USS Enterprise (CV-6)

A ship with one of the most distinguished combat records of the Second World War, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) was aYorktown-class U.S. aircraft carrier. She was commissioned in May 1938; served through the Second World War, and, after attempts to maker her a museum ship, was scrapped in 1958.

Operations

• 1941
  • Task Force 8 immediately following Battle of Pearl Harbor
• 1942
  • Doolittle Raid
  • Battle of Midway
  • Battle of the Eastern Solomons
  • Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
  • Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
• 1943
  • Battle of Rennell Island
  • Operation CARTWHEEL (reduction of Rabaul)

Recognition

She won more awards than any other U.S. Navy ship in WWII:<ref>{{citation

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• 20 battle stars, three more than any other ship (sisterships New Orleans CA-32, Minneapolis CA-36 and San Francisco CA-38 each received 17 battle stars), and seven more than the next carrier (Essex CV-9, which received 13 stars).
• Presidential Unit Citation, May 1943
• Meritorious Unit Citation
• In August 1945, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal cited Enterprise as the "one vessel that most nearly symbolizes the history of the Navy in this war."
• following the Navy Day celebration in New York in October 1945, Secretary Forrestal recommended to President Truman that Enterprise, unable to operate the heavier, faster aircraft then entering service, be preserved "as a visible symbol of American valor and tenacity in war, and of our will to fight all enemies who assail us....

Characteristics

As a straight-deck carrier, she had very little capability to handle carrier-capable jets.