The U.S. Navy confirmed that the former aircraft carrier USS Enterprise has begun its final voyage bound for dismantling in Mobile, Alabama. The world’s first nuclear aircraft carrier, she was decommissioned a decade ago after a career that spanned 55 years.
12:15 hrs Eastern the USS Enterprise CVN-65 the first nuclear aircraft carrier has been decommisioned in the Newport News Shipyard and is outbound for sea heading to Mobile, Alabama. My dad fueled her and my oldest brother defueled her. #cvn65 #ussenterprise #BigE #NewportNewsShipyard #HuntingtonIngalls
— ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? (@AirAssets)
She departed Newport News, Virginia, on November 2, being towed to Mobile 17 months after the dismantling contract was awarded for $536 million in a fixed-price contract to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services. It is a partnership between NorthStar Group Services and Modern American Recycling and Radiological Services, announced in November 2024 as one of the bidders for the contract. The other competitors for the contract were in Newport News, Virginia, and Brownsville, Texas.
She will be arriving in Mobile around the same time as the former ocean liner S.S. United States is being towed out to begin her final voyage. The hull of the liner is currently expected to depart the MARS yard on November 9 before it is sunk to become a manmade reef. The carrier is expected to take a similar spot in Mobile and likely will become a new tourist attraction for the city…