Enterprise
The Grey Ghost, a survivor who participated in more major actions against Japan than any other U.S. ship.
Enterprise is the seventh U.S. Navy vessel of that name and the sixth aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy. A Yorktown-class carrier launched in 1936, she was colloquially called 'The Big E'. She was the only Yorktown-class carrier to survive World War II and one of three American fleet carriers commissioned before the war to do so.
- Class
- Yorktown-class carrier
- Nickname
- The Big E
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II, making her the most decorated U.S. ship of the conflict. Her aircraft and guns downed 911 enemy planes, sank 71 ships, and damaged or destroyed 192 more. On three occasions during the war, the Japanese announced she had been sunk, which inspired her nickname 'The Grey Ghost'. Despite public efforts to turn her into a museum ship after the war, she was scrapped from 1958 to 1960.
In Their Own Story
On 7 December 1941, while delayed by weather about 215 nautical miles west of Oahu, Enterprise launched eighteen SBD dive bombers that arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack; seven were shot down with eight airmen killed and two wounded. This made her the only American aircraft carrier with men at Pearl Harbor during the attack and the first to sustain casualties in the Pacific War. Later that day, her aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70 on 10 December 1941, marking the first time an American ship sank a full-sized enemy warship after the Pacific War was declared.
Reader's Guide
Commanded initially by Captain Newton H. White, Jr., and later by Captains Charles A. Pownall and George D. Murray, Enterprise operated with Task Force 8 and Task Force 16. She participated in key battles including Midway, the Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz Islands, the Philippine Sea, and Leyte Gulf. On three occasions, she was reported sunk by Japanese sources. Her aircraft sank I-70 on 10 December 1941.
Did You Know?
- Enterprise was the only Yorktown-class carrier to survive World War II.
- She earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in WWII.
- Japanese forces announced her sinking three times during the war, earning her the nickname 'The Grey Ghost'.
- Her aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70 on 10 December 1941, the first full-sized enemy warship sunk by an American ship after the Pacific War began.
- Despite efforts to preserve her as a museum ship, Enterprise was scrapped between 1958 and 1960.
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