USS Enterprise (CVAN/CVN-65)
Ship's Designation

The USS Enterprise was originally designated CVAN-65 when she was commissioned on November 25, 1961. On June 30th, 1975, the 'A' was dropped, making the Big E's official designation CVN-65. (Five other aircraft carriers were also redesignated as CVN's that same day.) The Big E is sometimes referred to as CVAN/CVN-65 or CV(A)N-65. All designations refer to the same ship, and none are incorrect to use, but the ship's official designation today does not include the 'A'.

Every ship in the US Navy has a standard designation that identifies the ship's purpose and the sequence in which it was built. For the Enterprise and similar ships, the designation means...
   C - Carrier
   V - Fixed-Wing Aircraft
   A - Multi-Mission Platform
   N - Nuclear-Powered

WWII-era aircraft carriers were limited as to the types of planes they could handle, and were not necessarily designed to accomodate newer and different models of aircraft as they became available. Most aircraft carriers prior to the Big E were designated as CV's. The first CVA was the USS Intrepid (CVA-11), which was redesignated from CV to CVA in June of 1954 after a two-year retrofit in Newport News. The USS Forrestal (CVA-59), commissioned on October 1, 1955, was the first ship built specifically as a CVA.

The multi-mission launch and recovery platforms can be easily adjusted to accomodate different aircraft, missions, and payloads. One aspect of this is the ability to adjust the thrust of the catapults and the tension on the landing wires for various power and weight requirements. Multi-mission platforms are a standard feature of modern-day aircraft carriers, and the 'A' in the designations is no longer used.