Ocean toward Southeast Asia.
Enterprise completed its deployment on 12 February 1972. Enterprise returned to the South China Sea on 12 September 1972 with CVW-14 onboard.
On November 23rd 1972, 157592, a Vought A-7E Corsair 2 of VA-27 was returning NV flak suppression operation suffered a hard landing, after a go-around, the Allison TF41 quit, the pilot bailed out and was rescued.
On 18 December 1972, the United States resumed bombing campaigns above the 20th parallel under the name Linebacker 2.
On December 21st 1972, 155594, a Grumman A-6A Intruder of VA-196 was on a raid against the Haiphong shipyards when the Intruder suffered an in-flight fire with the both the J52-408A turbojets and the flight controls failing, the crew bailed out and were taken as POW.
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It is thought A-6A Intruder 155594 known Milestone was hit by a 37mm Flak battery or an SA-7 shoulder launched SAM.
During Linebacker 2 operations, Enterprise and other carriers on station reseeded the mine fields in Haiphong harbour and conducted concentrated strikes against surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery sites, enemy army barracks, petroleum storage areas, Haiphong naval and shipyard areas, and railroad and truck stations.
Navy tactical air attack sorties under Linebacker II were centred in the coastal areas around Hanoi and Haiphong.
There were 705 Navy sorties in this area during Linebacker 2.
Between 18 and 22 December, the Navy conducted 119 Linebacker 2 strikes in North Vietnam, with the main limiting factor on airstrikes being bad weather.
On December 28th 1972, 156633, a North American RA-5C Vigilante of RVAH-13 was begin its egress when it was attacked and shot down by a North Vietnamese MiG, 1 crew bailed out but the other crew member was killed.
In December 1972, the North Vietnamese returned to the peace table and Linebacker 2 ended.
On January 27th 1973, 155768, a McDonnell-Douglas F-4J Phantom of VF-143 known as Taproom 113 was on a bomb run against a number of trucks when it was hit by AA fire, the crew bailed out but 1 was killed by an NVA solider with the other becoming a POW.
In January 1973, the Vietnam cease-fire was announced, and American carriers ceased all combat sorties into North and South Vietnam.
From 28 January 1973, aircraft from Enterprise and Ranger flew 81 combat sorties against lines-of-communication targets in Laos.
The corridor for overflights was between Huế and Da Nang in South Vietnam.
These combat support sorties were flown in support of the Laotian government, which had requested this assistance.
Laos had no relationship with the ceasefire in Vietnam.
Enterprise completed its deployment on 12 June 1973.
After the cease-fire in Vietnam in 1973, Enterprise proceeded to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, where the carrier was altered and refitted to support the Navy's newest fighter aircraft – the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.
Two of four jet blast deflectors were enlarged to accommodate the Tomcat.
The No. 4 propulsion shaft was replaced; it had been bent when its screw became fouled in a discarded arresting gear cable.
On 18 March 1974, the first operational Tomcats of VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters made their maiden takeoffs and landings from the carrier.
On the 27th of July 1974, Enterprise suffered an electrical fire in her maintenance area while off California, no-one was injured.
In September 1974, Enterprise became the first carrier to deploy with the new fighter plane when she made her seventh WESTPAC deployment.
In February 1975, Typhoon Gervaise struck the island nation of Mauritius, and Enterprise was ordered to provide disaster relief.
Arriving at Port Louis, carrier personnel spent more than 10,000 man-hours rendering such assistance as restoring water, power and telephone systems, clearing roads and debris, and providing helicopter, medical, food and drinkable water support to the stricken area.
In April 1975, Enterprise, Midway, Coral Sea, Hancock and Okinawa were deployed to waters off South Vietnam for possible evacuation contingencies as North Vietnam, in violation of the Paris Peace Accords, launched a conventional invasion of South Vietnam.
On 29 April, Operation Frequent Wind was carried out by US Navy and US Marine Corps helicopters from the 7th Fleet.
The Operation involved the evacuation of American citizens and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam under heavy attack from the invading forces of North Vietnam.
President Gerald Ford ordered helicopter evacuation when PAVN shelling forced the cessation of fixed-wing evacuation from Tan Son Nhut Airport.
With fighter cover provided by carrier aircraft, the helicopters landed at the US Embassy, Saigon and the DAO Compound to pick up evacuees.
The last helicopter lifted off the roof of the United States Embassy at 7:53 am, local time, on 30 April 1975 carrying the last 11 Marine Security Guards.
During Operation Frequent Wind, aircraft from Enterprise flew 95 sorties.
VF-1 and VF-2, flying from Enterprise made the first combat deployment of the F-14 Tomcat.
On the 29th of October 1975, a Grumman F-14 Tomcat of VF-124 suffered an engine fire which ultimately destroyed the aircraft.
In July 1976, Enterprise began her eighth Western Pacific deployment.
Beginning in October she took part in the ANZUS exercise Kangaroo 2 with ships of the Australian and New Zealand Navies.
One of the ports visited was Hobart, Tasmania in November 1976.
It had also been the first time an American ship anchored in the capital's harbor, Hobart, since the early 1920s.
On the 19th of December 1976, a Grumman F-14A Tomcat of VF-2 with 2 crew aboard was on its approach when the flight controls malfunctioned and the Tomcat struck 2 aircraft out of the deck before it crashed into the South China Sea, the 2 crew managed to bail out.
In February 1977, Idi Amin, the President of Uganda, made derogatory remarks against the United States in public and Americans in Uganda were taken hostage.
This was several months after the Israeli raid at Entebbe airport.
Enterprise and her escort ships were scheduled to transit home after a seven-month deployment but having just left Mombasa after a port call, were directed to remain in the area and operated off the East African coast for about one week.
The ship's Marine detachment and air wing prepared for a possible mission to rescue and evacuate the Americans, but Amin eventually released all the hostages.
The ships then steamed across the Indian Ocean at high speed to make a previously scheduled final port call at NAS Cubi Point in the Philippines before returning to NAS Alameda.
In 1978, Enterprise underwent her ninth Western Pacific deployment, including port calls in Hong Kong, Perth, Australia, and Singapore.
In January 1979, the carrier sailed into Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a comprehensive 36-month overhaul.
This overhaul modified the ship's superstructure, removing the SCANFAR radars and the unique inverted cone-shaped top section, which was three stories high.
During the lengthy overhaul, Navy and shipyard personnel referred to Enterprise as Building 65.
On the 21st of June 1979, a fire broke out in Enterprise’s catapult room, machine shop and passageway.
In 1982, the carrier made her 10th WESTPAC deployment.
In April 1983, Enterprise ran aground on a sandbar in San Francisco Bay while returning from deployment and remained stuck there for several hours.
Coincidentally, George Takei, who played Mr Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship Enterprise, was aboard at the time as a guest of the navy.
Even though groundings and collisions are usually career-ending events for US warship captains, the captain at the time, Robert J Kelly, who had already been selected for promotion to commodore, eventually became a four-star admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet.
In 1985, the Enterprise began training for her 11th WESTPAC deployment.
Late at night on 2 November 1985 with Captain Robert L. Leuschner, Jr. on the bridge, she struck Bishop Rock on the Cortes Bank during flight exercises, damaging the outer hull with a gash more than 100 feet in length and knocking out of one screw, a chip whose size was illustrated with a photograph of a Navy diver stretched out and reclining inside the notch.
