page_title: USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
section_title: South and Southeast Asia
hierarchical_section_title: USS Enterprise (CVN-65) / History / 1970s / South and Southeast Asia
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) being replenished by the fleet oiler USS Hassayampa (AO-145) in the South China Sea. The Big E was deployed with Attack Carrier Air Wing 14 (CVW-14) to Vietnam from 12 September 1972 to 12 June 1973.
context_page_description: USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. She was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 feet, she is the longest naval vessel ever built. Her 93,284-long-ton displacement ranks her as the 12th-heaviest carrier, after the ten carriers of the Nimitz class and USS Gerald R. Ford. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members.
  The only ship of her class, Enterprise was, at the time of inactivation, the third-oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled USS Constitution and USS Pueblo. She was inactivated on 1 December 2012, and officially decommissioned on 3 February 2017, after over 55 years of service. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day.
  The name has been adopted by the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
context_section_description: In Vietnam, Enterprise, Oriskany and Midway launched a total of 2,001 strike sorties by 30 July 1971. Strike operations in July were disrupted when the carriers on station evaded three typhoons: Harriet, Kim and Jean. A slight increase in South Vietnam strike sorties occurred during the month. These were mainly visual strikes against enemy troop positions and in support of U.S. helicopter operations. From August–November 1971, Enterprise was in operations on Yankee Station.
  In December 1971, Captain Ernest E. Tissot, Jr. assumed command, and Enterprise was deployed to the Bay of Bengal, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 as a show of strength against India's naval blockade by INS Vikrant. Later a Soviet Navy submarine was also trailing the U.S. task force. A confrontation was averted the Americans moved towards South East Asia, away from the Indian Ocean.
  On 18 December 1972, the United States resumed bombing campaigns above the 20th parallel under the name Linebacker II. During Linebacker II operations, Enterprise and other carriers on station reseeded the mine fields in Haiphong harbor and conducted concentrated strikes against surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery sites, enemy army barracks, petroleum storage areas, Haiphong naval and shipyard areas, and railroad and truck stations. Navy tactical air attack sorties under Linebacker II were centered in the coastal areas around Hanoi and Haiphong. There were 705 Navy sorties in this area during Linebacker II. Between 18 and 22 December, the Navy conducted 119 Linebacker II strikes in North Vietnam, with the main limiting factor on airstrikes being bad weather.
  In December 1972, the North Vietnamese returned to the peace table and Linebacker II ended. In January 1973, the Vietnam cease fire was announced and American carriers ceased all combat sorties into North and South Vietnam.
  From 28 January 1973, aircraft from Enterprise and Ranger flew 81 combat sorties against lines-of-communication targets in Laos. The corridor for overflights was between Huế and Da Nang in South Vietnam. These combat support sorties were flown in support of the Laotian government, which had requested this assistance. Laos had no relationship with the ceasefire in Vietnam.
caption: Enterprise during an underway replenishment with the fleet oiler Hassayampa in the South China Sea in 1973.
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