USS Enterprise (CV-6)

USS Enterprise (CV-6), the "Big E", was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh US Navy ship to bear that name. She was a Yorktown class aircraft carrier, launched in 1936, and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger). She participated in nearly every major engagement of the war against Japan, including the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea actions during the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as participating in the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo.

Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II. She was the only ship outside of the British Royal Navy to earn the highest award of the British Admiralty Pennant. Some have labeled her the most glorious and honored ship in all of United States Naval history, rivaled only perhaps by the 18th-century frigate USS Constitution.

Initial Operations

Enterprise was launched 3 October 1936 at Newport News Shipbuilding, sponsored by Lulie Swanson, wife of Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson, and commissioned 12 May 1938.

Enterprise sailed south on a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro. After her return, she operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until April of 1939, when she was ordered to duty in the Pacific. Based first at San Diego and then at Pearl Harbor, the carrier and her aircraft squadrons trained for any eventuality, and transported aircraft among the island bases of the Pacific. Enterprise had just completed one such mission, delivering Marine Corps Fighter Squadron 211 to Wake Island on 2 December 1941 and was en route to Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

World War II

After Pearl Harbor

Enterprise scout bombers arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack and, though surprised, immediately went into action in defense of the naval base; six of them were shot down by the Japanese. The carrier, meanwhile, assembled her remaining aircraft in a fruitless search for the Japanese striking force. Enterprise put into Pearl Harbor for fuel and supplies in December and sailed early the next morning to patrol against possible additional attacks on the Hawaiian Islands. While the group did not encounter any surface ships, Enterprise aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70 at 23°45′N, 155°35′W on 10 December 1941.

During the last two weeks of December 1941, Enterprise and her group steamed west of Hawaii to cover those islands while two other carrier groups made a belated attempt to relieve Wake Island. After a brief rest at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise group sailed on 11 January, to protect convoys reinforcing Samoa. On 1 February, the task force dealt a hard blow to 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 force retired to Pearl Harbor.

During the next month Enterprise's force swept the central Pacific, attacking enemy installations on Wake and Marcus Islands, then received minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor. On 8 April 1942, she departed to rendezvous with Hornet and sail westward escorting Hornet on her mission to launch 16 Army B-25 Mitchell bombers in the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo. While Enterprise fighters flew combat air patrol, the B-25s were launched on 18 April, and flew undetected the 600 miles to their target. The task force, its presence known to the enemy, reversed course and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April.

The Battle of Midway

Five days later, the "Big E" was speeding toward the South Pacific to reinforce the U.S. carriers operating in the Coral Sea. However, the Battle of the Coral Sea was over before Enterprise could reach her destination. Ordered back to Hawaii, the carrier entered Pearl Harbor on 26 May, and began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway Island, in what became known as the Battle of Midway.

On 28 May, the Enterprise sortied as the flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, CTF-16, with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics." With Enterprise in TF 16 were Hornet, six cruisers, and 10 destroyers. On 30 May, TF 17, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown, with two cruisers, and six destroyers, sailed to support TF 16; as senior officer, Rear Admiral Fletcher became "Officer in Tactical Command".

Battle was joined on the morning of 4 June 1942, when four Japanese carriers, unaware of the presence of U.S. naval forces, launched attacks on Midway Island. Just three hours after the first bomb fell on Midway, planes from Hornet struck the enemy force, and 30 minutes later Enterprise and Yorktown aircraft joined in to sink the Japanese carriers.

Each side launched air attacks at the other during the day in one of history's most decisive battles. Though the forces were in contact until 7 June, by the end of the 4th, the outcome had been decided. The tide of the war in the Pacific turned in the favor of the United States. Yorktown and Hammann were the only American ships sunk, but TFs 16 and 17 lost a total of 113 planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses were far more severe, consisting of four carriers, one cruiser, and 272 carrier aircraft. Enterprise aircraft bombed Sōryū and Akagi. Enterprise came through undamaged and returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1942.

