Two recent aircraft carriers—each named USS Enterprise—would have made memorable museum ships. For various reasons, neither could be saved.

Apart from the name USS Ranger, which has been used 10 times by the United States Navy, USS Enterprise (along with USS Washington) has been the most widely used name in the history of the sea service. Nine vessels, including eight warships, have been named “Enterprise”—yet today, not a single one survives. (In fairness, none of the former ships named “Ranger” survived, either.)

In some cases, this isn’t surprising.

The very first USS Enterprise began life as a British supply sloop on Lake Champlain, but was subsequently burned to prevent her recapture during the American Revolution. The next Enterprise was a privateer purchased by the Continental Navy and is believed to have been returned to the Maryland Council of Safety after the war. Meanwhile, the first USS Ranger, which John Paul Jones commanded during the Revolution, was captured by the British and renamed HMS Halifax; that ship was later decommissioned and used as a merchant vessel, though her final fate is unknown. Had the first USS Enterprise survived the war, it would likely still be lost to the ages as well.

Following the American Revolution, the Continental Navy was also disbanded, and none of its warships were maintained. The surviving fleet was either sold off or scrapped.

That fact explains why the oldest commissioned US Navy warship is the USS Constitution, one of the six original frigates authorized by Congress following the passage of the Naval Act of 1794. The first United States Navy warship to bear the name USS Enterprise was a schooner built in 1799. Rebuilt on several occasions, she was lost after striking a reef in the West Indies in July 1823.

The “Museum Ship” Is a Recent Idea

There was no tradition of saving retired warships throughout the 18th or early 19th centuries. That changed due to a movement not in the United States, but in the United Kingdom.

By the early 1830s, Lord Nelson’s flagship from the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory, was seen as too old for continued service. The warship that led the Royal Navy to victory and ushered in its era of naval dominance was ordered broken up to reuse her timber. Fortunately, public outcry, led by the Society for Nautical Research, saved that historic warship. She subsequently spent much of the 19th century as a harbor ship in Portsmouth.

By the early 1920s, the ship had deteriorated significantly, but another public campaign gathered momentum, saving it once again. HMS Victory has endured, surviving times and the elements. The famed warship is now on display in Portsmouth, England, and a conversation effort remains underway.

A similar story occurred with the USS Constitution. Though there were no early plans to save the warship, she simply remained in US Navy service so long that it was decided not to break her up. In 1905, when the frigate was in a sorry state of disrepair, the US Navy considered scrapping Old Ironside and using the historic warship—for target practice!

Once again, public outrage saved the ship, and Congress appropriated $100,000 in 1906 for her restoration. The USS Constitution is now the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. 

It is worth noting that neither the Royal Navy nor the US Navy has commissioned another warship with the names of those iconic tall ships.

So Why No USS Enterprise Museum?

Although multiple vessels named USS Enterprise have come and gone over the past 250 years, there are two that hold a truly special place in the history of the United States Navy—the famed aircraft carriers built in the 20th century.

The first was the USS Enterprise (CV-6), one of only three American fleet carriers commissioned before World War II to survive the war. That flattop played a crucial role at the Battle of Midway and, for a while, was the only US Navy aircraft carrier in operation in the Pacific to stand against the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Still, when the war ended, she was considered outdated. CV-6 had also taken significant damage during the war, with repairs often rushed.

By 1950, the United States Navy had built 24 newer and more capable Essex-class aircraft carriers. In the early Cold War, there simply wasn’t the money available or the will to preserve the famed flattop. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz was among the advocates who called for saving USS Enterprise.

Sadly, the fundraising efforts to preserve her came up short, and efforts to maintain the ship as a museum or memorial failed. She was sold for scrap and broken up in 1958. It was only afterward that the US Navy may have realized what was lost.

Fortunately, four Essex-class aircraft carriers—USS Lexington (CV-16), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Hornet (CV-12), and USS Intrepid (CV-11)—have been preserved as floating museums, along with USS Midway (CV-41).

The Newest Enterprise’s Nuclear Reactor Is a Big Problem

The issue with the most modern USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is much more straightforward. Any attempt to save the warship was complicated by the fact that she was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The ship is literally built around its nuclear reactors—making it next to impossible to remove them while maintaining its structural integrity.

Even so, there were calls for CVN-65 to be perceived as a floating museum. Beyond being the first nuclear-powered carrier, as of 2012, she had the distinction of being the US Navy’s longest-serving combat vessel and the third-oldest commissioned warship, after USS Constitution and USS Pueblo (seized by North Korea in 1968 and converted into a tourist attraction in Pyongyang, but still officially in US Navy service).

The Navy determined that any effort to preserve the ship would have required partial dismantling to remove the eight nuclear reactors and make it safe for visitors. In the end, federal regulations and safety concerns made the release of a nuclear-powered vessel to a private entity simply impossible.

Even recycling the ship proved more difficult, in part because there was no plan in place. As a result, the former carrier has spent more than a decade with the service, determining how to scrap her safely. It was finally determined that the cost could range from $500 million to $1.358 billion.

A key issue has been that US Navy shipyards remain overworked and can’t adequately maintain active warships. There simply isn’t the existing industrial capacity to dismantle old nuclear-powered carriers.

It was only in June 2025 that the US Navy awarded a contract to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services for the commercial dismantling of the vessel in Mobile, Alabama, with the project expected to be completed by November 2029. Plans are already underway to streamline efforts, as the US Navy will next have to scrap USS Nimitz (CVN-68).

The Name “Enterprise” Lives On

Although neither of the USS Enterprise aircraft carriers remains today, artifacts from both warships have been preserved. Moreover, the third Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, CVN-80, will be named USS Enterprise.

Currently under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, the flattop is set to enter service in the early 2030s.

Finally, although no historic warship named “Enterprise” has survived, it is possible to see the Space Shuttle Enterprise (OV-101), which is now on display at the Intrepid Museum in New York City.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

The post The USS Enterprise Is Boldly Going to the Scrapyard appeared first on The National Interest.