PS005 U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6)

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was an American aircraft carrier, the keel of which was laid in 1934, launched in October 1936, and commissioned with the US Navy in May 1938. The ship was 252 m long, 33.4 m wide, and her full displacement at the time of launching was 25,500 tons. The maximum speed of the USS Enterprise was around 32-33 knots, and its main armament consisted of 90 on-board planes. The USS Enterprise was the second Yorktown-class aircraft carrier. The experience gained during the operation of Lexington-type vessels was used in the construction of this type of ship. First of all, it was decided to build relatively large aircraft carriers, with the greatest emphasis on the number of planes taken and the maximum speed, at the expense of armor. So they were going in the same direction as the Japanese designers, and in the opposite direction to the British Royal Navy. It is worth adding that the construction of the aircraft carrier popularly known as "Big E" was part of the program of rebuilding the American economy after the Great Depression of 1929, launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During its long and well-deserved service, the USS Enterprise was modernized several times: in 1940 it received an air surveillance radar (type CXAM-1), and later in 1942 it received a new SC-2 radar. In the course of the fighting in the Pacific, the anti-aircraft weapons were also changed, which in October 1943 had 40 40 mm cannons and 50 20 mm cannons. At the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the USS Enterprise was near Pearl Harbor and, shortly after the Japanese attack, took part in a fruitless search for its attackers. In April 1942, the carrier covered the famous Doolittle Raid in Tokyo. Following this operation, he played one of the most important roles in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Later in 1942, the USS Enterprise was intensively involved in naval operations in the Guadalcanal area, for example in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island. In November 1943 he covered the American landings on Tarawa and Makin. In early 1944 he took part in the fighting in the Marshall Islands area, and in June of that year he took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In 1945, it supported the American operations on Iwo-Jima and Okinawa, being damaged in their course. It was taken off the line and scrapped in 1960. The USS Enterprise was one of the most distinguished and decorated ships of the US Navy during World War II.