The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was a 19,800-ton Yorktown class aircraft carrier and the seventh U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. 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 the USS Saratoga and USS Ranger). She participated in almost every major action of the war against Japan in the Pacific Theater, more than any other U.S. ship. She was present at the Battle of Midway, various air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, strikes in the South China Sea, the Iwo Jima invasion, and the Okinawa campaign amongst others. She had to the return to the U.S. after a particularly damaging hit by a Kamikaze on May 14, 1945 and repairs were not completed until September, after the Japanese surrender.

Inactive after early 1946, the ship was decommissioned in February 1947. The Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II, was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation, a Navy Unit Commendation, and was the only ship outside of the Royal Navy to receive a British Admiralty Pennant in. While laid up, she was redesignated CVA-6 in October 1952 and CVS-6 in August 1953. After efforts to make her into a memorial failed, the USS Enterprise was sold for scrapping in July 1958.