USS ENTERPRISE

Background

USS Enterprise (CV-6) was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier commissioned before World War II began and which fought in the Battle of Midway in the North Pacific. The Battle of Midway, though not as famous as the attack on Pearl Harbor, was a crucial turning point in World War II, and Enterprise and her air groups were largely responsible for this victory.

Significant Combat Operations

• Dec. 10, 1941: Her planes sink a Japanese submarine.
• Feb.1942: Enterprise attacks the Japanese holdings in the Marshall Islands.
• June 1942: The Battle of Midway. Her planes have a hand in sinking three Japanese ships.
• Summer-Fall 1942: Enterprise is active in combat operations during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. She is badly damaged but continues to play an integral role in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
• 1943-1944: Enterprise is a key player in invasions and attacks on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, the Marianas Invasion, the Luzon Campaign, the attack on Iwo Jima, and the Okinawa Campaign.
• March-May 1945: Enterprise sustains extensive damage from kamikaze attacks and bombs and returns to mainland American bases for repairs.

Enterprise played such a crucial—and active—role in World War II that efforts were made to turn her into a memorial. These efforts were unsuccessful and she was sold for scrap in 1958.