USS Enterprise CV-6 Nameplate

The US Navy announced in December that the next Ford-class aircraft carrier would be named Enterprise. Numerous groups had called for the next ship to be given this legendary name, which would be a break from the politically-focused naming trend that has been going on for years.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced this during the decommissioning ceremonies for the Enterprise (CV-65). Curiously, Mabus made no mention of the most storied Enterprise of all (at least I didn't see it in any of the press releases).

Not much remains of the World War Two Enterprise these days. The largest piece is the ship's stern plate,  which somehow found its way to a park in New Jersey. In the documentary series History 360, there is a good shot of CV-6's name plate. Compare that with the plate as it exists today. Of note are the seams between the plates and the two rivet heads between the "R" and the "P".

Enterprise name plate sometime in the 1940s.

Enterprise name plate today.