Huntington Ingalls Industries has moved the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) on Saturday from Pier 2 at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division to her original birthplace, Dry Dock 11.
Newport News employees will continue the defueling process in the dry dock under the current inactivation contract.
Six tugboats guided the ship about one mile to its new location. More than 200 shipbuilders assisted with the ship’s relocation, a two-and-a-half-hour effort. Work will continue in the dry dock until the fall of 2016.
The first super carrier powered by nuclear reactors, USS Enterprise is also the first to undergo an inactivation, which includes defueling the ship’s eight reactors and preparing the hull for its final dismantlement.
USS Enterprise was built at Newport News and joined the Navy’s fleet in 1961. The ship aided in the Cuban Missile Crisis and operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn, as well as naval maritime security operations.
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Image: HII