Storied carrier, 'the Big E,' makes final voyage

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AT&T via Yahoo News:

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — When the makers of "Top Gun" were filming on board the USS Enterprise, they donated a set of black fuzzy dice to liven up the ship's otherwise drab interior.

 

A quarter-century later, the dice will still be dangling inside the tower of "the Big E" as the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sets sail on its final voyage Sunday.

 

The trinket is a reminder of the ship's storied 50-year history that includes action in several wars, a prominent role in the Cuban missile crisis and serving as a spotter ship for John Glenn's historic orbit of the earth.

 

"To serve on this ship, certainly in this capacity, you certainly have to be a student of the ship's history," said Rear Adm. Walter Carter, commander of the Enterprise strike group. "Fifty years of service, in our nation's history, we've never had a warship in service that long."

 

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Amazing how long that ship has served and how many conflicts it has participated in. Quite a history. I wonder what they'll end up doing with it, and what they'll do with the reactors. Maybe they could just run it aground off the coast of Somolia or Yemen or something and see if the nuclear radiation leakage could create a new and better environment over there. Couldn't really be worse.