US NAVY FACT FILE Aircraft Carriers CV-6 USS Enterprise

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After a brief layover at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise group sailed on 11 January, protecting convoys reinforcing Samoa. Dixon, got lost on patrol, ran out of fuel, and ditched. Dixon and his two crewmates, bombardier Anthony J. Pastula and gunner Gene Aldrich, survived for 34 days in a small rubber raft that had no stored food or water, before drifting ashore on Pukapuka atoll. Dixon was awarded the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism, exceptional determination, resourcefulness, skilled seamanship, excellent judgment and highest quality of leadership.

On 1 February, Enterprise ' s Task Force 8 raided Kwajalein , Wotje , and Maloelap in the Marshall Islands , sinking three ships, damaging eight, and destroying numerous airplanes and ground facilities. Enterprise received only minor damage in the Japanese counterattack, as her group retired to Pearl Harbor.

The next month, the Enterprise group swept the central Pacific, attacking enemy installations on Wake and Marcus Islands. After minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor, Enterprise departed on 8 April to rendezvous with her sister ship Hornet and sail west, escorting Hornet on the mission to launch 16 Army B Mitchells in the " Doolittle Raid " on Tokyo. The task force, its presence known to the enemy after a sighting by small vessels, reversed course and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April.

World War II

Five days later, Enterprise sortied toward the South Pacific to reinforce U. However, the Battle of the Coral Sea was over before Enterprise arrived. After executing, with Hornet , a feint towards Nauru and Banaba Ocean islands which caused the Japanese to delay Operation RY to seize the two islands, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor on 26 May, and began intensive preparation to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway Island.

Spruance 's flagship with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics". Each side launched air attacks during the day in a decisive battle.

Though the forces were in contact until 7 June, by Three Japanese carriers were burning and it was only a matter of time until a fourth was caught and knocked out. The Battle of Midway began on the morning of 4 June , when four Japanese carriers, unaware of the presence of U. Several more groups attacked, again failing to damage their targets. Planes from the U. Enterprise torpedo bombers attacked first, scoring no hits and suffering heavy losses.

Soon after, Enterprise dive bombers attacked and disabled the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi , leaving them ablaze. Within an hour, the one remaining Japanese carrier, Hiryu , launched air strikes that crippled Yorktown with three bombs and two torpedoes striking home during two separate attacks.

List of aircraft carrier classes of the United States Navy

In late afternoon, a mixed squadron of Enterprise and Yorktown bombers, flying from Enterprise , disabled Hiryu , leaving her burning. The following day Enterprise dive bombers alone sank cruiser Mikuma. While Yorktown and Hammann were the only American ships sunk, TF 16 and TF 17 lost a total of planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses were much larger: Davis relieved Murray on 30 June After a month of rest and overhaul, Enterprise sailed on 15 July for the South Pacific, where she joined TF 61 to support the amphibious landings in the Solomon Islands on 8 August.

For the next two weeks, the carrier and her planes guarded seaborne communication lines southwest of the Solomons. Flatley , who became known as "Reaper Leader.

Enterprise suffered most heavily of the American ships; three direct bomb hits and four near misses killed 74, wounded 95, and inflicted serious damage on the carrier. Quick, hard work by damage control parties patched her up so that she was able to return to Hawaii under her own power. Five days later, Enterprise scout planes located a Japanese carrier force and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands was under way. Enterprise aircraft struck carriers and cruisers during the struggle, while the Big E herself underwent intensive attack.

Hit twice by bombs, Enterprise lost 44 men and had 75 wounded.

Pre–World War II

Despite serious damage, she continued in action and took on board a large number of planes and crewmen from Hornet when that carrier was sunk. Though the American losses of a carrier and a destroyer were more severe than the Japanese loss of one light cruiser, the battle gained time to reinforce Guadalcanal against the next enemy onslaught, [2] and nearby Henderson Field was therefore secure from the Japanese bombardment.

The loss of the Hornet meant Enterprise was now the only functioning albeit damaged US carrier in the Pacific Theater. Part of the repair crew comprised a man Seabee detachment from Company B of the 3rd Construction Battalion because adequate regular repair forces were lacking. The repairs were completed by these men with speed and efficiency. I hereby commend them for their willingness, zeal, and capability.

On 13 November, aviators from Enterprise helped to sink the Hiei , the first Japanese battleship lost during the war. When the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended on 15 November , Enterprise had shared in sinking sixteen ships and damaging eight more. On 30 January, her fighters flew combat air patrol for a cruiser—destroyer group during the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite the destruction of most of the attacking Japanese bombers by Enterprise planes, the heavy cruiser Chicago was sunk by aerial torpedoes.

Detached after the battle, the carrier arrived at Espiritu Santo on 1 February, and for the next three months operated out of that base, covering U. Captain Samuel Ginder assumed command of the ship on 16 April. Enterprise then steamed to Pearl Harbor where, on 27 May , Admiral Chester Nimitz presented the ship with the first Presidential Unit citation awarded to an aircraft carrier.