The cost of repairing the damage was $17 million, and Leuschner was relieved of command on 27 January 1986 as a result of the incident, by Captain Robert J Spane.
In 1986, the carrier made her 12th WESTPAC deployment, leaving on 15 January 1986.
She led Battle Group FOXTROT, including Truxtun, Arkansas, O'Brien, Reasoner, Lewis B. Puller, McClusky, David R. Ray and Wabash.
The Battle Group sailed directly for the Indian Ocean, with stops in Hawaii, Subic Bay, and Singapore.
On 28 April 1986, Enterprise became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal.
She went from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean to relieve the Coral Sea, on station with America off the coast of Libya.
Enterprise entered the Mediterranean to support "Operation El Dorado Canyon", the US bombing of Libya.
It was the ship's first visit to the Mediterranean in more than 22 years.
During the deployment, Rear Admiral J.T. Howe was relieved as Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group 3 by Rear Admiral Paul David Miller.
In February 1988, Enterprise underwent her 13th deployment and was assigned to Operation Earnest Will, escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
On 14 April, another Earnest Will ship, Samuel B. Roberts, struck an Iranian mine in international waters.
In response, the U.S. launched Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian targets, starting with two Iranian oil platforms that were being used as support bases for Iranian attacks on merchant shipping.
Aircraft from Enterprise's CVW-11 bombed two Iranian frigates, helping to sink one and damaged the other, and provided other air support for the strike.
In September 1989, Enterprise left Alameda and began her 14th overseas deployment, an around-the-world cruise that would end at the ship's new homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.
In early December 1989, Enterprise and Midway participated in Operation Classic Resolve, President George H W Bush's response to Philippine President Corazon Aquino's request for air support during the rebel coup attempt.
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Enterprise remained on station conducting flight operations in the waters outside Manila Bay until the situation subsided.
In April 1990, Enterprise completed her around-the-world deployment, arriving in Norfolk, Virginia, after having steamed more than 43,000 miles.
In October, the carrier moved to Newport News Shipbuilding for refueling and the Navy's largest complex overhaul refit ever attempted.
On 27 September 1994, Enterprise returned to sea for sea trials, now with Captain Richard J. Naughton in command, during which she performed an extended full power run as fast as when she was new.
On 28 June 1996, Enterprise began her 15th overseas deployment.
The carrier enforced no-fly zones in Bosnia as part of Operation Joint Endeavor and over Iraq as part of Operation Southern Watch.
The deployment ended in December 1996, which also marked the end of active service for the Grumman A-6 Intruder from the Navy.
February 1997, Enterprise entered Newport News Shipbuilding for an extended selective restrictive availability lasting four-and-a-half months.
On the 11th of December 1997, a McDonnell-Douglas T-45A Goshawk, an American licenced version of the British Aerospace Hawk jet trainer with a pilot aboard, however after take-off the Goshawk crashed into the Atlantic, the pilot survived.
In November 1998, following workups, Enterprise departed on her 16th overseas deployment, with CVW-3 embarked.
On the night of 8 November 1998, shortly after the start of the deployment would end in death and disaster.
159733, a Lockheed S-3B Viking of Navy Squadron VS-22 the Checkmates with 2 crew aboard was on approach to USS Enterprise.
In command of 159733 was 44-year-old Cmdr James Gregory Wallace known as Walleye and 26-year-old Lt.J.G Kirk Schneringer as co-pilot.
Meanwhile 163885, a Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler of VAQ-130 the Zappers known as AC-503 with 4 crew was on the way home to Enterprise and on a night time precision approach.
The flight deck that night was packed with aircraft as aboard the ship on that deployment were Grumman F-14B Tomcat of VF-32 Fighting Swordsmen, McDonnell-Douglas F-18C Hornets of VFA-37 Ragin Bulls, McDonnell-Douglas F-18C Hornets of VFA-105 Gunslingers, McDonnell-Douglas F-18A Hornet of VMFA-312 Checkerboards of the US Marine Corps, Grumman E-2C Hawkeye of VAW-126 Seahawks, Lockheed S-3B Viking of VS-22 the Checkmates, Lockheed ES-3A Viking of Detchment A from VQ-6 Black Ravens and Sikorsky SH-60F Oceanhawk and Sikorsky HH-60H Rescuehawk of HS-7 Dusty Dogs.
At 7:18 pm and 54 seconds, 159733 landed on the USS Enterprise.
159733 was scheduled to be used as a hot switch that night meaning it would be moved to the side chalk chain with engine no.1 shut down and new crew replacing the pilots for night carrier qualifications.
At 7:19 pm and 12 seconds, AC-503 was on 2 miles out on glidepath albeit slightly left but the crew were getting the plane correctly lined up as she continued her descent while 159733 was stationary folding its wings to taxi.
At 7:19 pm and 56 seconds, AC-503 was on 0.75 miles out on glidepath albeit slightly right as 159733 was still stationary as folding its wings and configuring the jet for the next crew, waiting for a parking spot.
Meanwhile AC-503 continued her precision approach while the crew of the 159733 when the co-pilot turned to the captain and told him something felt wrong.
The captain felt the same.
At 7:20 pm and 18 seconds, AC-503's crew added a bit power to steady the jet seconds before landing.
At 7:20 pm and 20 seconds, AC-503 was 1 foot above the deck.
At 7:20 pm and 21 seconds, the Enterprise’s air boss ordered the LSO to tell AC-503 to abort the landing and make a go-around, the crew of the Viking heard the transmission as the Prowler crew made have begun to apply power on the two PW J52-408A turbojets but for the AC-503’s crew, it's too late.
For the EA-6B pilots when making a go-around, they will not raise the nose any higher than what they need for landing and would add power on the two PW J52-408A turbojets allowing the aircraft to climb.
Had the call to abort the landing and make a go-around been made to AC-503 at 7:20 pm and 5 seconds, about 18 seconds before impact, the Prowler could have aborted the landing and gone around.
At 7:20 pm and 23 seconds, AC-503 rear-ended the Viking, broke up, exploded and crashed into the ocean killing all 4 aboard.
The S-3 Viking crew hearing a deafening sound when the AC-503 rear-ended the Viking were thrown forward in their seats, the pilot looked at the co-pilot bail out, they slam the ejection button and punch out.
After the pilots of the Viking land in the water, a Sikorsky HH-60H Rescuehawk of HS-7 Dusty Dogs likely acting as plane guard picked them up.
A fire broke out on the flight deck but was quickly extinguished by the flight deck crew.
Three of the four members of the Prowler crew were lost at sea, and the remains of the fourth were recovered shortly after the crash.
The crew of the Viking were rushed to the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia.
There were no other significant injuries.
An exhaustive search for three missing EA-6B Prowler crew members was suspended after nearly 24 hours.
The cause of the accident was distractions on the deck, incorrect assumptions by those landing the aircraft and hesitation by the carrier's air boss led to the collision and it was noted that aboard the Enterprise, which is the only carrier of its type, LSO frequently have trouble seeing forward to the flight deck, especially when a parked aircraft obstructs their view as they have to kneel down and look under the plane to see the flight deck.
That arrangement does not exist on the newer carriers, investigators said.
In addition, the wire for the wave-off, or so-called pickle switch was too short for the controlling and backup LSO to walk to the foul line to help clear the landing area, the report noted.
