The aircraft carrier Enterprise was scheduled to be decommissioned as late as 2014. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead wants to retire the ship early. PH3 Rob Gaston / NavyFrom The Navy Times:
The aircraft carrier Enterprise, aging and one of a kind, may be out of the fleet sooner than expected.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said he intends to get the required congressional dispensation to decommission the ship in 2012 or 2013, taking the flattop fleet down to 10 ships for a few years until the Gerald R. Ford comes online. That’s expected in 2015.
“We really need to take Enterprise out of service,” he told Navy Times. “That ship is old, and it has served extraordinarily well. It has served longer than any aircraft carrier in the history of the United States Navy. And it’s time. She’s safe. She’s going through an availability now. But Enterprise deserves to go to pasture.”
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My Comment: Almost 50 years at sea .... the stories that it can tell.