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The USS Enterprise is the nation's oldest active duty warship, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a history-making symbol of America's naval might for half a century.

But it's now headed for the scrap heap.

Virtually all the weapons and ammunition has been off loaded. By the end of the week, it'll make its final return to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia. On Dec. 1, "The Big E" will be become officially inactive.

But one doesn't just take an aircraft carrier with eight nuclear reactors in its hold and park it somewhere. The Navy will spend three years and tens of millions of dollars removing the ship's radioactive fuel and reactors before cutting it into scrap.


Also: On the front lines of history: USS Enterprise on its last deployment

Mike Maus, a spokesperson for Naval Air Force Atlantic, said the process starts just up the James River.

"Following the inactivation period, it will be towed over to Newport News - to Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding - where it will be defueled. They'll remove all the fuel from it."

The fuel will be shipped to Idaho for temporary storage, Maus said. "Sometime at a later date, it will be disposed of."

While in Newport News, some of the Enterprise's equipment will be removed then the next phase begins.

Watch: Sen. John McCain talks about serving on the Enterprise during the Cuban Missile Crisis

The carrier, minus planes, ammunition and a propulsion system, heads to Puget Sound, the long way.

"It will be towed around (Cape) Horn to Puget Sound, Washington," Maus said.

The Enterprise, like America's other nuclear carriers, is too big to fit through the Panama Canal, so it must round the southern-most point of South America to get to Washington State.

"It'll be a very lengthy tow," he said.

Once it reaches the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the long and difficult task of removing the eight reactors from the Enterprise's hold begins.

"In order to remove the reactors, it takes a lot of cutting and hacking on the ship to do that," Maus said. "They do cut through the flight deck and they may very well be cutting through the hull of the ship itself."

Once the reactors are removed, CVN-65 will be formally decommissioned.

According to a Navy Environmental Impact Statement, the reactors will be put on barges, floated up the Columbia River to the site of the former Hanford nuclear production complex where they will be buried in a huge trench near reactors from smaller decommissioned naval warships.


Hanford nuclear site trench (US Navy Photo)
But unlike the USS Intrepid in New York City or the USS Midway in San Diego, the Enterprise is not destined to become a floating museum.

Removing the reactors essentially destroys the ship.

"Once the reactors are removed, to put the ship back in any shape to where it still resembles a ship the cost would be over the moon," said Maus.

So the ship, all 90,000 tons of it will be cut up and the metal sold for scrap.

But that doesn't mean the name Enterprise will fade from U.S. Navy history. There have been seven other warships to bear that name and there is already a petition to name a yet-to-be-built carrier the ninth USS Enterprise.

frigidmagi wrote:We don't name ships like that anymore, now we name them after politicians.

Batman wrote:Just as long as some 230 years from now, the name goes to a Constitution class heavy cruiser.

And may she rest in peace (not to mention pieces). She's certainly done her duty and then some.

General Havoc wrote:

frigidmagi wrote:We don't name ships like that anymore, now we name them after politicians.

According to the Navy office, they have decided that policy is no longer popular and are considering going back to traditional names.

Batman wrote:I honestly don't see why naming warships after presidents is any worse than naming them after cities or states, really.

And those civilian holders of office also happen to have been the Commanders in Chief of the entire US military you know.

General Havoc wrote:History-tested Presidents is one thing. I don't mind the USS George Washington or Theodore Roosevelt. But the USS Gerald Ford? Come on, people...

Batman wrote:At least your submarines have names. Besides, the US Navy names ammunition ships after vulcanos (or used to at any rate).

Batman wrote:I'll take your word for it. And technically, a drydocked ship is taken ot of the water in one piece.