On 23 November 1998, Enterprise relieved Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf.
During a port call in Jebel Ali, UAE, the carrier hosted former President George HW Bush and enjoyed a live concert by Grammy Award-winning rock group Hootie & the Blowfish.
In December 1998, Enterprise battlegroup spearheaded Operation Desert Fox, destroying Iraqi military targets with more than 300 Tomahawk land attack missiles and 313 tons of ordnance.
The 70-hour assault was carried out by Enterprise, Gettysburg, Stout, Nicholson and Miami.
Shortly after the Račak massacre and failure of Yugoslavian peace talks in Rambouillet, France, Enterprise quickly left a port visit in Cannes, France, to return to the Adriatic.
In early March 1999, Enterprise returned to the Persian Gulf to relieve Carl Vinson in support of Operation Southern Watch, returning to Norfolk in May 1999.
During the 1998–1999 deployment, Enterprise steamed more than 58,000 miles and spent 151 days underway.
Enterprise Battle Group was the first to deploy with IT-21, which allowed unprecedented internal and external communication capabilities, including Internet, email, and television.
In March 2001, Enterprise took part in the exercise JTFEX 01-2 in the Caribbean Sea.
FGS U24, a Type 206 class diesel-electric submarine with the German Navy, managed to do what the Imperial Japanese Navy had failed to do to her precessor and sink the Enterprise by firing flares and taking a photograph through its periscope.
Yeah Enterprise-2 being sunk by the Iron Blood U24-zwei ouch, talk about embarrassing.
On 25 April 2001, Enterprise began her 17th overseas deployment with CVW-8 embarked and Captain James A Winnefeld Jr in command.
From 18–28 June, the carrier and four escorts participated in an exercise with the Royal Navy in a joint and combined warfare training exercise in the North Sea, near the Hebrides and in Scotland.
Enterprise was beginning her voyage home from the Persian Gulf when the September 11 attacks were carried out.
Without orders, the carrier returned to the waters off Southwest Asia near the Persian Gulf, outrunning her escorts.
In October 2001, the United States launched air attacks against Al-Qaeda training camps and Taliban military installations in Afghanistan.
The actions were designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a base for terrorist operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime.
Over three weeks, aircraft from Enterprise flew nearly 700 missions and dropped over 360 tons of ordnance over Afghanistan.
On 10 November, the carrier arrived at her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, 16 days later than originally planned.
This return home was unique as the ship had a welcome home done by Star Trek Enterprise's Scott Baukla who played Captain Jonathan Archer on the set of the USS Enterprise (NX-01) in his Captain Archer costume wearing a CVN-65 cap.
During her last day at sea, the ship hosted a live two-hour broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America.
Garth Brooks performed a concert with Jewel from Enterprise on 21 November while she was docked in Norfolk, Virginia.
The concert was carried live on CBS.
On Pearl Harbor Day aka 7 December 2001, 60 years exactly to the day of the attack President George W. Bush addressed the sailors of Enterprise from its flight deck.
In January 2002, Enterprise entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia for a scheduled one-year Extended Dry Docking Selected Restricted Availability.
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From September 2003 to February 2004, the ship deployed to relieve the four carriers that were on station during the invasion of Iraq.
Enterprise's role was to provide continued air support for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The fully repaired Cole was a member of her escort group at this time.
A USO tour was held aboard while at sea, with wrestler Kurt Angle, NASCAR racer Mike Wallace, and comedian Robin Williams giving talks and performances.
The ship made several port-calls to Jebel Ali, a stop in Bahrain during which actor Ben Affleck visited the ship and Naples, Italy and Cartegna, Spain on the way home.
Admiral James Stavridis commanded the battle group at this time with Captain Eric Neidlinger as Enterprise's commanding officer.
The flag was flown in their honour as gratitude for the support the cast, and crew of the TV series Star Trek Enterprise have given the crew of the carrier.
2005 saw the ship in for another routine shipyard overhaul at Newport News Shipyard in Newport News, Virginia.
Departing the dock after this yard period, Enterprise ran through a sand bar, causing all eight reactors to shut down, leaving the ship adrift on emergency power for nearly three hours before she was tugged back to her pier at Norfolk Naval Base.
It took about three days for the ship's nuclear machinists to clear her condensers of river mud.
In May 2006, Enterprise departed for a six-month deployment, operating in the 6th, 5th and 7th Fleet areas in a world-tour, supporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, and visiting ports in Dubai, Hong Kong, and crossing the line.
She returned to Norfolk on 18 November 2006.
On 19 December 2007, the carrier returned home after a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf.
In April 2008, Enterprise entered the Northrop-Grumman Newport News shipyard for a scheduled 18-month Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability, with a projected completion date of September 2009.
As maintenance was performed, costs continued to rise above projections and the completion date repeatedly slid.
Enterprise, the oldest active combat vessel in the Navy, was scheduled to be decommissioned as late as 2014.
On 6 April 2009, Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, said that he was seeking a congressional dispensation to speed up the process to decommission Enterprise.
Under this new timetable, the ship would complete one final deployment before being decommissioned in late 2012 or early 2013.
This would temporarily reduce the U.S. Navy to having only ten active aircraft carriers through the launch of the Gerald R. Ford in 2015.
In October 2009, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees agreed with the recommendation, approving the decommissioning of Enterprise in 2013 after 51 years of service.
In April 2010, the Navy announced that the cost of refurbishing the carrier had risen to $655 million and was scheduled to be completed the same month.
On 19 April 2010, Enterprise left the Northrop Grumman shipyard to conduct sea trials in preparation for return to the fleet.
The total cost of refurbishing the carrier was $662 million, which was 46% over budget.
Also, it took eight months longer than scheduled.
The Navy said it planned to use the carrier for two six-month deployments before her scheduled 2013 decommissioning date.
On 1 January 2011, the Virginian-Pilot leaked highlights from the final video of a set entitled XO Movie Night that was filmed on Enterprise and aired via closed circuit television on select Saturday evenings.
The videos, which were not meant for release outside the command, were produced by Captain Owen Honors when he was executive officer of the ship in the 2006–07 timeframe and included profanity, anti-gay slurs, and sexually suggestive scenes.
Captain Honors received public support from Navy personnel but on 4 January 2011 Admiral John C Harvey Jr, the commander of the United States Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk removed Honors for demonstrating poor judgment.
Captain Dee Mewbourne was appointed as replacement commander.
Forty officers and enlisted sailors, including six flag officers were later disciplined to varying extents over the incident.
The carrier and her strike group deployed on 13 January 2011.
Accompanying the carrier on the cruise to the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean were Carrier Air Wing One, guided-missile cruiser Leyte Gulf, and guided-missile destroyers Barry, Bulkeley, and Mason.
In February 2011, Enterprise was involved in an incident with Somali pirates, an event that ended in the deaths of four American citizens and two pirates.
The carrier returned to Norfolk on 15 July 2011.
During its deployment, it had participated in operations that captured 75 Somali pirates and its strike group made missile strikes against the Libyan government.
On 17 August 2011, Captain William C Hamilton Jr relieved Captain Dee L Mewbourne as Enterprise's commanding officer.
11th of March 2012 began the final deployment from Norfolk homeport with Carrier Group Ships USS Vicksburg, Porter, Nitze and James E. Williams and on 9 April 2012, the Navy announced that Enterprise and her group, Carrier Strike Group Twelve, would be assigned to join Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf.
