The USS Enterprise was the second Yorktown-class aircraft carrier and the only one of its class to survive the Second World War. Commissioned in 1938, Enterprise was forward deployed to Pearl Harbor in 1940 along with other ships of the Pacific Fleet. When the Japanese planned their attack on Pearl Harbor, their intelligence sources had indicated that the aircraft carriers Enterprise, Saratoga and Lexington would be there. On December 7th, Enterprise was returning from delivering VMF-211 to Wake Island. The Enterprise entered the damaged harbor later in the day to refuel and resupply before setting out to screen the Hawaiian islands from another attack.
The 'Big E' escorted USS Hornet a few months later when the latter launched Doolittle's B-25s for their famous attack on Japan. In fact, Enterprise was present at most of the battles for the Pacific though the Japanese managed to damage the ship several times during the course of the war. In December 1944, Enterprise was modified to embark an air group that was equipped for night fighting, earning her the first designation as CV(N) 6. With that special capability, the Enterprise was able to keep air cover over Iwo Jima for 178 continuous hours.
After being hit by a kamikaze in May 1945, Enterprise returned to Puget Sound for repairs and was in the process of returning to service when the war ended in Japan. She was reconfigured to support Operation Magic Carpet to ferry troops home from Europe, completing three such voyages. By the end of 1945, Enterprise was decommissioned as the Navy had sufficient Essex-class carriers in service for its post-war requirements.
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