USS ENTERPRISE Tour, 2000

Seems Registry member Allen Crisp (C5R#W1486) is a Lieutenant Commander on the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS ENTERPRISE. The ship was going to be in port for a few days in Ft. Lauderdale -- and Allen offered to host a private tour of the ship for Registry members and significant others!

How many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities does Registry membership come up with!

Registry member Buzz Fyhrie (C5R#W0564) took on the task of organizing a group to take advantage of Allen's offer.

We met at the Bimini Boatyard Restaurant at 3pm...

Here's LtCmdr Allen Crisp and Buzz Fyhrie. Notice that Buzz can obviously organize a fairly large group activity while remaining fast asleep....

Here we are (most of us, anyway) lined up to be allowed into the pier parking lot (something else denied to the rest of the world).

Here's the gang just before being piped aboard the "Big E"...

The ENTERPRISE is the longest and tallest ship in the US Navy. It's also the fastest with a cruising speed of up to 30 knots! All that while displacing 93,000 tons (when empty of aircraft and aircraft fuel). Eight nuclear reactors on board exceeds the number on more modern aircraft carriers by a factor of FOUR. And, with her full complement of seventy aircraft and 5000 men and women in the crew, the ENTERPRISE is one formidable presence in the Atlantic.

Commissioned in 1963, the ENTERPRISE has seen steady service for 37 years. This is the view of the fantail; the ship goes on and on and on and on from here!

Here's Registry Director Jake Drennon (C5R#V0003) and his wife Suzanne, dwarfed by the ENTERPRISE.

It's not for nothing that the ENTERPRISE is called "The Big E"...

This is us on the hangar deck getting the introduction to the ship from Allen

Looking aft on the hanger deck. That's ship as far as you can see.

Just to give you some perspective, the flag Allen is standing in front of is about 15' by 30'.

We were shown the weapons carried by the various aircraft that fly from the ENTERPRISE. These include the F-14 and F/A-18 plus helicopters and other supporting aircraft.

Allen's team is responsible for all maintenance of the mechanical and electronic systems aboard. This sailor explained how they rebuild jet engines right on the ship.

And this sailor explained how they test rebuilt engines in a stern bay before returning them to active service.

This shot looks forward along a main passageway. It goes on and on and...

We learned pretty much all there was to doing electronic component repair from this sailor.

We climbed (and I mean climbed) all over the ship. This is the flight deck (well, a small part of it). The white crane you see is capable of lifting and moving a disabled aircraft.

The flag over the fantail was whipping around in a very significant wind, maybe 30-40 knots that was blowing along the flight deck. Our visit was just after a cold front went through the south and the high temp today in Ft. Lauderdale was an unseasonably cool 78 degrees. With a 30-40 knot wind chill...

Another group shot; this one in front of the control tower. And, yes, we climbed all the way up to the top, too.

We're on the bridge now. This is a view across the front of the bridge toward the navigator's chair.

This is the view the helmsman sees:

Here's a shot of Jake in the captain's chair making the "C Five" hand gesture. That's Buzz Nielsen (C5R#W0492)looking on.

Watch this space. I'll have more pictures soon (as soon as someone sends them to me!)