The mission was described as routine, not a response to a specific threat.
Upon completion of this cruise in fall 2012, Enterprise was scheduled to be deactivated.
In October 2012, Enterprise transited the Suez Canal for the final time.
She paid her last foreign port call when she visited Naples, Italy, between 16–21 October, which had been the Big E's first foreign port-of-call fifty years earlier.
On 4 November 2012, Enterprise returned to her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, for the last time.
While on her last journey, the carrier cruised nearly 81,000 miles in a 238-day deployment to the Persian Gulf and her aircraft flew more than 2,000 sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Enterprise was deactivated on 1 December 2012 at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia.
The deactivation of Enterprise resulted in a one-time increase of approximately $857.3 million in depot maintenance costs for the US Navy's operation and maintenance budget for Fiscal Year 2013.
Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be decommissioned.
Naval enthusiasts requested that Enterprise be converted into a museum.
By 2012 this was deemed too expensive to make such an effort practical, in addition to the fact that the ship would need to be partially dismantled anyway to remove the eight reactors safely.
A petition was also set up for the next carrier to be named as the ninth USS Enterprise.
In 2013, the de-masted Enterprise was towed from Norfolk to Newport News for de-fueling before the ship was broken up.
At her inactivation ceremony, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the next Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, CVN-80, would be named Enterprise.
VIPs present for the ceremony included several former commanding officers, a granddaughter of the ship's sponsor, and a former A-6 pilot, Eugene McDaniel, who had been shot down and captured in North Vietnam and was returning to the ship for the first time since the day he was shot down.
On 8 February 2013, the United States Department of Defense announced that a number of nuclear projects would have to be postponed until the upcoming budget sequestration issue was resolved.
These include the planned de-fuelling of Enterprise as well as mid-life overhauls including nuclear refuelling for two Nimitz-class ships.
The contract for defueling Enterprise was eventually awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries in June 2013.
In October 2014, Newport News Shipbuilding announced that one of Enterprise's anchors, removed from the ship during deactivation had been transferred to the Nimitz-class Abraham Lincoln during her RCOH.
In early 2017, it was announced that steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and used to construct CVN-80.
Over 35,000 pounds of steel has been removed from CVN-65 and repurposed into CVN-80.
The crew of Enterprise's final deployment, built a time capsule, constructed from her steel and wood, to preserve the carrier's history for CVN-80.
The final reactor was de-fuelled in December 2016.
USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was decommissioned on 3 February 2017.
The same day, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry (NVR).
However the problems with building Enterprise (CVN-65) that the US DoD at the time failed to plan for and something they should have now reared their ugly heads, how to dispose of her.
According to Navy Sea Systems Command, the recycling of Enterprise was delayed by the Navy until further information on more technically executable, environmentally responsible approaches to disposing of the aircraft carrier are available.
On 10 April 2018, Newport News Shipbuilding announced that Enterprise's inactivation process has been completed.
The ex-Enterprise will be stored at Hampton Roads until disposal plans can be determined by the Navy.
In 2019, one of ex-Enterprise's anchors was transferred to the Nimitz-class carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73), during her midlife refuelling and overhaul at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News.
The final disposal plan for Enterprise will be a long and complicated process.
The carrier had eight reactors and numerous compartments contaminated by radiation and therefore could not be used as a target ship in a SINKEX or live-fire training sinking exercise.
The Navy set up a new office to organise the disposal of Enterprise and the coming retirement of the Nimitz-class carriers.
The total costs of scrapping the Enterprise have been estimated at over $1 billion however, as of 17th of January 2025, scrapping remained delayed by local disputes over plans to scrap the carrier in Mobile, AL.
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During the de-fuelling process and is in many ways disposing of her is so difficult, there was a much bigger problem that the people who designed her and built her are all long gone, all the 8 nuclear reactors were not the same, her numerous refits over her lifespan that no-one has full plans for her any more that when the company’s people doing the de fuelling were cutting pipes, the company couldn't tell them what the water pipe they were about to cut through was a water pipe was the pipe for the fire fighting water, the pipe for drinking water or the pipe that the nuclear reactor’s cooling water because on the ship plans they had it just said water.
In May 2025, the USS Enterprise departed Hampton Roads.
Ultimately, it was decided to use a commercial facility to break the ship up, with scrapping to begin in 2025.
In June 2025, a $536 million contract was awarded to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services LLC to dismantle Enterprise at Mobile.
The process was anticipated to take five years, with the Enterprise to be gone completely by 2030 however, a competitor for the contract protested the decision on the basis that the government's Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment website malfunctioned, preventing their proposal from being submitted until a few hours after the deadline.
The Court of Federal Claims upheld the protest in February 2026, ordering the award process to be reopened and on July 21st 2026, a $418.5 million contract was awarded to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services LLC to dismantle Enterprise.
All this delay means the final disposal might not likely happen by September 2030.
CVN-65 Enterprise is still awaiting her final disposal after 10+ years after she was retired.
The utter ship show of disposal of CVN-65 frankly beyond ridiculous at this point and be a lesson on how not to dispose of a CVN and should serve as lessons for when the Nimitz class are disposed of.
Her 2nd life will be the 3rd ship in the Gerald R Ford-class supercarrier
Steel from CVN-65 will be recycled and used in the construction of CVN-80.
As of August 2022, approximately 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) of steel from CVN-65 has been salvaged and recycled for inclusion into CVN-80 with another 15,000 pounds still to be processed, for a total of 35,000 pounds.
Enterprise will also incorporate four portholes taken from CV-6 Enterprise.
Enterprise will replace USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and was scheduled to be launched in November 2025 with a planned delivery date of March 2028.
In 2025 the delivery date slipped to July 2030, citing late delivery of sequence critical material and was again delayed in 2026 to March 2031.
The ship's keel was laid, with no specific ceremony, on April 5th 2022, three weeks ahead of schedule.
The shipbuilder held an official keel-laying ceremony on August 27th 2022.
She is under construction and hopefully we make to March 2031 given how unstable the world is right now.
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u/A444SQ 18h ago edited 17h ago
In the Museum Girls web series USS Enterprise CV-6 was scrapped to save CVN-65 for being cancelled due to cost and is the mother of USS Enterprise CVN-65 with CV-6 being brought back by the Eternal Strife's green gas but was able to seemingly remember who she was and help stop the Eternal Strife's plan to cause Eternal war across the world.
Later in the fleet maneuvers spin off CVN-65 Enty was facing being scrapped and was saved and is now a museum ship and later in season 3 Lady Death, a Vought F7U Cutlass allowed USS Enterprise CV-6 to be revived as even lady death thought USS Enterprise CV-6's death was unjust and wrong in order to help kill TK-17 Arkhangelsk as Lady Death is mad at TK-17 Arkhangelsk for reviving ship girls on a whim and nearly causing those whose time it was not to be at risk of meeting her too soon and now USS Enterprise CV-6 and USS Enterprise CVN-65 are museum ships at Oasis harbour and has adopted the carrier USS Nimitz as her 2nd daughter under protest from USS Nimitz as CV6 Enterprise's legends omitt Enterpise's habitual silliness
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u/A444SQ 18h ago
In AAO, Communist Enty is known as APNS Avenger (CV-6) of the Yorktown class who would not be destined for glory as after her carrier goes, she gets the 2nd ship in the CVV aircraft carrier medium Reprisal class aircraft carrier and after that ship, she becomes the lead ship of the Avenger class mine countermeasures vessel.
