In my search for any and all reference materials to use in updating the ancient Revell USS Enterprise kit to her current appearance, I found this article in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65) , which has what looks like an exhaustive summary of the Big E’s long and storied career. What gave me pause, though, was the description of the carrier’s current defensive weapons suite:
In the fourth paragraph, the article says Big E was refit in the 2000s with to have 2 CIWS and 2 RAMs in addition to the 2 Sea Sparrow launchers. As of May 2006, she actually has 3 CIWS (1 portside forward, 1 starboardside at the island, 1 portside aft), 1 RAM (starboardside aft) and 2 Sea Sparrow launchers (1 starboardside forward, 1 portside aft).
Similar errors are repeated down in the Miscellaneous section, where it indicates she currently has 4 Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 CIWS and 2 RAMs.
All of which means there’s no substitute for photos of the real thing, absent your own personal knowledge!
One of the problems with using Wikipedia, is that the information is only as good as the researcher puts in. ALL reference material should be cross-referenced for accuracy. In a recent study Wikipedia came very close to match Encylopedia Brittanica for accuracy, and you could argue that the Wiki articles actually contain more information so that the accuracy rate goes up when compared to word count.
Wikipedia also allows for factual errors to be corrected. Have you considered editing the entry yourself? Wikipedia allows for that, as well as a discussion page where you can state your reasons and sources for doing so.
I wasn’t aware of that, or how Wikipedia really worked. My post was mainly to not accept the info as gospel, as you pointed out. You can find info on anything on the web. As to how much of it is true …