The former USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, departed Newport News, Virginia, on November 2, 2026, for its final voyage to Mobile, Alabama, where it will be dismantled. The United States Navy confirmed that the historic vessel is being towed to a commercial ship recycling facility after spending several years in storage following its retirement from active service.

Commissioned in 1961, USS Enterprise served the U.S. Navy for more than five decades and became one of its most recognizable warships. Known as the “Big E,” the carrier participated in major military operations during the Cold War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East. According to the U.S. Navy, the vessel traveled more than one million nautical miles during its operational career before being inactivated in December 2012 and officially decommissioned in 2017.

The dismantling project will be carried out by NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services under a contract awarded by the U.S. Navy. The vessel\'s nuclear reactors have already been defueled, but remaining radioactive and hazardous materials will require specialized handling and disposal. The U.S. Department of Defense has stated that hazardous materials will be transported to authorized disposal facilities, while recyclable components will be processed during dismantling.

Measuring approximately 342 meters in length, USS Enterprise remains the longest naval vessel ever constructed. Its dismantling will provide the U.S. Navy with experience in disposing of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, particularly as older Nimitz-class vessels approach retirement. The Enterprise name will continue through the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80), a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier currently being constructed for the U.S. Navy.