Americana: USS Enterprise

The USS Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered carrier of the US Navy, symbolized here by Einstein's famous equation . Uploaded by en.wikipedia.com.

I can still remember when the Enterprise was launched at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. Even though I was just a kid (it was 1962), I sensed the pride of the entire city that our signature employer had built the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, “The Big E.”

Now, almost fifty years later, the USS Enterprise is the second-oldest ship still commissioned by the US Navy. Only the historic and symbolic USS Constitution is older. The Enterprise is 1,123 feet long, making it the longest naval vessel in the world.

Uploaded by en.wikipedia.com.

Today’s Enterprise follows the great carrier of the same name that was an integral part of America’s naval efforts in World War II. That carrier engaged in more battles against Japan than any other American ship, and was one of only three carriers commissioned before the war that survived it.

Today’s Enterprise has had a number of significant assignments, including helping in the quarantine of Cuba during the Missile Crisis and assisting with naval support during Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Its home port is now the Norfolk Naval Base (within sight of its Newport News birthplace), The USS Enterprise is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013. I hate for that time to come, but the ship will end its final tour as the longest-serving aircraft carrier in US history…

Americana: The SS United States

Isn't that a beautiful sight? No rock climbing walls or bowling alleys, though. Uploaded by oldgloryprints.com.

It had no rock climbing wall. No Olympic-size pools. You couldn’t play miniature golf, or go bowling, or ice skate. What you could do, however, was travel across the Atlantic in true style. And fast – faster than any passenger liner before or since.

On its maiden voyage begun, appropriately, on July 4, 1952, the S.S. United States broke the transatlantic speed record held by the Queen Mary. Broke it by ten hours.

Uploaded by cruiselinehistory.com.

The ship was built at the famous Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and remains the largest ocean liner built entirely in America. Its secret was aluminum – more aluminum than any ship had used at that time. The United States was also virtually fireproof – it was said that the only wood aboard ship was in the grand piano and in the kitchen’s butcher block.

The US Navy helped fund its construction, and was prepared to appropriate it for use as a troop carrier should the need arrive. Except for a brief alert duing the Cuban Missile Crisis, however, it was never needed for that purpose.

The United States has not been seaworthy since 1969. It now sits at Pier 82 in Philadelphia, awaiting its fate. The SS United States Foundation is today lobbying to keep the ship from being sold for scrap, and for its restoration. I’m not sure if the ship could ever compete in today’s huge cruise ship environment, but she is a beautiful lady who deserves a better fate than neglect and decay.

There was actually a song written about the ship, and tell me you can’t find almost anything on YouTube!