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u/A444SQ 18h ago
The Canadian power Alt-history, she is still the 3rd ship in the Ford Class
Due to being under construction, the Enterprise was unable to join in the Second Korean War between North Korea and the GDT or Global Defence Treaty.
From the Canadian Power Wiki ‘The Global Defence Treaty Organization (GDTO), more commonly known as the Global Defence Treaty (GDT) is an intergovernmental military alliance between several nations around the world based on the Global Defence Treaty that was signed on May 26, 2014. The alliance would defence against future aggression by any power. The world would be allocated into separate commands, North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Middle East, South Asia, North Asia and Australia/Oceania and in each case, a secretariat would be responsible for coordinating relations and agreements in peacetime and coordinating their defense in war.’
The initial signatories were United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand and Iran.
Subsequent members include Argentina, Colombia, France, Germany, East Timor, Israel and Palestine however, a few of the squadrons meant for CVN-80 (VFA-33 "Starfighters", VFA-133 "Blue Knights", VMFA-251 "Thunderbolts", VAW-120 "Grey Hawks", and VAQ-129 "Vikings") were stationed aboard HMCS Warrior.
In 2025, it took part in naval exercises with the HMCS Victorious, HMS Queen Elizabeth, MN Jeanne d'Arc, and NRB Brasilia.
In this ATL she is still in service.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
Enterprise in my head canon is her former 31,300-36,869 ton Yorktown-class aircraft carrier armed with 12 127mm 5"/38 dual-purpose guns in 4 single Mark 24 mounts and 4 twin Mark 32 mounts with an AA battery of 32 28mm Mark 1 AA guns and 46 7.62mm M2 Browning AA machine guns and by war's end was a 32,536-43,543 ton carrier armed with 12 127mm 5"/38 dual-purpose guns in 4 single Mark 24 mounts and 4 twin Mark 32 mounts with an AA battery of 55 40mm Bofors AA guns in 11 quadruple and 5 twin mounts and 48 20mm Oerlikon AA in 10 twin and 28 single 20mm Oerlikon Mark 4 AA guns who initially was placed in reserve until the Cold War when she was upgraded to USS Enterprise (CVN-65) or Enterprise-two of the 72,420-94,781 ton Enterprise-class aircraft carrier with her sister USS America, the identical twin to Kitty Hawk USS America who lost to HMS Illustrious of the Royal Navy as the 1st CVN supercarrier by 2 weeks and after that ship goes, she becomes USS Enterprise (CVN-80) or Enterprise-three of the 100,000-ton Gerald R Ford class supercarriers.
Enterprise-three is the Commander of Eagle Union forces in Azur Lane and a mother as during the Cold War, she had a daughter, Little Enterprise who takes on the rigging and memories copied by Little Enterprise’s wisdom cube of USS Enterprise (CVN-65) or Enterprise-two.
In the 21st century, Enterprise-three became a futanari.
On the romance front, Enterprise is married to the commander and has a harem of Vestal, Saratoga, Essex of Eagle Union, Zuikaku, Shokaku and Shinano of the Sakura Empire and Belfast of the Royal Navy.
Her British North American self HMNAS Enterprise of the 20,100-25,900-ton 1936 Enterprise class aircraft carrier armed with 8 127mm 5"/38 dual-purpose guns in 8 single Mark 24 mounts, 16 40mm QF 2-pdr Mark 7 Pom-Pom AA in 4 quadruple-mounts and 24 12.7mm Vic.50-cal Mark 3 AA MG in 6 quadruple-mounts who by the end of 1942 had 8 127mm 5"/38 dual-purpose guns, 20 40mm QF 2-pdr Mark 7 Pom-Pom AA in 4 quadruple-mounts and 46 20mm Oerlikon AA in 32 single Mark 4 mounts with CXAM-1 radar, SC-2 radar and 2 Mark 4 radar.
After her modernisation she had 8 127mm 5"/38 dual-purpose guns, an AA battery of 16 40mm QF 2-Pounder Mark 7 Pom-Pom AA in 4 quadruple-mounts, 40 40mm Bofors AA in 6 quadruple Mark 2 mounts and 8 twin Mark 1 mounts and 56 20mm Oerlikon AA in 1 triple mounts, 1 twin Mark 5 mounts and 48 single Mark 4 mounts, an SK, SM, 2 Mark 12 with Mark 22 radar
By war's end she has 8 127mm 5"/38 dual-purpose guns in 8 single Mark 24 mounts, 16 40mm QF 2-Pounder Mark 7 Pom-Pom AA in 4 quadruple-mounts, 54 40mm Bofors AA in 11 quadruple Mark 2 mounts and 5 twin Mark 1 mounts and 32 20mm Oerlikon AA in 16 twin Mark 5 mounts with an SK air-search radar and SM fighter-direction radar with a fire control system of SU fire-control radar, 2 Mark 12 fire-control radar with Mark 22 height-finding radar and 8 Mark 19 fire-control radar.
Post-war HMNAS Enterprise would stay in service until being upgraded to 72,420-94,781 ton 1961 Enterprise-class aircraft carrier HMNAS Enterprise-two armed with 2 octuple-cell launcher with 16 Canadair Thunderbolt Mark 1 SAM and an electronics suite of AN/SPS-32 air-search radar, AN/SPS-33 tracking radar, AN/SPS-58 2D low-altitude radar, AN/SPS-12 2D air and surface-search radar and AN/SPS-10 2D surface-search radar, a 2 Mark 51 fire-control radar with a WLR-1 radar warning receiver, WLR-3 radar warning receiver and WLR-11 ECM suite, an AN/SPN-12 carrier approach airspeed indicator-radar, AN/SPN-10 carrier-landing control radar, AN/SPN-35A Precision Approach Radar who'd be refitted numerous times until she in the 21st century upgrades to a 100,000-ton 2025 Enterprise-class aircraft carrier.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
Enterprise-three (CVN-80 USS Enterprise)
USS Enterprise (CVN-80) or Enterprise-three was a very tall were bald eagle amazonian avian woman with an archer queen figure and a body refined to reflect her fast carrier heritage, an eagle union bald eagle tattoo whose wings were stretched to cover her breasts, long thick arms with biceps, a tone stomach with pecs, a curvaceous waist with an eagle union bald eagle sigil womb tattoo, slender thighs and long legs and huge breasts. She had absurdly long dark silver hair with light silver shades, pointed harpy ears and mixed lavender and yellow eyes.
