USS Enterprise (CV-6)

USS Enterprise (CV-6), was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. Colloquially referred to as the "Big E", she was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. A Yorktown-class carrier, she was launched in 1936 and was one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger). She participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other US ship. These actions included the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On three separate occasions during the Pacific War, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, earning her the name "The Grey Ghost". Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II and became the most decorated US ship of World War II.