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HISTORY DESTROYED: THE U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

December 4, 2025 at 3:41 pm Leave a comment

HISTORY DESTROYED: THE U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

Time accomplished what the Japanese could not.

At the northern end of Newark Bay there were a series of bridges leading to Jersey City and on to New York.  It was from the first of these bridges that you could look down on a complex devoted to scrapping ships for their iron and other metals of value. During the 70’s, I remember this area looking like a floating World War II naval museum.  There would be row upon row of Liberty Ships awaiting the scrappers’ torches, destroyers and the occasional heavy cruiser.  Ships bathed in history waiting for oblivion.  I know they could not all be saved, but it saddened me to see history reduced to a dollar value.   It had been some thirty years since the war had ended; time enough for the whole-scale destruction of military equipment that routinely occurs after the conclusion of a war.  Yet there before my eyes floated a living history soon to be no more, it would be gone forever.

I witnessed the destruction of one ship in particular, which touched me deeply.  This ship was perhaps the most famous American ship of World War II and for years the Japanese sought its destruction.  If ever a ship was worth preserving, to serve as a floating monument to the struggles of the United States Navy during World War II, this was the ship.

During my youth, I devoured books about airplanes; I read everything I could about aviation during World War I and World War II.  I rarely read books about ships, but my love for aviation led me to read one book that I have longed to read again.  To this day, when I get circulars in the mail advertising military books I always look for that title that impressed me in my youth.  The title of the book was THE BIG E, the story of the U.S.S. Enterprise, without a doubt the most famous aircraft carrier to participate in World War II. Now this historic vessel awaited the scraper’s torch.  There this magnificent vessel sat, amongst her comrades in the great struggle of the war.  I cannot imagine why a movement could not save this ship from destruction.  With all the battles, all the victories and sorrows that formed the ship’s past, the Enterprise would have provided a floating history lesson for generations to come.

Having known its history, I could not believe that I was witnessing its destruction.  I would think back to the drama, the life and death struggles that occurred on that ship, but soon it would be no more.  After the deck was removed, you could look down on the complex of compartments, areas where brave men worked to defeat the Japanese navy and were some of them died.  More than once the Enterprise was reported sunk by the Japanese navy, but having been severely damaged in battle this great ship lived on to fight another day.  I know there were many ships during World War II, whose stories echoed with bravery and glory, but I knew the story of the Enterprise and this to me gave it a closeness I could not feel for the other ships torn apart.  There were many ships scrapped at this yard, but the only one I saw mentioned by name in the newspaper was the Enterprise.  I was sorry to witness the loss to history of this great ship, but I was glad I had the opportunity to see such an important piece of our naval and aviation heritage.

Entry filed under: BIO, memoir, OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS, REMEMBERANCES, Walt Trizna, Walt Trizna's Stories, WALT'S OBSERVATIONS. Tags: aircraft carrier, books, famous ships, history, military, navy, Newark Bay, The Big E, the Enterprise, U.S. Navy, Walt Trizna, WW II, WWII.