USS Enterprise carrier taken out of active service

The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was retired from active service, temporarily reducing the number of carriers in the US fleet to 10 until 2015.

The USS Enterprise ended its notable 51-year career during a ceremony at its home port yesterday at Naval Station Norfolk, where thousands of former crew members, ship builders and their families lined a pier to bid farewell to one of the most decorated ships in the Navy.

"It'll be a special memory. The tour yesterday was a highlight of the last 20 years of my life. I've missed the Enterprise since every day I walked off of it," said Kirk

McDonnell, a former interior communications electrician aboard the ship from 1983 to 1987 who now lives in Highmore, South Dakota.

The Enterprise was the largest ship in the world at the time it was built, earning the nickname "Big E." It didn't have to carry conventional fuel tanks for propulsion, allowing it to carry twice as much aircraft fuel and ordnance than conventional carriers at the time. Using nuclear reactors also allowed the ship to set speed records and stay out to sea during a deployment without ever having to refuel, one of the

times ships are most vulnerable to attack.

"Nuclear propulsion changed everything," said Adm. John Richardson, director of Naval Reactors.

Every other aircraft carrier in the US fleet is now nuclear powered, although they only have two nuclear reactors each compared to the Enterprise's eight. The Enterprise was the only carrier of its class ever built.

It was only designed to last 25 years, but underwent a series of upgrades to extend its life, making it the oldest active combat vessel in the fleet

The ship served in every major conflict since participating in a blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, helping earn its motto of "We are Legend."

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