USS Enterprise Retirement Beaming Down Star Trek’s William Shatner
Norfolk, VA – The USS Enterprise is retiring soon from the US Navy and Captain Kirk will be beaming aboard for the retirement ceremonies. According to the Associated Press, actor William Shatner of the Star Trek series is scheduled to perform Friday during the USS Enterprise’s inactivation ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. As previously reported on The Inquisitr, this year the USS Enterprise began its final voyage home before being decommissioned.
Navy spokesman Mike Maus said, “We sort of think he might be coming, but not as an official part of the ceremony.” William Shatner’s representative said the actor would give a short speech at the event.
William Shatner played the fictional star ship captain James Tiberius Kirk who helmed the USS Enterprise in the long-running TV and movie series Star Trek. Flying through space, the fictional USS Enterprise and Captain Kirk’s crew traveled to where no one has gone before. While fictional, the stories of the Star Trek universe would often recall “historic” examples like the real-life USS Enterprise.
The real USS Enterprise was the world’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier to join the United States Navy fleet. Besides William Shatner, the real-life USS Enterprise has actually hosted another crew member of its fictional Star Trek counterpart.
In 1983, George Takei was aboard the USS Enterprise when it ran aground on a sandbar while returning to Alameda, California from a deployment. George Takei played Lt. Commander Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series.
According to the Naval History & Heritage Command website:
“During the final leg of the inbound channel, however, approximately a half-mile from the pier, USS Enterprise ran aground and was delayed for almost five hours until the incoming tide and tugs could free her.”
What do you think about the USS Enterprise inactivation ceremony being attended by William Shatner? And, yes, I knew what the “T” stood for off the top of my head.
