Inside the Crazy Construction of Newest US Navy $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier 

I am an 85 year old Marine. I fell in love with CV6 USS Enterprise when I read Commander Edward P. Stafford's book the BIG E, that was soon after I was discharged from the Corps. I have read every book watched every movie and video about her. I wore out three books reading them over and over. I have watched the series about her twice. I believe the only people more knowledgeable about her are the professional historians. To see her reborn for the ninth time is outstanding. I just hope I'm there when she is launched and commissioned. (Not physically I'm ancient)

I am a Plankowner on CVN72, Abraham Lincoln. The days living and working in the shipyard were as unusual as I could have imagined for a young sailor. But what an honor to watch them day after day bring our monstrous vessel to her full size and weight, piece by piece, with the smell of welding and paint and cleaning chemicals permeating our uniforms. The men and women in the shipyard were tough as nails but somewhere in the hull you always heard some laughter and singing. I won't forget that sound among all the construction... We were riding the newest greatest most expensive Navy ship ever built!...Right up until the time CVN73 was floated, then the torch was passed.

Loved that area when I served at Fort Monroe. I was hired to be a photographer at Williamsburg, but stupidly turned it down to return to my old job at the Atlantic City Press. Doris Miller is revered where I now live in Central Texas. Don’t matter his race, he was a hero and this will be the third major structure named for him. A VA medical center, school and the ultimate, an aircraft carrier. What an honor.

Makes me proud that we are able to build such a beautiful ship!!! Go Navy!!!

The work these folks do is outstanding, thank you to all the shipyard workers, I used to work at the Charleston Naval Shipyard many moons ago. Unfortunately the Gov't shut it down.

The Mews has sooooo many wonderful builds. Extraordinary builds over many years indeed.

Love your vids and hope you make more 😊

I'm fortunate to have grown up as a Navy brat and settled in Va Beach. My father was a Naval aviator and would treat us kids to tours and dependents cruises routinely. I've never been on a Ford class, but did do a dependents on the Enterprise. If you haven't seen an aircraft carrier up close, or had the oppty to tour one, try to do it if in the Norfolk area. Makes you appreciate where all those tax dollars are going! God bless the US Navy!

USMC 64--68. Marine Detachment USS Saratoga 66--68. (I had to go to Vietnam first. 65--66). This is a great and very interesting video. And yes. We enjoyed it. Thank you very much.

This is an incredibly fabulous video! I went on a private tour of NNSBD when I was a teenager but I wasn't allowed to see anything like this on the USS Nimitz, which they were contracting at the time. 😊😊😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤

Wow, unbelievable.

The modern American carriers do not have keels like older ships; indeed most navy ships do not as most are built like torsion boxes. Once all assemblies are welded together the entire structure essentially becomes one piece, making it very rigid and very tough. Ships with real/traditional keels are built from the bottom up, where modular assemblage ships like CVN 80 are more akin to a lego construction. Also, that part that is cast is not the rudder but the pintle, the part that bears the rudder shaft. Rudders themselves are not cast but welded torsion boxes, just like the rest of the ship, making them very tough.

Maravilloso.

nice to see another Enterprise

A massive feat of construction expertise. And it's my navy. Semper Fi. B co 3/26

It's about time for an enterprise.

Been to NNSY twice, first for Ike's 1980's COH and then later for PCU George Washington.

I worked in a shipyard. What an experience.😊😊😊

The power of Science🫶

I spent 2 years of my life in this shipyard

대단하고 멋지다.

Amazing

Enhorabuena señor !

Interesting how some of the structure is blurred out, I imagine for security concerns.

Much money. 🇺🇸🌎👍❤

super impressive !!!

La US NAVY llegó a tener una flota de 18 Portaaviones a fines de la Década de los años 80s. ¿ Ahora son mucho menos y no pasan de 12 o me equivoco ?🤔

Very nice👍❤

I really hope one of the aircraft carriers currently being built would be named USS Sleepy Joe...

I love it when she says only the most high tech equipment is used in the construction and it shows a guy with a socket wrench...but I get it.

7:55 - What is that row of things at the very stern on the water line?

Awesome 😂

I hope it's not plagued with cost overruns like the last one was

What was crazy about the construction?

🤯

No carbon fiber and titanium hull?

💙💙💙👍

I served on the CVA(N) 65 ENTERPRISE

3:49 Mario in the flesh.

I’ve asked this question before but as bloody usual I’ve forgotten so here it is again, why put coins underneath the island before it gets welded?.

🇮🇹stupenda🇮🇹

I wouldn't be to quick about retiring any operating Carrier.

Need to make the nuclear reactor modularity removal so these bad boys can be museums after they are done. Can't do that with its current construction design.

Air kraft keyriiiiyyyyyy😅😅😅😅

Just curious how long did it take to construct a carrier in WW2? I understand todays carriers are more complex but the over runs and cost over runs should be punished.

Good to see The Big E reincarnated again .. 🫡

Does ANYONE in the RU-vid-verse, know what year, the USS ENTERPRISE, is expected to go into active service?

silly narration - the rudder only fits one way!

