After more than 50 years of service, the nation's oldest warship has just wrapped up its final deployment. The U.S. Navy put together a time-lapse video (complete with jazzy music) of the USS Enterprise pulling into Naval Station Mayport, Florida during her final port visit as a tribute to the Big E. Take a look above.
The Navy will hold a decommissioning ceremony for the USS Enterprise on December 1st. After the ceremony, according to the USS Enterprise website, the ship will remain at Naval Station Norfolk for about 6 months for equipment offloading. The Enterprise will then enter its four-year inactivation phase:
As part of the inactivation, hydraulic systems will be drained and expendable materials, tools, spare parts and furnishings will be removed. Additionally, tanks containing oil and other fluids will be drained and cleaned, any hazardous material will be removed, and the ship's electrical and lighting systems will be de-energized. Concurrent with inactivation, the ship will be defueled using the same proven techniques that have been used successfully to refuel and defuel over 350 Naval nuclear-powered warships.
After all of this is completed, the Navy will tow the USS Enterprise to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where the remains of the Big E will be dismantled and recycled.