In the summer of , with the new Essex -class and Independence -class carriers joining the American Pacific Fleet, Enterprise was temporarily relieved of duty, and on 20 July, she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a much-needed overhaul. Captain Matthias Gardner relieved Ginder on 7 November. Back at Pearl Harbor on 6 November, Enterprise left four days later to provide close air support to the 27th Infantry Division landing on Makin Atoll , during the Battle of Makin , from 19—21 November On the night of 26 November, Enterprise introduced carrier-based night fighters to the Pacific when a three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking TG The carrier's next operation was with the Fast Carrier Task Force in softening up the Marshall Islands and supporting the landings on Kwajalein, from 29 January-3 February Again Enterprise made aviation history, when she launched the first night radar bombing attack from a U.

The twelve torpedo bombers in this strike achieved excellent results, accounting for nearly one-third of the , tons of shipping destroyed by aircraft. Sailing on 15 March in TG The carrier rejoined TF 58 on 26 March, and for the next 12 days, joined in a series of strikes against the islands of Yap , Ulithi , Woleai , and Palau. After a week's rest and replenishment at Majuro, Enterprise sailed on 14 April to support landings in the Hollandia currently known as Jayapura area of New Guinea , and then hit Truk again from 29—30 April. On 6 June , she and her companions of TG Striking Saipan , Rota , and Guam from 11—14 June, Enterprise pilots gave direct support to the landings on Saipan on 15 June, and covered the troops ashore for the next two days.

List of aircraft carrier classes of the United States Navy

On 19 June , Enterprise was one of four carriers of Task Group Reeves ' during the largest carrier aircraft battle in history: Over the course of two days, a total of six American ships were damaged, and planes and a total of 76 pilots and aircrew were lost. In sharp contrast, American carrier aircraft, with a major assist from U. Enterprise participated both in the defense of the fleet and in the subsequent early-evening strike against the Japanese task forces.

During the chaotic after-dark recovery of the air strike, a fighter and a bomber came aboard simultaneously, but fortunately did not cause an accident. A planned midnight strike against the Japanese fleet by night-flying Enterprise pilots was cancelled because of the recovery and rescue operations required after the dusk attack. After the battle, Enterprise and her Task Group continued to provide air support for the invasion of Saipan through 5 July.

She then sailed for Pearl Harbor and a month of rest and overhaul. After operating west of the Palau Islands, Enterprise joined other units of TF 38 on 7 October and set course to the north. From 10—20 October, her aviators flew over Okinawa , Formosa , and the Philippines , blasting enemy airfields, shore installations, and shipping in preparation for the assault on Leyte.

After supporting the Leyte landings on 20 October, Enterprise headed for Ulithi to replenish, but the approach of the Japanese fleet on 23 October called her back to action. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf 23—26 October , Enterprise planes struck all three groups of enemy forces, battering battleships and destroyers before the action ended. The carrier remained on patrol east of Samar and Leyte until the end of October, then retired to Ulithi for supplies.

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During November, her aircraft struck targets in the Manila area, and at the island of Yap. Hall on 14 December.

List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy

Sailing on 24 December for the Philippines, Enterprise carried an air group specially trained in night carrier operations; as the only carrier capable of night operations, she left Oahu with her hull code changed from CV to CV N , the "N" representing "Night". During one part of that period, Enterprise kept aircraft aloft continuously over Iwo Jima for hours. Damaged lightly by an enemy bomb on 18 March, Enterprise entered Ulithi six days later for repairs. Back in action on 5 April, she supported the Okinawa operation until she was damaged on 11 April—this time by a kamikaze —and was forced back to Ulithi.

Shunsuke Tomiyasu, destroyed her forward elevator, killing 14 and wounding The carrier sailed for and was fully repaired at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. Restored to peak condition, Enterprise voyaged to Pearl Harbor, returning to the States with some 1, servicemen due for discharge, including hospital patients and former POWs , then sailed on to New York on 25 September via the Panama Canal arriving on 17 October Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. A Brief History of Aircraft Carriers.

Brief History of U. Retrieved 19 July A Brief History of U. Federation of American Scientists. Kennedy CV 67 ". Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. United States Navy Fact File. Northrop Grumman Newport News. The Ships and Aircraft of the U. United States Naval Institute Victory ed. The ships were laid down and partly built as part of a six-member battlecruiser class before being converted to carriers while under construction. First purpose-built US Navy aircraft carrier.

Hornet was built after Wasp. Modified Yorktown class, built on 3, less tons to use up allotted tonnage under the Washington Naval Treaty. This class constituted the Twentieth Century's largest class of heavy warships, with 24 ships built. This class was a result of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ' s interest in Navy shipbuilding plans. Former Great Lakes paddle steamer Seeandbee converted for aircraft takeoff and landing training.

Former Great Lakes paddle steamer Greater Buffalo converted for aircraft takeoff and landing training. This class was one of the longest lived carrier designs in history.

Built on modified Baltimore -class cruiser hulls. This class was never commissioned 3 more were planned. Sometimes called "Improved Forrestal class". Kennedy see below as a member. First nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, using eight A2W reactors. The Enterprise had been in active operational service for 51 years, longer than any combatant ship in American history.

Last conventionally powered aircraft carrier built as of A line of nuclear-powered supercarriers in service with the US Navy using two A4W reactors , and the largest capital ships in the world. The next generation supercarrier for the United States Navy.

Ford -class will incorporate many new design features including a new nuclear reactor design , stealthier features to help reduce radar profile, electromagnetic catapults , advanced arresting gear, and reduced crewing requirements. All in USN service. Built on oil tanker hulls rather than merchant ship hulls.

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