First nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be decommissioned

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Navy will decommission the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier next week.

The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/2jSlnTx) that the USS Enterprise played a major role in world events that included the Cuban Missile Crisis to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The final goodbye ceremony will take place Feb. 3 at Newport News Shipbuilding. That’s the same shipyard where the carrier was built.

Affectionately called the “Big E,” the ship was taken from service in 2012 in front of about 12,000 people at Norfolk Naval Station. It completed 25 deployments.

Next week’s ceremony is closed to the public. But the Navy says the entire event will be posted on its Facebook page.