THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DEROCHI, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
For the first time in nearly four years, the carrier Enterprise steamed out of a Newport News shipyard Tuesday morning, ending a $1.8 billion overhaul that is considered the most extensive in U.S. Navy history.
The Enterprise will test its new machinery during sea trials this week before returning to its new home at Norfolk Naval Station on Friday.
The massive reworking was completed by Newport News Shipbuilding, which built the nuclear-powered carrier more than 30 years ago. It is hoped that the overhaul, which included refueling the ship's eight nuclear reactors, will carry the Enterprise through the year 2015.
``With downsizing, going down to 12 aircraft carriers, it is very important to have the Enterprise back in the rotation,'' said Cmdr. Kevin Wensing, a spokesman for the Naval Air Forces Atlantic Fleet.
``Now that it's gone through this extensive overhaul, and with the refueling, it will be a capable platform well into the 21st century.''
Besides the refueling, the overhaul included sandblasting and painting the ship's exterior, replacing 500,000 feet of electrical cable and rebuilding the four elevators used to carry jets from the hangar deck to the flight deck.
``We think it's probably the most complex overhaul that's been done here,'' said Jack Schnaedter, a spokesman at Newport News Shipbuilding. ``I can't imagine a more complex task than the one we just completed.''
That is because there is not likely to be one.
The Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered carrier, is the only one to use eight reactors. The Nimitz-class carriers the Navy is building today rely on only two nuclear reactors.
With the work on the Enterprise, Schnaedter said, Newport News Shipbuilding is trying to snare future overhaul jobs on the Navy's other nuclear carriers, all of which were built at Newport News.
It is estimated that the Nimitz-class carriers have a life span of 40 to 50 years, but the fuel in their nuclear reactors needs to be replaced halfway through. The West Coast-based carrier Nimitz is scheduled for overhaul and refueling in a few years.
If all goes as planned, the Enterprise will go to sea for two weeks in October for more tests and to re-certify its flight deck before taking on the jets from Carrier Air Wing 17, which used to be based on the recently retired Saratoga.
The Enterprise is not expected to deploy until 1996. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
The Enterprise, which steamed out of Newport News Shipbuilding on
Tuesday, will test its new machinery during sea trials this week.
by CNB