South Pacific operations

After a month of rest and overhaul, Enterprise sailed on 15 July 1942, 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. On 24 August, a strong Japanese force was sighted some 200 miles north of Guadalcanal and TF 61 sent planes to the attack. In a battle of the Eastern Solomons, an enemy light carrier Ryūjō was sent to the bottom and the Japanese troops intended for Guadalcanal were forced back.

Enterprise suffered most heavily of the American ships, three direct hits and four near misses killed 74, wounded 95, and inflicted serious damage on the carrier. But well-trained damage control parties, and quick, hard work patched her up so that she was able to return to Hawaii under her own power.

Repaired at Pearl Harbor from 10 September, to 16 October 1942, Enterprise departed once more for the South Pacific, where with Hornet she formed TF 61. On 26 October, Enterprise scout planes located a Japanese carrier force and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands was underway. Enterprise aircraft struck carriers and cruisers during the struggle, while the "Big E" herself underwent intensive attack. Hit twice by bombs, Enterprise lost 44 killed and had 75 wounded.

Despite serious damage, she continued in action and took on board a large number of planes 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 priceless time to reinforce Guadalcanal against the next enemy onslaught. Enterprise was now the only functioning US carrier. On the flight deck, the crew posted a sign: "Enterprise vs Japan".

Enterprise entered Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 30 October, for repairs, but a new Japanese thrust at the Solomons demanded her presence and she sailed on 11 November, repair crews from Vestal (AR-4) still working on board. On 13 November, aviators from Enterprise helped to dispatch the damaged battleship Hiei. When the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended on 15 November 1942, Enterprise had shared in sinking 16 ships and damaging eight more. The carrier returned to Nouméa on 16 November, to complete her repairs.

Sailing again on 4 December, Enterprise trained out of Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, until 28 January 1943, when she departed for the Solomons area. On 30 January, her fighters flew combat air patrol for a cruiser-destroyer group during the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite the destruction of a large majority of the attacking Japanese bombers by Enterprise planes, 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.S. surface forces up to the Solomons. Enterprise then steamed to Pearl Harbor where, on 27 May 1943, Admiral Chester Nimitz presented the ship with the first Presidential Unit citation won by an aircraft carrier. On 20 July 1943, she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a much-needed overhaul.

The Yorktown class had proved to be vulnerable to torpedoes and while undergoing repairs in late 1942, Enterprise also received an extensive refit, which included an anti-torpedo blister that significantly improved her underwater protection.

Return to Duty

Back in action waters by mid-November, Enterprise joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Atoll, from 19 November to 21 November 1943. On the night of 26 November, the "Big E" introduced carrier-based night fighter operations in the Pacific when a three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking TG 50.2. After a heavy strike by aircraft of TF 50 against Kwajalein on 4 December, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor five days later.

The carrier's next operation was with TF 58 in softening up the Marshall Islands and supporting the landings on Kwajalein, from 29 January to 3 February 1944. Then Enterprise sailed, still with TF 58, to strike the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, on 17 February. Again, the Enterprise made aviation history, when she launched the first night radar bombing attack from a U.S. carrier. The 12 torpedo bombers in this strike achieved excellent results, accounting for nearly one-third of the 200,000 tons of shipping destroyed by aircraft.

Detached from TF 58, Enterprise launched raids on Jaluit Atoll on 20 February, then steamed to Majuro and Espiritu Santo. Sailing 15 March, in TG 36.1, she provided air cover and close support for the landings on Emirau Island (19 March–25 March). 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 (14 April) to support landings in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea, and then hit Truk again (29 April–April 30).

On 6 June 1944, she and her companions of TG 58.3 sortied from Majuro to join the rest of TF 58 in attacking the Marianas Islands. Striking Saipan, Rota, and Guam between 11 June and 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.

Aware of a major Japanese attempt to break up the invasion of Saipan, Admiral Spruance, now Commander 5th Fleet, positioned TF 58 to meet the threat.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea

On 19 June 1944, the greatest carrier aircraft battle in history took place, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. For over eight hours, airmen of the United States and Imperial Japanese navies fought in the skies over TF 58 and the Marianas. By the end of the day, an American victory was apparent, and at the conclusion of the strikes against the Japanese fleet on 20 June, the triumph became complete. Six American ships were damaged, and 130 planes and a total of 76 pilots and aircrew lost. But with a major assist from U.S. submarines, three Japanese carriers (Hiyō, Shōkaku and Taihō), were sunk, and 426 ship-based aircraft were destroyed. Japanese naval aviation never recovered from this blow.

