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Enterprise Becomes First Carrier at Double Decker Pier

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS040913-05
Release Date: 9/13/2004 4:07:00 PM

By Journalist 2nd Class Fletcher Gibson, USS Enterprise Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- USS Enterprise (CVN 65) completed a successful maneuver Sept. 2, becoming the first aircraft carrier to tie up to a new style of double-decker pier at Naval Station Norfolk's Pier 6.

The bi-level design allows ship's services, like water and electricity, to be run from below, protecting the equipment, and leaving the upper deck free for cargo and traffic flow. However, the height of the pier had the potential of impacting with the ship's aircraft elevators, and a fit test was required to ensure it could be done safely.

Nearly four months of planning went into the test. Frequent meetings between port operations and ship's personnel covered every possible difficulty. Members of Enterprise's Deck Department took physical measurements of the ship and pier to make sure everything would line up. They determined that the "camel," the bumper between the ship and the pier, would have to be wider. Even then, the extra distance only allowed 3 feet of clearance for the elevators.

"There was a little concern that our line wouldn't reach the pier, but considering the pier is 20 feet out of the water, it all worked out," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 George Wenn, Enterprise boatswain.

During Enterprise's one-day stay at Pier 6, the ship's crew tested all of the pier systems from plumbing to Internet to make sure the pier could handle the larger ship's needs. At the same time, port operations for the naval base were looking for ways the pier could be improved to better hold a carrier.

"We are working to get brows built which will reach the deckhouses, and we are addressing the widening of the camel," said Sandra Hawkinson, the assistant regional port operations officer for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.

The fit test was made to help find a potential future home for Enterprise when it completes the current yard period and returns to Norfolk. Naval Station Norfolk, home to five aircraft carriers, is examining new ways to berth these massive ships.

The success of this fit test gave designers a better idea of how to make the next generation of carrier-ready double-decker piers.