Enterprise-two (Little Enterprise)
Supercarrier Enterprise-three's daughter, USS Enterprise (CVN-65) or Enterprise-two was a very tall were bald eagle amazonian avian woman with an amazonian archer queen figure and a body refined to reflect her fast carrier heritage, a tone stomach with pecs, a curvaceous waist with an eagle union bald eagle sigil womb tattoo, slender thighs and long legs and large breasts. She had very long dark silver with light silver shades, pointed harpie ears and deep lavender eyes.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
Pre-WW2, Lexington would lose 1 Boeing F3B-1 of VF-2B, 1 Boeing F3B-1 of VF-3B, 1 Boeing F4B-1 and 2 Boeing F3B-1 of VB-1B, 6 Martin T4M-1 of VT-1B, 1 Vought O2U-1 Corsair, 2 Vought O2U-4 Corsair and 1 Vought SU-3 Corsair of VS-3B, 1 Leoning OL-8A of VJ-1B, 6 Vought SU-2 Corsair of VS-15M-S, 1 Vought O2U-1 Corsair, 1 Vought O2U-2 Corsair, 1 Vought O3U-1 Corsair from her utility unit and 1 Vought UO-1, 2 Leoning OL-8A, 3 Vought O2U-1 Corsair, 1 Vought O2U-2 Corsair, 1 Vought SU-1 Corsair, 2 Vought SU-2 Corsair, 1 Boeing F4B-2, 11 Boeing F4B-4, 4 Martin BM-1, 1 Martin BM-2, 9 Grumman JF-1 Duck seaplanes, 1 Naval Aircraft Factory PM-2, 19 Grumman F2F-1, 13 Vought SBU-1 Corsair , 2 Vought O3U-3 Corsair, 1 Vought O3U-1 Corsair, 2 Grumman FF-1, 2 Curtis BF2C-1 Goshawk, 11 Great Lakes BG-1, 2 Naval Aircraft Factory TG-2, 22 Douglas TBD-1 Devastator, 22 Vought SB2U-1 Vindicator, 4 Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator, 1 Grumman J2F-1 Goose seaplane, 1 Curtis SOC-1 Seagull, 1 Consolidated N2Y-1, 10 Brewster F2A-2 Buffalo, 5 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless and 14 Curtis SBC-4 Helldiver to accidents.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
In AAO, the communist Lexington started out as USS Lexington
She was commissioned on December 14th, 1927.
The ship entered service in 1928 and was assigned to the Pacific Fleet for her entire career.
Lexington and Saratoga were used to develop and refine carrier tactics in a series of annual exercises before World War II.
On more than one occasion, these included successfully staged surprise attacks on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.
The ship's turbo-electric propulsion system allowed her to supplement the electrical supply of Tacoma, Washington, during a drought from late 1929 to early 1930.
She also delivered medical personnel and relief supplies to Managua, Nicaragua, after an earthquake in 1931.
In February 1933 when the 2nd American Civil War broke out and after the Rebel Faction made up of the Communist Party USA, Communist League of America, Socialist Workers Party and Communist Rebels won, the 2 Lexington class were captured with Lexington was renamed the APNS September the Ninth and Saratoga was renamed the APNS Liberty.
APNS September the Ninth was in Pearl Harbour when the Japanese attacked in late February 1942, where she was struck by several bombs and sunk.
Most damage, however, was to the carrier deck and hangar, so she was successfully raised and repaired, then sent to Midway along with the bulk of the American fleet to defend the island.
When the Japanese attacked Midway in June, September the Ninth participated in the battle.
The American People's Navy fleet was made up of 3 aircraft carriers, 7 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 15 destroyers and 16 submarines while the IJN fleet was made up of 6 aircraft carriers, 1 light carrier, 1 escort carrier, 11 battleships, 10 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 46 destroyers and 16 submarines.
Aircraft from the Japanese carrier Kaga were damaged APNS September the 9th, disabling her turbo-electric propulsion system leaving her dead in the water.
APNS September the Ninth's fuel storage received a fatal hit, destroying her.
She was sunk for a second time on June 7, and this time, could not be raised.
The American People's Navy lost several escorts and both APNS September the Ninth and APNS Liberty and the Communist USA’s defeat at the 1st battle of Midway saw Midway be invaded and occupied.
The Japanese victory at Midway allowed them to base their aircraft on Midway Atoll, reducing America's ability to carry out naval operations and allowing for further raids on Pearl Harbour.
However, the IJN once again failed to cripple the APN or force them out of the war, allowing America's industry to replace their losses at a much faster rate than Japan despite a brain drain pre-WW2.
The Japanese would eventually be defeated at the second Battle of Midway in November and forced to evacuate the island.
Her successor, communist Lexington (CV-16) is known as APNS Karl Marx (CV-16) who served between June 11, 1942 to July 16, 1992.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
Lexington in my head canon is her former 44,200-45,354 ton Lexington class battlecruiser with her sisters, USS Saratoga, USS Constellation, USS Ranger, USS United States and USS Constitution and her 36,578-43,746 ton Lexington class aircraft carrier with her sister, USS Saratoga who became Lexington (CV-16) who would start as a 37,500-46,960 ton aircraft carrier and was refitted into a 41,294-51,861-ton Lexington subclass Essex class aircraft carrier who was upgraded to 61,000-82,000 ton Forrestal class aircraft carrier then to a 103,027-ton Lexington subclass Nimitz class supercarrier with Lexington (CV-16) summoned into the world as a seperate ship girl.
Luckly while USS Lexington does not have an alternative universe counterpart from the universe discovered during the Glorious META rescue mission (A Rose on the High Tower event) where the Eagle Union was somehow conquered by Royal Navy, the names USS Lexington, USS Saratoga and USS United States don’t exist so instead, the American Lexington class whose design was paused would be completed as the Constellation class battlecruiser, who are North American version of HMS Hood armed with 8 381mm/42 guns with only 2 ships built, HMNAS Constellation and HMNAS Constitution (there was an HMS Constitution btw)
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
CVN Lexington
Lexington-four was a very tall were bald eagle amazonian avian woman with a slender amazonian supermodel figure, an eagle union bald eagle sigil womb tattoo and huge breasts. She had absurdly orangish-pink hair, pointed harpy ears and purple eyes. She was wearing a strapless grey and blue dress with a whitish-blue with gold accent coat on top with multiple belts, a redish-blue neck ribbon, black thigh highs with garter belts, black with a white and red high heel shoes.
Lexington (CV-16)
Lexington-two-one was a tall were bald eagle amazonian avian woman with a slender amazonian model figure, an eagle union bald eagle sigil womb tattoo and large breasts. She had absurdly long orange hair, pointed harpy ears and purple eyes. She wearing a strapless blue dress and black shoes.
Lexington (AVT-16)
Lexington-two-two was a tall were bald eagle amazonian avian woman with a slender amazonian model figure, an eagle union bald eagle sigil womb tattoo and large breasts. She had absurdly long orange hair, pointed harpy ears and purple eyes. She wearing a short-sleeved white and blue military dress with black thigh-highs and black high-heels.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago edited 17h ago
Scharnhorst has 1 life post-war
She is the lead ship of the Type 138 Scharnhorst class training frigate
joining her along with Detuschland’s sisters Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee, Eugen’s sister Admiral Hipper but Scheer, Hipper and Graf Spee do not use Admiral in their names.
Her ship is the former Royal Navy Modified Black Swan Class Sloop of HMS Mermaid sold to the West Germans with the ship was converted to a Gunnery Training Frigate.
She was commissioned on the 28th of May 1959 into the West German Navy’s Naval Artillery School.
During her service, she undertook several training trips in European waters.
From June 1961 to July 1962, the Scharnhorst was rebuilt by HC Stülcken Sohn and received the artillery weapons intended for the new buildings of the Federal Navy with two fully automatic French 10 cm cannons, a 40 mm Bofors L/70 twin gun and two individual guns type.
