Former USS Enterprise Begins Final Voyage to Alabama for Dismantling

The former USS Enterprise (CVN 65), the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, departed Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia under tow on Monday, November 2, beginning its final journey to Mobile, Alabama, where the historic warship will be dismantled.

The departure marks another milestone in the retirement of one of the U.S. Navy’s most storied vessels, nearly 14 years after the carrier completed its final deployment and almost a decade after its formal decommissioning.

Known as the “Big E,” Enterprise spent more than five decades in service, becoming a symbol of American naval power and pioneering the use of nuclear propulsion aboard aircraft carriers.

The ship is headed to a commercial dismantling facility in Mobile, where NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Services will carry out the work under a $418.5 million Navy contract awarded in July 2026. The project includes dismantling, recycling and disposal of the entire vessel, including its eight defueled nuclear reactor plants.

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