The End of a Legend - Scrapping USS Enterprise

I have, previously, talked about why USS Enterprise was scrapped. The short answer is 'money', but the longer answer? Well, in this video, I'll go into more detail than I have before. Look at the various plans, and how the ship ultimately ended up scrapped.

Which is still a shame, decades later, although not a surprising result. Looking at the situation in the 1950s, of course.

[exAirMover]

History will always remember the name 'Enterprise' 🇺🇲

[murraystewartj]

CV6 - Enterprise vs Japan. 20 battle stars and, I believe, the only USN ship to be granted a Royal Navy pennant in recognition of her service. She's gone but will never be forgotton.

[TheNinjaGumball]

Girls: Why didn't he cry during Titanic? He must be heartless
Boys: Uncontrollable sobbing watching this

[LFMotorhead]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where we have the USS Hornet as living museum. Before it was saved from scrap it was tied up in Alameda Naval Air Base. We were on the Bay cruising around and saw the Carol Vincent tied up and behind it was the Hornet. We cruised into the harbor and right between the Carol Vincent and the Hornet. It was an amazing sight to have on one side the Hornet and the other side the latest in carrier technology. After a few minutes of admiring the 2 ships, armed Marines came out and chased us away. Few months later the Hornet was turned over to a civilian board to be made into a museum. She was only hours away from being turned over to the scrape yard but was saved. I eventually became a volunteer on the ship helping with aircraft restoration.

[tomyorke]

HMS Warspite the grand old lady and the USS Enterprise the grey ghost/The big E. Those two ship earned the right to be saved a dozens times over wish we had saved them.

[blusmahn]

Every time we went to visit my Grandparents we would pass the "BIG E " and observe the state of it's scrapping. Being brought up on WW2 movies and my Father's Bastogne experiences we were well aware of it's fame and importance in history and felt the loss every time we would see it's dis-assembly .

[Grafknar]

Warspite I can grudgingly comprehend. The UK was devastated. There was absolutely zero excuse for the USN giving only 6 months.

Screw anyone who defends scrapping either of these ships.

[iamrichrocker]

The picture of the ship at sundown was a moving and apt photo..could sense the navy guy was in a remorseful mood...great video/summary of this epic ship

[Handyman.]

This is heartbreaking. She will never be forgotten. Thanks Skynea

[daleferber]

The guy that started Enterprise rental cars served on that version of the "Big E"

[Redhand]

In the1950s I was a small boy living on Long Island. My paternal grandparents lived in Northern New Jersey. I came from a military family, and was always interested in the Navy -- watched "Victory at Sea" on the TV whenever I could find it. I was privileged to see the Enterprise many times when we crossed the Pulaski Skyway to visit the grandparents. Every time we crossed I looked down at the ship at the scrapper's wharf while it waited for the scrapper until it was no more. It's a shame it wasn't saved.

[navyavr]

There is more than that of CV 6 still around. I served on CVN65 from 8/18/01-11/30/06 she had a space onboard call the enterprise room. Everything in it including the bulkheads, deck, overhead all the display cases are a removed space from CV6. It had relics in it from all the previous ships named Enterprise, Bomb and plane parts from Japanese planes that hit CV6. I got a few photos of the room from my re-enlistment I could share. I hope they carry on the tradition and everything gets removed from CVN65 and installed on the new CVN 80 Enterprise

[abhchelms]

I was the flight deck leading chief on CVN-65 from 1986-1989, those of us who served aboard 65 felt the same as those of CV-6! We wanted her or at least her island preserved as a museum as it was and it the only island structure like on a carrier!

[henryb]

And for us Brits. Warspite was the one. Legend

[dommyify]

USS Intrepid served her country honorably and gallantly through the war, and beyond. As did the sailors who served aboard her. Having said that, I have always believed, that USS Enterprise should have been where Intrepid is today. The grand old lady, hero of Midway, telling her story and the stories of her pilots, and crew. As sad as it is, that she is no longer with us, at the very least the navy recognizes her magnitude and she lives on in name, as we have said good-bye to Enterprise 65, and will soon say hello to Enterprise 80.

[Odin]

I put USS Enterprise in the same category as old Penn Station. After they were lost, people started caring about preservation.

[osogrande]

One of my junior high and high school classmates father served on the Enterprise from 44 to 46. He did not often talk about the time he was on the big E but mentioned many of his shipmates that didn't survive. I came to feel he and his wife were like another set of parents. He taught me several live lessons that I continue to use everyday. He was always ready to talk about fishing in pearl harbor bay with hand grenades, smuggling cases of beer onto base suspended by piano wire in tanker of av gas. He said you could always tell when a fresh supply of beer was on base. All the CO2 fire extinguishers on the flight line were empty.

[HiddenHistoryYT]

The biggest mistake we've made. Makes it even worse that there were efforts to save her and nobody could get anything together. Great video as always :)

[Mustapha]

If ever a ship deserved to be preserved as a shrine, it was the Enterprise.

[jeebusk]

Imagine all the Star Trek conventions they could have hosted on this thing!