USS Enterprise, a 19,800-ton Yorktown class aircraft carrier, was built at Newport News, Virginia. Commissioned in May 1938, she made a shakedown cruise to South America, then operated in the Caribbean. In April 1939, Enterprise was ordered to the Pacific, where she was to play an unparalleled role in the great sea war that began with Japan's 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
At the time of that raid, Enterprise was at sea. On 10 December, her planes sank a Japanese submarine, the first of many enemy ships that would fall victim to her air group. Later in December, she participated in the abortive Wake Island relief expedition. In February 1942, after escorting convoys to the South Pacific, Enterprise attacked Japanese positions in the Marshalls. During the following three months, she hit Wake and Marcus islands, covered the Doolittle raid on Japan and was en route to the South Pacific when the Battle of the Coral Sea took place in early May.
In June 1942, Enterprise played a vital role in the Battle of Midway, in which her planes sank or helped sink three Japanese aircraft carriers and a cruiser. She was next involved in the Guadalcanal Campaign, including the landings there in early August, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons later in that month and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October. Badly hit by Japanese bombs in August and October, Enterprise was the only available fleet carrier in the area in November and, despite her damaged condition, launched her air group against enemy ships during the climactic Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Remaining in the Solomons area into the Spring of 1943, she received the Presidential Unit Citation for her exploits there.
In late 1943 and early 1944 Enterprise participated in the Gilberts and Marshalls invasions and in attacks on Japanese bases in the Central and Southern Pacific. In June and July, she took part in the Marianas operation and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. From August to December, her planes joined in more raids and again engaged enemy ships during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in late October. At the end of 1944 Enterprise received a special night operations air group, with which she took part in the Luzon campaign, strikes in the South China Sea, the Iwo Jima invasion, raids on the Japanese home islands and the Okinawa campaign. She was repaired locally for bomb damage received on 13 March 1945 and Kamikaze damage on 11 April, but had to the return to the U.S. after being badly hit by another Kamikaze on 14 May.
Enterprise's repairs were finished in September 1945, after the Japanese surrender. She helped return servicemen from the war zones and was present for the Fleet Review off New York City in October 1945. Inactive after early 1946, Enterprise decommissioned in February 1947. While laid up, she was redesignated CVA-6 in October 1952 and CVS-6 in August 1953. After the failure of efforts to make her into a memorial, USS Enterprise was sold for scrapping in July 1958.
This page features selected overall views of USS Enterprise (CV-6), and provides links to other images related to her.
For selected scenes of Enterprise in combat, photographs
taken on board her, and miscellaneous views, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: 80-G-13554 USS Enterprise (CV-6) En route to Pearl Harbor, 8 October 1939. Photographed from USS Minneapolis (CA-36). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 117KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-29688 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Photographed circa 1940, with TBD and SBC aircraft parked on her flight deck, aft. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 123KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-14254 (Color) USS Enterprise (CV-6) Operating in the Pacific, circa late June 1941. She is turning into the wind to recover aircraft. Note her "natural wood" flight deck stain and dark Measure One camouflage paint scheme. The flight deck was stained blue in July 1941, during camouflage experiments that gave her a unique deck stripe pattern. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 147KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-66121 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Entering Pearl Harbor on 26 May 1942, following the Battle of Coral Sea and shortly before the Battle of Midway. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-333207 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Landing aircraft while supporting the Gilberts Operation, 22 November 1943. A TBM "Avenger" torpedo plane is on the flight deck, aft, while another is flying overhead. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-366884 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Underway on 24 November 1943, while supporting the Gilberts Operation. Photographed from USS Monterey (CVL-26). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 127KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97266 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Anchored off Saipan, circa mid-1944, while painted in camouflage Measure 33, Design 4Ab. The photograph was taken from the flight deck of an escort carrier (CVE). Courtesy of Don S. Montgomery, USN(Retired). U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-89185 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Making 20 knots during post-overhaul trials in Puget Sound, Washington, 13 September 1945. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 580 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-701512 Naval Air Station, Alameda, California Four aircraft carriers docked at the Air Station's piers, circa mid-September 1945. The ships are (from front to back): USS Saratoga (CV-3); USS Enterprise (CV-6); USS Hornet (CV-12) and USS San Jacinto (CVL-30). Note PBY amphibians parked at the far left. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 116KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-6576 (Color) USS Enterprise (CV-6) En route to New York to take part in the Navy Day Fleet Review, October 1945. She is steaming in company with a light carrier (CVL) -- in the right distance-- and another warship. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 500 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-701166 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Steams toward the Panama Canal on 10 October 1945, while en route to New York to participate in Navy Day celebrations. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 134KB; 610 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 105563 USS Enterprise (CV-6) Anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, at the time of the Navy Day Fleet Review, circa late October 1945. Collection of Warren Beltramini, donated by Beryl Beltramini, 2007. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image size: 75KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
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Photo #: USN 1036995 USS Enterprise (CVS-6) Awaiting disposal at the New York Naval Shipyard on 22 June 1958. She was sold for scrapping ten days later, on 2 July. USS Independence (CVA-62) is fitting out on the opposite side of the pier. Ships visible in the left foreground include (from front): USS DeLong (DE-684), USS Coates (DE-685) and USS Hoe (SS-258). Ten other destroyers are also present, as is a "Liberty" type ship. The Schaefer brewery is visible in the center background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 149KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1036995. |
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For selected scenes of Enterprise in combat, photographs
taken on board her, and miscellaneous views, see:
NOTES:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 29 March 2000
Coding updated 5 May 2009