The USS Intrepid was decommissioned from US Navy service in 1974 and scheduled to be scrapped but a campaign was soon launched to preserve the ship and open it to the public. The Intrepid Museum Foundation was formed to save the ship and it opened to the public in Manhattan in 1982.
The Intrepid is an Essex class aircraft carrier which was commissioned in 1943 and served with the US Navy in the Pacific theatre during WWII. The ship has a very distinguished service record and during WWII took part in several important battles. In February 1944, during the invasion of the Marshall Islands and the assault on the Japanese base of Truk, she was hit by an air launched torpedo which distorted her rudder and flooded several compartments.
Despite the damage, the crew were able to regain control of the ship and set course for Pearl Harbour for temporary repairs. A full repair was later performed at Hunter’s Point, California, and she was soon back in action again, in time for the invasion of the Philippines. She survived a Kamikaze attack in which many of her crew were killed or injured and again required repairs in California.
Once again the ship returned to action, and took part in the amphibious assault on Okinawa. Once more the ship was damaged by a Kamikaze aircraft and required further repairs in the US. On her return to the combat zone in August 1945 she was ordered to cease combat operations after the surrender of Japanese forces. The vessel was tasked with supporting the occupation of Japan until her return home in December 1945.
Decommissioned in 1948, she was reduced to reserve status for four years before being upgraded and returned to service as an attack carrier in 1954. She was the first US carrier to launch an aircraft with her newly fitted steam catapult. A further upgrade in 1956/7 introduced the angled flightdeck and the ship served in the attack carrier role until 1961.
By the early 1960s, the USS Intrepid was dwarfed by the newer carriers entering service with the US Navy and was unable to operate some of the higher performance aircraft being introduced. She was redesignated an anti-submarine warfare carrier and equipped with S-1 Tracker aircraft and a variety of helicopters in this role.
During this period she also assisted in the recovery of several astronauts after successful space flights – Scott Carpenter (Mercury 7, 1962) and John Young and Gus Grissom (Gemini 3, 1965). On both occasions helicopters from Intrepid recovered the astronauts from the water, returning them to the ship for medical examination.
After another refit in 1965, the USS Intrepid deployed to Vietnam as an auxiliary attack carrier, equipped with A-4 Skyhawk and A-1 Skyraider aircraft. The vessel was decommissioned for the final time in 1974, prior to entering preservation in New York City.
The carrier has for many years been a busy tourist attraction, with its location on Manhattan’s Pier 86 being close to many of the city’s other attractions. After nearly 25 years at Pier 86, it was announced in 2006 that the USS Intrepid would close for refurbishment, along with Pier 86 itself. By this time the pier was also home to the USS Growler (a submarine) and also a retired British Airways Concorde, exhibited on a floating barge due to lack of space.
In order for the renovation work to take place, it was necessary to move all these exhibits. Moving the Intrepid was tricky however, due to the accumulation of 24 years worth of silt around her keel. Eventually the US Navy spent some $3million to free the ship from the mud and silt and allow it to be towed to Bayonne, New Jersey for repairs.
The total cost of the refurbishment program came to $120million, a total which includes the redevelopment of Pier 86. The ship is certainly in great shape now, and it is very pleasing to see the Concorde back on dry land again, rather than looking rather forlorn on her barge!
It is highly appropriate that a Concorde is exhibited in New York City, as for most of the aircraft’s service career the JFK service was its primary route. Displayed in its current position the aircraft certainly looks better than it did when on the barge, and also has been fully repaired following damage to the nose radome during storage.
The USS Intrepid Museum has a very good collection of aircraft displayed either on deck or down below in the hangar area. Since the restoration the below deck area has been completely revamped and now features many interactive exhibits, along with some of the rarer aircraft in the collection.
Oldest type in the museum’s collection is the Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber. Avengers operated from the decks of the Intrepid during WWII, and the aircraft on display was actually built in the New York area, at Trenton, New Jersey.
The remaining aircraft in the hangar area are all painted to represent aircraft flying from the Intrepid in the 1950s and 1960s. These include a relatively rare North American FJ-3 Fury, painted in the colours of VF-33 on the Intrepid in 1958. Another light jet operated from the decks of the Intrepid is the museum’s A-4C, which carries the colours of VA-95.
Up on decks, the US Navy theme continues, and several of the aircraft on display are aircraft which represent the types operated from the Intrepid throughout its career. These include an F-8K Crusader, painted to represent the aircraft used by Anthony G. Nargi to shoot down an aircraft during the Vietnam War. Nargi shot down a MiG-21 using a Sidewinder missile on 19th September 1968, one of only a relatively small number of Crusader MiG kills during the conflict.
Another aircraft which operated from the decks of the Intrepid is the Grumman F11F Tiger. The museum has an example on display which is painted in Blue Angels colours – the Tiger saw only limited service and its most famous role is no doubt as the aircraft used by the team between 1957-68. I always feel slightly disappointed to see Tigers displayed in museums in Blue Angels colours – there are so many great US Navy colour schemes from that era, it always strikes me as predictable to paint the aircraft as a Blue Angel. However, the Tiger on display did actually spend time with the Blues in the early 1960s, so it is appropriate that it wear those colours now. I’d prefer to see it in the markings of VF-33 though!
Currently under restoration is a Grumman E-1 Tracer which will eventually be displayed in a relevant colour scheme when finished. Further Navy aircraft are on display include some types which were too large to be operated from the small deck of the Intrepid. These include development models of the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder, both of which are products of the Grumman Company in Long Island.
US Marine Corps aircraft are also well represented with examples of the F-4N Phantom, AV-8A Harrier, F3D-2 Skyknight and AH-1J Sea Cobra being on display. The Skyknight has recently been restored and carries the markings of VMFN-513 “Flying Nightmares”, a night fighter squadron during the Korean War.
Other US aircraft on display include a former New York ANG F-16, which is a veteran of Desert Storm, and several US Army helicopters, including a rare UH-1A Huey. Dominating the flightdeck area is the sleek shape of a Lockheed A-12. The A-12 is the forerunner of the SR-71 – a single seat high-speed reconnaissance aircraft originally built for the CIA.
Along with the US aircraft on display, there are also several foreign types, mostly aircraft which have been donated by foreign governments. These include a selection of Russian built fighters – the MiG-15 carries a Korean War era colour scheme and the MiG-17 a representative Vietnamese scheme. The museum also has a former Polish Air Force MiG-21PFM carrying a spectacular tiger colour scheme.
Amongst the rarest aircraft in the collection and certainly the most surprising is a former Royal Navy Supermarine Scimitar. This aircraft came to the Intrepid in the late 1980s, with an F-4 Phantom going the other way. The Scimitar is one of only three complete survivors of this early RN attack aircraft and does seem an odd aircraft to see on board a preserved US Navy carrier.
GAR wants to interact with its readers so if you have a question for the author or a comment to make on this feature, please click on the button below. The best comments will appear right here on GAR.2010-02-09 - Neil McCarthy
Nice to see AD looking much better these days.
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