The US Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded $536m in a fixed-price contract to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services for the dismantling, recycling, and disposal of the USS Enterprise, US Navy’s first nuclear aircraft carrier that was decommissioned in 2017. NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services is a Mobile, Alabama-based partnership between NorthStar Group Services and Modern American Recycling & Radiological Services announced in November 2024.
DOD said USS Enterprise will be dismantled in its entirety, and all resulting materials will be properly recycled or disposed of. “Specifically, hazardous materials, including low-level radioactive waste, will be packaged and safely transported for disposal at authorised licensed sites.”
Disposal of the vessel began in 2022 when the Navy released a report that explored various options including continuing to hold the vessel in lay-up or dismantling. In 2023, the Navy confirmed that it preferred to dismantle the carrier using a commercial facility in order not to lose space and capacity in its own shipyards.
USS Enterprise’s nuclear reactors have been defuelled, but there are still “legacy radiological and hazardous wastes” on board the Navy noted. During the dismantling process, the hazardous components will be separated and properly contained for shipment to a storage site. North Star will be responsible for dismantling the other sections of the ship. DOD said the work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by November 2029.
Nicknamed Big E, and also known as CVN-65, the carrier was a symbol of US naval power and is the longest naval vessel ever constructed, although she is outranked by the Nimitz and Ford-class carriers in terms of displacement. She has a length of 342 metres at the flight deck and a displacement of approximately 94,000 tonnes. She had an acknowledged top speed of over 30 knots, although it was rumoured that she could operate at much faster speeds.
USS Enterprise was commissioned in 1961 as lead in a class of nuclear carriers. However, the Navy learned from her and instead went on to build the Nimitz class. She served with distinction through the 1960s before a fire in 1969 and an overhaul in the early 1970s. She received life extension refits in the 1990s and in 2008 which lasted till 2010. She began her final deployment in March 2012 and was officially listed as deactivated in December 2012.
Big E completed 25 deployments during 51 years of service, according to Naval History and Heritage Command. She was present at key events, including the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis; aerial combat and bombardment missions during the Vietnam War; the evacuation of the US Embassy during the fall of Saigon; the bombing of Al Qaeda and Taliban installations after 9/11; and duty in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She also participated in the early space programme tracking John Glenn’s orbit of the Earth in the Friendship 7 capsule.
Deciding on disposal of Big E was important as the Navy is now anticipating deactivation of the first Nimitz class carriers in the coming years. She will provide a model for the Navy as it moves forward into the Ford class. Her legacy of will be celebrated as about 14 tonnes of steel salvaged from the dismantling will be incorporated into CNV-80, the third Ford-class carrier which fittingly will also be named USS Enterprise.
