The US Navy scraps the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, at a private shipyard
The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, was launched in 1960 and participated in the blockade of Cuba during the Caribbean crisis, the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The aircraft carrier made its last voyage in 2012, it was planned to dismantle it until 2015, but then the deadlines were repeatedly pushed back. This year, Newport News Shipbuilding won an $11 million contract to store the ship until September 2024. According to the American newspaper Kitsap Sun, the contract for the disposal of the ship is likely to be given to a private company.
It was previously planned that the dismantling of the ship for scrap metal would be carried out at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS), located in Bremerton, Washington. However, according to a Navy spokesman, the shipyard is currently “too busy servicing an active fleetto scrap the former USS Enterprise.” It is planned that "Big E" (the unofficial name of the ship) will be towed to a private landfill somewhere in the south of the United States, where it will wait for dismantling.
Exploiting opportunities to scrap the ex-Enterprise at commercial facilities is beneficial to the Navy and allows (shipyards) to prioritize the limited infrastructure of state-owned shipyards and manpower to actively maintain the fleet
- says the official statement of the US Navy on this matter.
The publication reports that this decision is due to the high workload of state shipyards for servicing ships and submarines of the Navy, which are too busy preparing for a global confrontation with the Chinese fleet and the fight against international terrorism. In addition, writes Kitsap Sun, the naval department is experiencing an acute shortage of qualified personnel.
Puget Sound is the largest of the Navy's four public shipyards, employing over 15 people. Other shipyards are located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Norfolk and Kittery. In addition, the PSNS shipyard is currently undergoing a major refurbishment that includes the construction of a state-of-the-art dry dock worth over $000 billion.
The shipyard's management considers this a reasonable decision, but expresses disappointment, as it was planned that novice employees would be able to practice on the dismantling of old ships before they began working with existing ships.
The complexity of the disposal of the "Enterprise" lies not only in the fact that it is the world's largest warship - its length is 342,3 meters. The aircraft carrier has eight nuclear power plants, while modern US Navy nuclear ships use two nuclear units each. And although the reactors have long been mothballed, they must be properly disposed of. Currently, there are no private shipyards in the United States with experience in dismantling nuclear-powered ships. While on Puget Sound over 130 reactors from submarines and surface vessels have been disposed of during the shipyard's existence.
According to the US Navy, at present, the decision on where the Enterprise will be dismantled has not yet been made, but the option of performing work at a private shipyard is preferable. "Big E" is considered the most expensive ship in stories US Navy, its construction cost 451 million dollars (in 1960 prices). Dismantlement of an aircraft carrier will not be cheap either - according to preliminary estimates, it can amount to at least $1,5 billion.
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