For every one of them, be the captain of a great ship or fleet, there is an element of mystery and trepidation about the oceans of the world. This is one such tale, the USS Enterprise nearly comes to ruin in an almost catastrophic collision with a submerged geologic wonder, the Cortes Bank, lying off the coast of California. It’s a telling reminder of just how hazardous the high seas can be, requiring utmost vigilance by the masters of modern warfare’s mightiest vessels.
From Point Conception to the northern coast of Baja California, the Southern California Borderland ranks amongst the largest and least familiar seafloors, an underwater mountain range that holds taller peaks than any of the Sierra Nevada. It is strewn with the remains of long-extinct pygmy mammoths and other endemic species of terrestrial animals and life forms of the last Ice Age land bridge. Slowly the seas rose, overwhelming the remotest island beyond San Clemente to leave only Cortes Bank and Bishop Rock, those throwing-up places of treacherous rock and Foam, to rise later in their turn and become the mariners’ scourge.
For hundreds of years, the only steady sea traffic off the face of western North America was that carried by the Manila galleons, the Spanish warship freighters, heavily laden with immeasurable riches on their way to Acapulco. The masters of these vessels wisely gave a wide berth to the mainland and the islands to the south, avoiding submerged dangers. It wasn’t until the 19th century, when Yankee skippers began seeking out California’s resources and the migrating whales, that the first inklings of the Cortes Bank’s existence began to surface.
The first recorded sighting of the wondrous effects upon Cortes Bank was in 1846 by the crew of the USS Constitution, a vessel with its storied past, which cruised off the Southern California coast and spotted a large white patch of spume with a roar as the breakers. This was the beginning of the legend of the giant waves, which would become surfing lore, reaching heights of up to 80 feet, towering in perfect curls, and audible for miles across the open ocean.
November 1985 brought one of the most famous ships in the U.S. The USS Enterprise was conducting a routine operational exercise off the coast of San Diego when it began to go on a collision course with Cortes Bank. The captain, Robert L. Leuschner Jr., was preoccupied with the exercise being conducted: attack exercises against defended targets and the positioning required to hold the ship into the wind for effective aircraft launch and recovery. Distracted by a hoax report of an armed man on board, Leuschner did not listen to the navigator’s warning about the shallows of the Cortes Bank and the enormous warship went full speed into the submerged island.
The effect of a quarter-mile-long, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier plowing into a solid rock formation was horrific. The submerged island cut a 60-foot gash down the side of the Enterprise’s torpedo-resistant hull and flattened three of its four enormous propellers. The port keel was likewise heavily damaged, thus leaving the gigantic warship in an extremely critical position.
Still, in all the damage done, the crew of the Enterprise managed to stabilize the ship and float her off the Cortes Bank. Sharks were there to be guarded against by the marines while divers were able to fully survey the extent of the damage. Skillful counterflooding and other damage control techniques allowed the Enterprise to right herself and limp back to port for further repairs, a reflection of just how well the crew was trained and prepared.
The near-disaster of the USS Enterprise at the Cortes Bank was not an isolated case. Other U.S. Navy ships have fallen prey to the treacherous nature of the ocean depths, like the attack submarine USS San Francisco, which ran into an uncharted seamount in Micronesia in 2005, nearly going down. Through hubris and lost opportunity, even smaller vessels, like a minesweeper that wrecked itself on a reef in the South China Sea, have fallen prey to those hidden dangers that lurk beneath the waves.
For all the centuries of exploration and technological improvements, the Southern California Borderland remains an enigma and danger’s lair. Even for the most skillful naval commanders, the towering waves of Cortes Bank and Bishop Rock with their submerged rock formations loomed ominously large, with a sobering reminder of both the power of the ocean and its unpredictability.
It was a tale of the USS Enterprise’s encounter with the Cortes Bank and became a lesson to all those who would venture onto the high seas. This emphasizes continuous vigilance, effective communication, and relentless focus even under the most demanding operational pressures. That sea, full of its wonders and perils, would represent an adversary of high proportion to all who would want to challenge its domain without respect and preparedness.
The enduring legacy of the USS Enterprise: A ship that has held a storied position within the annals of the U.S. Navy has just carved out another addition to its history, the one about the fortitude, prowess, and risks involved by the crew, and it, the perils always hidden beneath the waves that cover three-quarters of the earth’s surface. Though an ordeal, it was a testament to the men and women serving aboard these mighty warships; it was also a reminder of the sea’s unforgiving attitude.