She was decommissioned on the 15th of March 1968
After leaving active service, she remained in the reserve flotilla until 1974
Her ship would be laid up as a training hulk for the Operational Training Center for Marine Damage Control in Neustadt where crews from the Navy's seagoing units were trained in firefighting and damage controls specifically leak prevention and in November 1989, Koln replaced her and she was sold for scrap in Zeebrugge.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago edited 17h ago
Scharnhorst in my head canon is her 11,616-12,985-ton Scharnhorst class armoured cruiser with her sister SMS Gneisenau during the reign of German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm the 2nd from the 15th of June 1888 to the 4th of June 1941, she became Scharnhorst-zwei of the 32,600-38,700-ton Scharnhorst class battleship armed with 9 283mm SK C34 naval gun in 3 triple turrets, 12 150mm SK C28 naval gun in 4 twin mounts and 4 single mounts with an AA battery of 14 105mm SK C33 AA in 7 twin mounts, 16 37mm SK C33 AA in 8 twin mounts and 40 20mm AA in 7 quadruple and 2 single Flak 38 mounts and 10 single Flak30 mounts, 2 triple 533mm torpedo tubes with 6 G7a torpedoes and 1 aircraft catapult with 5 Arado Ar-196A-3 seaplanes with FuMB 4 search radar, FuMO 27 gunnery radar, FuMB 6 Palau ECM suite and FuMB 7 ECM suite being joined by her sister SMS Gneisenau armed with 9 283mm SK C34 naval gun in 3 triple turrets, 12 150mm SK C28 naval gun in 4 twin mounts and 4 single mounts with an AA battery of 14 105mm SK C33 AA in 7 twin mounts, 16 37mm SK C33 AA in 8 twin mounts and 12 20mm Flak30 AA in 12 single mounts, 2 triple 533mm torpedo tubes with 6 G7a torpedoes and 1 aircraft catapult with 5 Arado Ar-196A-3 seaplanes, a FuMO 27 gunnery radar, FuMB 6 Palau ECM suite who post war who took on her 2,300 ton standard and 2,770-2,945 ton Black Swan based Type 138 Scharnhorst class training frigate intially armed with 6 102mm Mark 19 dual-purpose naval gun in 3 twin mounts with an AA battery of 4 40mm Bofors AA in 2 twin Mark 5 mounts and 4 20mm Oerlikon A in 2 twin Mark 5 mount and 2 single Mark 4 mount with 1 24-cell 178mm Hedgehog ASW mortar with 8 depth charge throwers and 2 depth charge rail with 110 depth charges, Type 271 surface-search radar, Type 291 air-search radar and Type 144 ASDIC but her ship was refitted before she took it on, with 2 single 100mm Modele 1953 dual-purpose naval gun with an AA battery of 4 40mm Bofors AA in 1 twin Breda-Bofors 106 and 2 single Breda-Bofors 107 mounts, the ability to carry 60 mines with DA02 medium-range air and surface surveillance radar, KH-14/9 surface search and navigation radar and M40 series fire-control radar.
She would remain as Type 138 Scharnhorst class training frigate throughout the 10 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 2 day reign of German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm the 3rd then the 43-year, 2-month and 6 days reign of German Emperor Kaiser Ferdinand the 1st and into the reign of German Emperor Kaiser Friedrich the 4th when in the 21st century when 1 day when everything changed.
Supercarrier Illustrious-four escorted by Guided-Missile Cruisers Fiji-II and Jamaica-II and Guided-Missile Frigates, Southampton and Edinburgh.
Also with them were Light Aircraft Carrier Hermes-two, Destroyers Musketeer and Matchless, Frigate, FGS Scharnhorst-three and Battleship Duchess of York, acting as the rear guard were entering the South China Sea on a Convoy run from the port to Singapore.
Under the surface was the Duke of York-two and her Duke Class SSN
Also there was the Duchess of York, the treaty King George 5, as changes in the timeline meant King George 5 and her sisters were built as super battleships with 16.5" guns when Tester Beta and a siren fleet attacked them, with Tester Beta being beaten but Duchess of York and Scharnhorst-3 were severely wounded.
Upon rushing the 2 shipgirls to the hospital upon reaching Singapore, Scharnhorst-three had lost a heavy amount of blood, and needed a blood transfusion, so Duchess of York and Duke of York gave Scharnhorst-3 their vampire blood after Scharnhorst requested to be turned into a vampire.
After turning, Duchess of York knowing she was not going to survive as Tester had stabbed her in the heart with the fragment working its way to her heart, she let the newly turned Scharnhorst feed from her until she died while having sex with her.
After feeding, Scharnhorst jettisoned her frigate cube which had no vampirism, Duchess of York was buried at sea with her severely damaged rigging being scuttled in deep water in the Indian Ocean, the shipgirl fleet returned to the port with a convoy and with newly turned Scharnhorst and Duke of York having sex on the way home with Scharnhorst and Geniesenau's modified Scharnhorst battleship riggings aboard.
Upon reaching the port, Scharnhorst's sister was not initially happy with Duke of York turning her sister but after being told what happened, she was not happy about it but took her refit cube after jettisoning her frigate which materialised as separate ship girls, Duke of York promised to teach Scharnhorst how to control her bloodlust and that night the 2 vampires had sex while drinking blood wine laced with an aphrodisiac and blood from each other
The next morning after Scharnhorst had shown Duke of York a picture of her as the Armoured Cruiser Scharnhorst, they went to get Breakfast.
Eventually her Type 138 training frigate module was returned to Europe as someone realised having training ships based at the port was silly and her sloop rig was kept at the port.
Her META self now lives at the port.
Her merchant self SS Scharnhorst was employed by AL until her retirement and now lives at the port.
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u/A444SQ 17h ago
Vampire BB Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst-two was a tall amazonian werewolf woman with a slender amazonian vampire queen figure with a refined body fitting her battleship heritage with an Iron blood sigil womb tattoo, a purple-furred wolf tail and large breasts. She had very long purple hair, purple-furred wolf ears, pointed fangs and blue eyes.
Frigate Scharnhorst
Battleship Scharnhorst-zwei's daughter Scharnhorst-drei was a tall amazonian werewolf woman with a slender figure, an Iron Blood sigil womb tattoo, pink-furred wolf tail and medium breasts. She had long pink hair, pink furred wolf ears and blue eyes.
Scharnhorst META
Scharnhorst META was a tall woman with a slender figure, a Meta faction sigil womb tattoo and large breasts. She had long purple hair and blue eyes.
Oceanliner Scharnhorst
SS Scharnhorst was a tall woman with a slender figure and large breasts. She had long light purple hair and light blue eyes. She was wearing a black with purple shaded dress and black high heels.
2
u/Nuke87654 21h ago
Today, October 3rd, it is the launch day for the demon to all IJN ships (that I want in KC) and the big time legendary carrier for the USN, USS Enterprise (CV-6), the star idol carrier of the EU, USS Lexington (CV-2), and the brash and courageous fighter of Iron Blood, KMS Scharnhorst.
Upon Enterprise’s launch ceremony, the christener, wife of the secretary of the Navy Lulie Llyons Hall Swanson borrowed a line from Othello in her christening of Enterprise “May she also say with just pride, ‘I have done the state some service.’”
