USS Enterprise (CV-6)

Aerial view of Enterprise at sea in 1945
History
United States
Name:	USS Enterprise
Ordered:	1933
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down:	16 July 1934
Launched:	3 October 1936
Commissioned:	12 May 1938
Decommissioned:	17 February 1947
Identification:	Hull number: CV-6
Nickname(s):	The Big E Lucky E The Grey Ghost The Galloping Ghost
Honors and awards:	20 Battle Stars Presidential Unit Citation Navy Unit Commendation American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Philippine Liberation Medal
Fate:	Scrapped 1958–1960
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Yorktown-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	19,800 tons standard 25,500 tons full load From October 1943: 21,000 tons standard 32,060 tons full load
Length:	770 ft (234.7 m) waterline 824 ft 9 in (251.4 m) overall From July 1942: 827 ft 5 in (252.2 m) overall length
Beam:	83 ft 3 in (25.4 m) 109 ft 6 in (33.4 m) overall From October 1942: 114 ft 5 in (34.9 m) overall width From October 1943: 95 ft 5 in (29.1 m) waterline
Draft:	25 ft 11.5 in (7.9 m)
Installed power:	120,000 shp (89,484 kW) 9 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Propulsion:	4 × shafts; 4 × Parsons geared steam turbines
Speed:	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range:	12,500 nmi (23,200 km; 14,400 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	2,217 officers and men (1941)
Sensors and processing systems:	CXAM-1 RADAR
Armament:	8 × single 5 in/38 cal guns 4 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal guns 24 × .50 caliber machine guns From April 1942: 8 × 5 in/38 cal 4 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal 30 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons From mid-June 1942 to mid-September 1942: 8 × 5 in/38 cal 5 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal 32 × 20 mm Oerlikons From mid-September 1942: 8 × 5 in/38 cal 4 × quad 40 mm Bofors guns 1 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal 44 × 20 mm Oerlikons(46 from 11/42) From October 1943: 8 × 5 in/38 cal 40 × 40 mm Bofors (8×2, 6×4) 50 × 20 mm Oerlikon From September 1945: 8 × 5 in/38 cal 54 × 40 mm Bofors (5×2, 11×4) 32 × 20 mm Oerlikons (16×2)
Armor:	2.5–4 in belt 60 lb protective decks 4 in bulkheads 4 in side and 2 in top round conning tower 4 in side over steering gear
Aircraft carried:	90 aircraft
Aviation facilities:	3 × elevators 2 × flight deck hydraulic catapults 1 × hangar deck hydraulic catapults

USS Enterprise (CV-6), was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. Colloquially called "the Big E", she was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. A Yorktown-class carrier, she was launched in 1936 and was one of only three American carriers commissioned before World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger). She participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other United States ship. These actions included the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On three occasions during the Pacific War, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, a fact that gave her the name "The Grey Ghost". Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II, and became the most decorated U.S. ship of World War II.

The second carrier of the Yorktown-class, Enterprise was launched on 3 October 1936 at Newport News Shipbuilding, sponsored by Lulie Swanson, wife of Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson, and commissioned on 12 May 1938 with Captain Newton H. White in command. 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 1939, when she was ordered to duty in the Pacific.