Vol. 18, No. 3 Newsletter of the China Lake Museum Foundation Fall 2012 Page 1 Member Agency # 13086 USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) TO BE RETIRED USS Enterprise Inactivation Ceremony is scheduled December 1, 2012 with 51 years of service and an estimated 100,000 Sailors and Marines who have served aboard her. USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, commemorates a name which has been a continuing symbol of the great struggle to retain American liberty, justice and freedom since the first days of the American Revolutionary War. She is the eighth ship of the Fleet to carry this illustrious name that is literally defined as boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs. The first Enterprise originally belonged to the British and cruised on Lake Champlain to supply their posts in Canada. After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the Americans on 10 May 1775 she became the object of desire in the mind of Benedict Arnold who realized he would not have control of Lake Champlain until her capture. He learned she was stationed at a small British garrison at St. John’s on the Richelieu in Canada, and set out from Skenesborough (Whitehall, New York) in the commandeered sloop Liberty for that place on 14 May 1775. He surprised and captured the British garrison on 18 May, took possession of the 70-ton sloop, and sailed her south to Crown Point. She was named Enterprise by Arnold and fitted out with twelve long 4-pounder carriage guns and ten swivels. About 1 August 1775, Captain James Smith was sent by the New York Provincial Congress to General Philip Schuyler and ordered to take command of “the sloop Enterprise.” The second Enterprise was an eight-gun schooner of 25 tons, with a crew of 60 men. Granted a letter of marque commission from the state of Maryland, she made a remarkably successful cruise (June- December 1776) under the command of Captain James Campbell. Enterprise was purchased by the Committee of Secret Correspondence of the Continental Congress 20 December 1776. Under the command of Captain Campbell, Enterprise served chiefly in convoying transports in Chesapeake Bay. She was also active in reconnoitering the enemy’s ships and preventing their tenders and barges from getting supplies from the shores of Maryland and Virginia. The third Enterprise was a twelve-gun schooner built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Maryland at a cost of $16,240.00. She had a length of 84 feet, 7 inches; extreme beam of 22 feet, 6 inches; tonnage of 135, depth of hold, 10 feet; and a complement of 70 officers and men. She was originally armed (cont’d on page 2) , OCR Text: Vol. 18, No. 3 Newsletter of the China Lake Museum Foundation Fall 2012 Page 1 Member Agency # 13086 USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) TO BE RETIRED USS Enterprise Inactivation Ceremony is scheduled December 1, 2012 with 51 years of service and an estimated 100,000 Sailors and Marines who have served aboard her. USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, commemorates a name which has been a continuing symbol of the great struggle to retain American liberty, justice and freedom since the first days of the American Revolutionary War. She is the eighth ship of the Fleet to carry this illustrious name that is literally defined as boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs. The first Enterprise originally belonged to the British and cruised on Lake Champlain to supply their posts in Canada. After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the Americans on 10 May 1775 she became the object of desire in the mind of Benedict Arnold who realized he would not have control of Lake Champlain until her capture. He learned she was stationed at a small British garrison at St. John’s on the Richelieu in Canada, and set out from Skenesborough (Whitehall, New York) in the commandeered sloop Liberty for that place on 14 May 1775. He surprised and captured the British garrison on 18 May, took possession of the 70-ton sloop, and sailed her south to Crown Point. She was named Enterprise by Arnold and fitted out with twelve long 4-pounder carriage guns and ten swivels. About 1 August 1775, Captain James Smith was sent by the New York Provincial Congress to General Philip Schuyler and ordered to take command of “the sloop Enterprise.” The second Enterprise was an eight-gun schooner of 25 tons, with a crew of 60 men. Granted a letter of marque commission from the state of Maryland, she made a remarkably successful cruise (June- December 1776) under the command of Captain James Campbell. Enterprise was purchased by the Committee of Secret Correspondence of the Continental Congress 20 December 1776. Under the command of Captain Campbell, Enterprise served chiefly in convoying transports in Chesapeake Bay. She was also active in reconnoitering the enemy’s ships and preventing their tenders and barges from getting supplies from the shores of Maryland and Virginia. The third Enterprise was a twelve-gun schooner built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Maryland at a cost of $16,240.00. She had a length of 84 feet, 7 inches; extreme beam of 22 feet, 6 inches; tonnage of 135, depth of hold, 10 feet; and a complement of 70 officers and men. She was originally armed (cont’d on page 2) , China Lake Museum,China Laker - Newsletter,China Laker 2010s,China Laker 2012,Vol+18+No+3+Fall+2012.pdf,Vol+18+No+3+Fall+2012.pdf Page 1, Vol+18+No+3+Fall+2012.pdf Page 1