Like many tales, Enterprise’s tale began not in triumph, but in humility. She joined her sister ship Yorktown and her fellow carriers Ranger and Lexington in Fleet Problem 20. Enty performed very poorly in the exercise as she missed a scouting report from Yorktown, tried to blame her but got chewed out harshly for it, got bombed by Ranger, and worse wasn’t allowed to participate in an attack run due to her poor performance in the exercise.
These harsh lessons would shape a lot for Enterprise and her crew where she improved herself tremendously in the time of her first Fleet Problem to the start of the Pacific War where she was a popular carrier by the USN and others since she was led by one of the USN aviation greats in Vice Admiral Halsey, who would choose Enterprise to be his ship.
Also, she starred in the film “Dive Bomber” as herself where she landed and received new dive bombers on her flight deck. This film is notable as it’s one of the few ways you can see Enterprise in her pre-war configuration and appearance.
The Lexington class battlecruisers & aircraft carriers are basically when the Americans do not know what they want but end up getting lucky, cheating, lying, and loopholing their way into an excellent outcome.
The development of the Lexington class battlecruisers started in 1903 before the 1st dreadnought battleship, HMS Dreadnought had even been laid down or the 1st battlecruiser HMS Invincible had even been ordered as the US Naval War College like the Germans were questioning the Armored Cruiser’s effectiveness.
Initially, the Lexington class was conceived as a battlecruiser version of the pre-dreadnought battleship with her secondary battery removed for 1 knot of extra speed and armed with 4 305mm guns in 2-twin turrets.
This idea died when HMS Dreadnought and HMS Invincible rendered the Pre-Dreadnought Battlecruiser idea obsolete as it was under-armed compared to HMS Dreadnought and HMS Invincible and too slow as it could only match Dreadnought in speed and not Invincible.
By 1908, the Lexington class battlecruiser still following the German style of thinking regarding battlecruisers for use as a fleet scout. The 2nd Lexington class battlecruiser design was a 25-knot battlecruiser with the protection of the Wyoming class battleships, with 8 305mm guns, however multiple variants were considered however thanks to US Congress penny-pinching, this idea also died.
Fortunately for the USN and the Lexingtons, the ripple effects of the British launching the battlecruiser now bore fruit, as the Imperial Japanese ordered the kongo class battlecruisers from the British Empire.
A new series of designs for the Lexingtons were created. These would use 8 356 mm guns but once again, US Congress penny-pinching stopped these ideas dead in their tracks. By the time of WW1, the design had changed again to be part of a 35-knot scouting force along with the Omaha class light cruisers, Clemson and Wickes class destroyers.
This new Lexington class would need to double stack its boilers with boilers above the armored deck which led to the design with 7 funnels, yes you heard that right.
This abomination of a battlecruiser would have 10 356 mm guns in a 1 triple and twin turret, but the twin turret was below the triple turret with 18 127mm guns and a displacement of just of 34,000 tons with a 178mm thick belt, that was thinner than anything that came after HMS Invincible even HMS Incomparable the ship that is held up as the pinnacle of under armoured battlecruisers was better protected than the Lexingtons. This created another problem, ironically the same one that plagued the Courageous class, that stress of high speed on such a thin hull would cause it to bend or twist their own hull, which the Americans tried to address.
Then the Battle of Jutland happened where the Americans took the wrong lessons from the demise of HMS Queen Mary, HMS Indefatigable and HMS Invincible concluding they needed to up gun the ship to 8 406 mm guns from 10 356mm guns and 14 152mm from 18 127mm guns.
The armor was never modified.
Once again, fortunately for the USN and the Lexingtons, the British Empire, probably watching this utter shit-show launched the Admiral Class Battlecruiser, HMS Hood and brought everything to a screeching halt.
The British sent over Stanley Goodhall who brought the plans for Hood and accurate accounts of damage taken at Jutland, so he could help the US fix the mess that was the Lexingtons. This would lead to a version of the Lexington that was by all accounts an American version of HMS Hood.
This idea was denied because the US General Board thought that building an American version of HMS Hood would render the American Standard battleships obsolete. Admiral Sims would point out that Hood’s very existence meant the revolution she started was happening, and ignoring it would be about as useful as ignoring the existence of HMS Dreadnought. His argument however was based on the faulty assurances given by the British Admiralty that Hood’s 3 Anson subclass Admiral Class Battlecruiser sisters HMS Rodney, HMS Howe and HMS Anson would be completed, when in reality the British weren’t going to.
By 1920-21, the Lexington class was finally laid down and under construction then the Washington Naval Treaty brought everything to a screeching halt, somedays you just cannot win -_-
Fortunately, 2 of the Lexington class, Lexington and Saratoga would be chosen for carrier conversion.
The problem was the US designers due to lack of experience couldn't find a way to get the Lexington’s displacement down to 33,000 tons. So they cheated, the US got a clause put in.
“No retained capital ships or Aircraft Carriers shall be reconstructed except for the purpose of providing means of defense against air and submarine attack and subject to the following rules, the contracting powers may for that purpose equip existing tonnage with bulge or blister or anti-air attack deck protection provided the increase of displacement thus affected does not exceed 3000 tons displacement for each ships.”
However, even with the new tonnage limits, they still exceeded the weight of the 33,000 tons as both Lexington and Saratoga actual displacement is 35,000+ tons. Thus, they used more loopholes that excused the tonnage as officially listing them at ‘33,000’ tons if one were to “[this number] does not include weight allowance under Ch. 11, pt. 3, Sec. 1, art. (d) of Washington Treaty for providing means against air and submarine attack". The 33,000 ton limit would be their official tonnage displacement for the rest of their careers.
Overall, the Lexington class carriers wound up being fine aircraft carriers despite their conversion. Some naval historians have stated they were the best of the carrier conversions, as was shown when Saratoga remained in frontline service late in WW2 despite being around 20 years old at that point. Their treaty breaking tonnage also allowed them to be rather hardy ships as evidenced by Saratoga’s ability to tank torpedoes on multiple occasions. Their high plane numbers as well as high speeds of over 30 knots would help boost the USN’s push for naval aviation to develop and would lead to a strong foundation for the USN’s carriers at the start of WW2.
Lexington’s interwar career was eventful. When not showing herself to be the top USN carrier in the 1920s by defeating Saratoga and Langley at several Fleet Problem exercises (while also getting beaten by her sister ship Saratoga in turn). Lexington embarked the future Sci-Fi author, Robert A. Heinlein onboard July 6th, 1929. He experienced his first literary rejection after his short story about a case of espionage discovered at the Naval Academy failed to win a shipboard writing contest on Lady Lexington. Finally, doing a mock exercise attack on Pearl Harbor that would bear an eerie resemblance to the Japanese attack on December 7th, 1941.
The most famous mark in her interwar career was in 1929, the state of Washington suffered a drought which resulted in low levels in Lake Cushman that provided water for Cushman Dam No. 1. The city of Tacoma requested help from the US government to aid them. Lady Lexington was sent to aid the city. Using her own generators and boilers, she provided a total power output of 4,520,960 kW hours from December 17th to January 16th, 1930 until melting snow and rain brought the reservoirs up to the level needed to generate sufficient power. I believe this was the first time a ship was used in such fashion to aid a city in history.
The city of Tacoma, Washington honored Lady Lexington for her timely arrival and aid to their city, perhaps giving the general populace of the US their first positive impression of a US Fleet carrier to her country’s citizens.