The battle over, Enterprise and her companions continued to support the Saipan campaign through 5 July. She then sailed for Pearl Harbor and a month of rest and overhaul. Back in action waters on 24 August, the carrier sailed with TF 38 in that force's aerial assault on the Volcano and Bonin Islands from 31 August to 2 September, and Yap, Ulithi, and the Palaus from September 6 to September 8.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf

After operating west of the Palau Islands, the Enterprise joined other units of TF 38 on 7 October and set course to the north. From October 10 to October 20, 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 brought her racing back into action.

In the Battle of Leyte Gulf (23 October–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. During November, her aircraft struck targets in the Manila area, and the island of Yap. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1944.

Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Kamikaze

Sailing 24 December for the Philippines, Enterprise carried on board an air group specially trained in night carrier operations. She joined TG 38.5 and swept the waters north of Luzon and of the China Sea during January of 1945, striking shore targets and shipping from Formosa to Indo-China. After a brief visit to Ulithi, the Enterprise joined TG 58.5 on 10 February 1945, and provided day and night combat air patrol for TF 58 as it struck Tokyo on February 16 and February 17.

She then supported the Marines in the Battle of Iwo Jima from the day of the landings, 10 February, until 9 March when she sailed for Ulithi. During one part of that period, Enterprise kept aircraft aloft continuously over Iwo Jima for 174 hours.

Departing Ulithi 15 March, the carrier continued her night work in raids against Kyūshū, Honshū, and shipping in the Inland Sea of Japan. 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 again damaged (11 April), this time by a suicide plane, and forced back to Ulithi. Off Okinawa once more on 6 May, Enterprise flew patrols around the clock as the menace of the kamikaze increased. On 14 May 1945, she suffered her last wound of World War II when a suicide plane destroyed her forward elevator, killing 14 and wounding 34 men. The carrier sailed for repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 7 June and where she was still moored on V-J Day, 15 August 1945.

Post-War Service

Operation Magic Carpet

Restored to peak condition, Enterprise voyaged to Pearl Harbor returning to the States with some 1,100 servicemen due for discharge, then sailed on to New York, arriving 17 October 1945. Two weeks later, she proceeded to Boston for installation of additional berthing facilities, then began a series of Operation Magic Carpet voyages to Europe, bringing more than 10,000 veterans home in her final service to her country. During one trip to Europe, the ship was awarded a British Admiralty Pennant, the only ship not in the Royal Navy to receive this honor.

The End of the Big E

Enterprise entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 18 January 1946 for inactivation, and was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. Although there were several attempts at preserving the ship as a museum/memorial, the fund raising efforts failed to raise enough money to buy the vessel from the Navy and the "Big E" was sold on 1 July 1958 to the Lipsett Corporation of New York City for scrapping at Kearny, New Jersey. A promise was made to save the distinctive tripod mast for inclusion in the Naval Academy's new football stadium, but was never fulfilled (a memorial plaque was installed at the base of what is still called "Enterprise Tower"). Scrapping was complete as of May, 1960.

In 1984, a permanent "Enterprise Exhibit" was dedicated at the Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida to house artifacts, photos and other items of historical interest.

Other surviving Enterprise artifacts include: the ship's bell, which resides at the U.S. Naval Academy, where it is traditionally rung only after midshipmen victories over West Point; the sixteen foot, one-ton nameplate from the ship's stern, which sits near a Little League park in River Vale, New Jersey; and one of the anchors, which is on display at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Various other artifacts and mementos (including one of her porthole) are also kept aboard the current USS Enterprise.

In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation, Enterprise received the Navy Unit Commendation and 20 battle stars for World War II service.

References

• USS Enterprise for other Navy ships of the same name.
• List of aircraft carriers and list of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
• List of World War II ships
• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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