I recall multiple times that he has told me all about unique ships and aircrafts that he has been on. Additionally, I vividly remember one time he pulled up his pant leg and showed me where he had been shot before. From him, I learned strength, perseverance, and tough love. Now that he has passed, I wanted to learn more about his story and about a particular naval ship he worked on called the USS Enterprise. 

My Grandpa's Story

My grandpa worked on the USS Enterprise along with many other naval ships during his time serving in the Navy. He wrote and published a book about his time serving our country and all the knowledge he has gained from it. From stories about meeting my grandma to being in the line of combat, it has been a great experience to learn more about his life.

He was assigned to the ship from 1966-1967 and again later from 1971-1972. As a chief reactor, my grandpa served in five West Pac cruises during the Vietnam War. As well as having to fight in multiple combat situations, (Halfon). He was under tremendous amounts of pressure but said he wouldn’t have traded it for the world. 

The Anatomy of the Ship

The USS Enterprise was commissioned in 1961 and decommissioned in 2017. It served a total of 56 years spanning from the Cuban missile crisis to the Iraq war and many others in between. 

The naval ship USS Enterprise was the first of its kind and its construction was vital to its success. The USS Enterprise is a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. An aircraft carrier is a large warship equipped to serve as a base for aircraft that can take off from and land on its deck. 

The ship is powered by eight 132 megawatt nuclear reactors. It can go about three years or 200,000 miles without needing to be refueled. This made it very convenient when traveling during long cruises and missions. However, refueling was a very grueling process that took about two years for the ship to fully be refurbished. 

It was one of the fastest ships during its time traveling over thirty knots. Additionally, it was the first nuclear aircraft carrier to be in a line of combat. During the Vietnam War, it launched a bomb against the Viet Cong. The ship launched 165 sorties in a single day, breaking another record. A sortie is a dispatch of a military unit, meaning 165 troops were deployed that day.

The Fire at Pearl Harbor

The USS Enterprise has endured numerous setbacks and survived multiple dangerous encounters including a fire at pearl harbor. On January 14th, 1969 the exhaust from another ship was angled directly towards the USS Enterprise in the harbor. 

The heat caused a warhead to detonate and it started a fire on board. In less than 60 seconds after the fire started, three more bombs exploded. It then started a chain reaction and then a 500 pound bomb detonated. This caused major damage to the flight deck. It left 8 holes in the ship to later be repaired. 

In the end, there were 18 detonations in total. It took about 3 hours for the crew to extinguish all the fires. This situation caused 344 injuries. There were over 20 aircrafts that were either damaged or destroyed and sadly, 28 deaths. The cost of repairing the structural damage to the ship and other equipment was over 126 million dollars. Which could have been avoided if the other ship was facing the opposite direction.

My grandpa was not on board during the fire at Pearl Harbor, he was working on another aircraft carrier. But when reassigned in 1971, he helped reconstruct parts of the ship to make it able to serve missions again. He recalled seeing pictures of the damaged ship everywhere in town, (Halfon). After helping reconstruct the ship, he was then ordered to go onboard the USS Nimitz for new construction prototype training.  He then went on to serve until he was honorably discharged on December 18th, 2974

What is a Nuclear Reactor Operator?

Nuclear reactor operators have an important job to fill and have to be able to think on their feet. A nuclear reactor operator is a person who controls nuclear reactors. My grandpa was a chief nuclear reactor technician while on board the USS Enterprise. They are in charge of the equipment and facilitate the energy that's moving throughout the plant. The operators also tweak and make changes when things aren't operating smoothly. Additionally, they have to deal with the rods to monitor the electricity that the plant produces. The operators put safety procedures in place and are in charge of cooling systems. 

The operators have to constantly be on their feet and think fast while under tremendous amounts of pressure. They make complex decisions having to take into account safety and malfunctions. Someone in the field says that “Energy-related careers can be challenging, enjoyable and sometimes lucrative,” (Garcia). 

Some advantages of working in this field include the stability of the job and the safety protocols prioritized by the plants. These protocols ensure a safe working environment through specific testing and procedures. However, the demanding nature of the job can lead to stress for employees, and low pay for their dangerous work. 

  USS Enterprise Timeline