Do they not have 10 already?

🇺🇸👍🙂

That's pricetage in a half

I guess the potential "enemies" of the US have already thought of ways to sink this huge monster. So how to sink $13 bn? But is this really just an aircraft carrier? Isn't it a big swimming city? Just imagine a A cruise ship company would own it and use it for tourism. Many tourists would love it. But no, war is much more important.

china: download this, download this

8.01 The rear left of the ship is DAMAGED!!! looks like something hit it

a pero nadie le dice nada pero si fuera otro pais se quejan porq se arman

Why do they feel the need to dumb these things down so much.

So what happens if all these nuclear ships sink? Does that mean we have an ocean that is poisoned and uninhabitable? 😅

Folle?

Why not make it an enterprise class aircraft carrier? They named it after a person that was never elected president. Seriously?

What's the point of building this when you boat drone nowadays that can damage it ....

這應該是台灣的技術。

Don't drink the water...😊

13.57 the girl in the middle in overalls, is so big and heavy, they must had made special door ways so that she can get in

Wow, no footage of a union strike which happens often during the process. On every ship I worked on there, I would write "ARMY BEAT NAVY" (82nd Airborne) somewhere different every day. Years later at N.O.B. I would still see many of them. That place probably leads the league in deaths in the workplace which is hardly ever mentioned. Mostly from falls, electrocution, and HALON fire suppression systems. Working there in winter really sucks.

P0

I would build our carrier with a belt of 60 cm steel belt around like a battle ship. Put 4 CWIS along the front of ship and another 8 on each side then another 4 at the back. total of 24 CWIS. No missiel will get through when t has this many bulletsr firing at same time

nothing new

And don't forget to mention the biggest polluters in the world...

' keep up american buikd new better bigger largger fastter super aircraft carriers... not important about currencys... betteer take off the currencys and keep private mule

How about selling 1 to Australia to keep the Chinese on their toes

Biggest waste of money on the planet. 😊

Adoro quando os americanos continuam a cometer os mesmos erros sempre: gastam rios de dinheiro nesse elefante 🐘 branco pouco útil e que demora quinze anos pra ser feito, enquanto os inimigos tem mísseis de cruzeiro hipersônicos disparados de navios de superfície e principalmente submarinos 😂☝️

Lots of rust.

What a load of crap. Design work was done years ago.

Healthcare please. Wtf

Build a lot of homes for the needy 13 billion dollars

All this power and too scared to deploy them in the red sea and actually pulled them from the area to keep safe instead of helping the shipping crisis.

Too bad its not the USS Donald Trump because it would be biggly.

“It’s funny when it rains it pours they got money for wars but can’t feed the poor”

Its not 13 billion its more like 25 billion. People have been using 13 billion for the last 5 years. Its an absurd waist of money. We have 12 when the next closest barley has 2. We would be fine with half the amount.

USA Must pay your debts that is close of US$ 35 Trillion Dollar . Is more easy built ships with money of overseas people .

What a colossal waste of money.

Keep taxing your citizens harder with no affordable healthcare. Sooner or later the military industrial complex will learn a hard lesson.

Waste of people's hard earned money

Why does the carrier named after a BLACK MAN HAS TO BE LAST!!!!!!!!😂😂😂😂? WHEN there were two CARRIERS NAMED AFTER THE JFK AND ENTERPRIZE!!!! 🤣🤣🤣Anyway,,,, i lived BRIEFLY in NEWPORT NEWS in 2018 I think. while the FORD WAS in her final stages of construction. It was a trip to see how full the parking lot was in terms of EMPLOYEES. And ALSO,,,,the RESIDENTS OF NEWPORT NEWS, for the most part,from my observations dont give a hoot about these phenomenal vessels being built in their town. Its just one of them THANGS. Just like LIVING IN HAMPTON ROADS period, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, and Portsmouth, cross bridge and tunnels you got Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Which comprises of NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, LITTLE CREEK AMPHIB. BASE, AND NAVAL AIR STATION OCEANA. But us CIVILIANS that live here dont even pay NO ATTENTION to none of that.

“Further strengthening the US NAVY’s carrier fleet”…yep but, that isn’t the purpose for anything being built military wise. 1) it provides a $hitload of jobs that the politicians whose district the industrial facility resides…to keep them in office. Be it aircraft manufacturers, tanks, rifles, ammo…etc., and the supply chains further ahead or preceding. 2) it keeps the Military Industrial Complex well fed 3) justifies a near $1 trillion defense budget…a carrier is an easier identifier of money spent vs. a toilet seat. The minions want to see where their money is going and oh boy, a carrier strike group sure does that! I am a Navy veteran and retired Army and believe in a strong military. Was in when Reagan was pushing a 600 ship fleet. Was stationed aboard a destroyer at that time. But, we outspent the Warsaw Pact and suddenly we didn’t need 600 combat vessels. 🫡

They better get that shit right!!! We tax payers are tired of cost over-runs and minimal, weak construction.