 This is the Big E, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, one of the truly great scientific accomplishments of modern time, a testimony to the wonders of the technology of modern industry applied to our nuclear age, carrying the American flag around the world. By 1954 the Korean War had ended. Eisenhower was president, it was also a time of growth and consumerism thanks to a post-World War II economic boom. The story of the Navy's largest, fastest ship also began in 1954 when Congress authorized the construction of the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and one of the greatest engineering tasks of a generation. The ship was named Enterprise. In October 1962, Enterprise sailed to its first international crisis. The Big E and several other ships set up a quarantine of all military equipment under shipment to Cuba. By October 28th, Soviet leader Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the nuclear missiles and bases in Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1965 she became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat, launching aircraft against the Vietcong. She set a record of 165 sorties in a single day. On the morning of January 14th, 1969, a rocket loaded on a parked F-4 Phantom exploded. The explosion set off fires and additional explosions across the flight deck. 27 men died and 314 were injured. Over the next few decades, the ship endured several drydock periods and numerous scheduled deployments. In the fall of 2001, Enterprise aborted her transit home from deployment after the September 11 terrorist attack and steamed overnight to the North Arabian Sea in direct support of operation enduring freedom. Aircraft from the Enterprise delivered over 800,000 pounds of ordnance during the operation. In January 2011, Enterprise became just the fourth aircraft carrier in naval history to record 400,000 arrested landings. The oldest active warship in the US Navy's fleet since 2009. The biggie was home to generations of sailors. More than 250,000 men and women have served aboard this floating fortress. For 51 years, US Enterprise has proved she would answer the nation's call time and again, upholding the legacy begun by the first Enterprise sailors more than two centuries ago to defend freedom and democracy around the world.