On November 4, 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took sixty-six Americans hostage. Within days, the United States Navy began repositioning forces toward the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean in what would become the longest and most frustrating crisis of the Carter administration. At the center of that naval response was the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) — the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and, at that moment, the most powerful warship afloat. Enterprise and her battle group spent months in the Indian Ocean on a mission with no clear end and no easy exit, holding the line while diplomats and planners tried to find a way out of a crisis that seemed to defy solution.
The Ship and the Moment
By 1979, Enterprise was eighteen years old and had already accumulated a remarkable combat record from Vietnam. She was the longest naval vessel afloat at 1,123 feet, and her eight nuclear reactors gave her the ability to operate indefinitely without refueling — a strategic advantage that made her the obvious choice for a long-duration deployment in a distant theater. When the hostage crisis erupted in November, Enterprise was operating in the Western Pacific. She was quickly redirected toward the Indian Ocean, joining a growing naval presence that included cruisers, destroyers, and logistics ships threading through some of the most strategically critical waters in the world.
The Indian Ocean Watch
The deployment that followed was one of the more psychologically demanding in the carrier's history. Enterprise and her battle group maintained station in the Indian Ocean — alternating between the Arabian Sea and positions closer to the Persian Gulf — for months on end. The mission was deterrence: to signal American resolve, to give planners options, and to be ready if the President ordered military action. But military action never came, and the ship spent week after week holding position in hot, humid waters far from any friendly port, waiting for orders that kept not arriving.
For the sailors aboard, the deployment was a study in sustained readiness. Flight operations continued. Engineering spaces stayed at high tempo. The crew maintained the ship in a state of combat readiness that demanded constant attention even in the absence of combat. The Indian Ocean in 1979 and 1980 was not a benign environment — Soviet naval forces were also present in the region, keeping a watchful eye on the American buildup, and the tension of mutual surveillance added another layer to an already difficult operational picture.
Operation Eagle Claw
In April 1980, the Carter administration authorized a rescue attempt — Operation Eagle Claw — that would use Army Special Forces, Air Force helicopters, and Marine RH-53 helicopters launched from USS Nimitz (which had relieved Enterprise on station) to extract the hostages from Tehran. Enterprise had already rotated out by the time Eagle Claw launched, but her presence throughout the preceding months had been an essential element of the pressure the United States was maintaining on Iran. The rescue failed catastrophically at Desert One when helicopter failures forced an abort, and eight American servicemen died in a collision during the withdrawal. Enterprise's long watch had not produced the outcome anyone hoped for — but the crew had done everything asked of them, and they had done it well.
Coming Home
The hostages were not released until January 20, 1981 — the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as President. By then Enterprise had been home for months, but the men who had held station in the Indian Ocean during that long vigil understood something about the nature of naval service that no peacetime deployment teaches: that sometimes the Navy's job is to be present, visible, and ready for an order that never comes, for as long as the nation requires. That is a harder thing to do than it sounds.
If you served aboard USS Enterprise during her Indian Ocean deployments or any cruise, browse the Enterprise collection at The Ship's Store — cruise shirts, license plate frames, and more honoring the Big E and her crew.