The USS Enterprise was ordered in 1933, laid down in 1934 and first launched in 1936. She was officially commissioned in 1938 and saw decommissioning in 1947, to which she was to be set aside as a protected museum. Unfortunately for her former crew and airmen - and future Americans for that matter - this notion came to naught and she was sadly broken down and sold for scrapping by 1958. This did, however, open up the USS Enterprise name some decades later for the all-new and world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named in her honor (CVN 65).
Beyond the 22 Battle Stars, the USS Enterprise of World War 2 fame was also distinguished by other awards including the Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Unit Commendation; the American Defense Services Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, the Philippine Liberation Medal and the British Admiralty Pennant (a first for a non-Royal Navy vessel).
Arguably, the USS Enterprise single-handedly brought about the death of the battleship and queen of the seas. The arrival of carrier power on the high seas would forever change the face of war as these mobile platforms could react and engage to global situations at a moments notice. The many-gunned steel galleons woudl forever give way to the mosquito-like persistence of carrier air groups, harassing targets and inflicting calculated destruction on enemy surface and land targets with near impunity. At any rate, the age of the carrier was here to stay though her reign would be equally over by the advent of the ballistic missile submarine some decades later.
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