_underway_in_the_South_China_Sea_on_17_October_1968_(NNMA.1996.488.244.058).jpg) USSIntrepid on 17 October 1968 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Intrepid |
| Namesake | USS Intrepid (1904) |
| Ordered | 3 July 1940 |
| Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 1 December 1941 |
| Launched | 26 April 1943 |
| Commissioned | 16 August 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 15 March 1974 |
| Reclassified |
|
| Stricken | 23 February 1982 |
| Motto | In Mare In Caelo "On the sea, in the sky" |
| Status | Museum ship at theIntrepid Museum inNew York City |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Essex-classaircraft carrier |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 93 ft (28.3 m) |
| Draft | 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range | 14,100 nmi (26,100 km; 16,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 2,600 officers and enlisted men |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried |
|
USSIntrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11), also known asThe Fighting "I", is one of 24Essex-classaircraft carriers built duringWorld War II for theUnited States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bearthe name. Commissioned in August 1943,Intrepid participated in several campaigns in thePacific Theater of Operations, including theBattle of Leyte Gulf.
Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, but also participated in theVietnam War. She was the recovery ship for aMercury and aGemini space mission. Because of her prominent role in battle, she was nicknamed "the Fighting I", while her frequent bad luck and time spent in dry dock for repairs—she was torpedoed once and hit in separate attacks by four Japanese kamikaze aircraft—earned her the nicknames "Decrepit" and "the Dry I". She was the sole member of her class to be torpedoed.
Decommissioned for the second time in 1974, she was put into service as amuseum ship in 1982 as the foundation of theIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Complex inNew York City.
Due to being perceived as a jinxed ship during WWII, the Intrepid had picked up the nicknames "Evil I" and "Decrepid" during its service.[1]
Thekeel forIntrepid waslaid down on 1 December 1941 in Shipway 10 at theNewport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.,Newport News, Virginia, days before theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entrance intoWorld War II. She waslaunched on 26 April 1943, the fifthEssex-classaircraft carrier to be launched. She was sponsored by the wife ofVice AdmiralJohn H. Hoover. On 16 August 1943, she wascommissioned with CaptainThomas L. Sprague in command before heading to theCaribbean forshakedown and training. She thereafter returned to Norfolk, before departing once more on 3 December, bound forSan Francisco. She proceeded on toPearl Harbor, Hawaii, arriving there on 10 January, where she began preparations to join the rest of the Pacific Fleet for offensive operations against theImperial Japanese Navy.[2][3]
_of_Hunters_Point_1944.jpeg)
Intrepid joined theFast Carrier Task Force, then Task Force 58 (TF 58), for the next operation in theisland-hopping campaign across theCentral Pacific: theGilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. On 16 January 1944,Intrepid, hersister shipEssex, and thelight carrierCabot leftPearl Harbor to conduct a raid on islands in theKwajalein Atoll from 29 January to 2 February. The three carriers' air group destroyed all 83 Japanese aircraft stationed onRoi-Namur in the first two days of the strikes, beforeMarines went ashore on neighboring islands on 31 January in theBattle of Kwajalein. That morning, aircraft fromIntrepid attacked Japanese beach defenses onEnnuebing Island until ten minutes before the first Marines landed. The Marines quickly took the island and used it as afire base to support the follow-on attack on Roi.[2]
After the fighting in the Kwajalein Atoll finished, on 3 February,Intrepid and the rest of TF 58 proceeded to launchOperation Hailstone, a major raid on the mainJapanese naval base in the Central Pacific,Truk Lagoon. From 17 to 19 February, the carriers pounded Japanese forces in the lagoon, sinking twodestroyers and some 200,000 GRT of merchant ships. The strikes demonstrated the vulnerability of Truk, as the Japanese had already withdrawn their heavy surface units prior to the raid.Intrepid did not emerge from the operation unscathed, however; on the night of 17–18 February, aRikko type Torpedo Bomber from the755thKōkūtai (Genzan Air Group) flying from Tainan (given the designation "Raid Easy" byIntrepid'sCIC[4]) attacked and torpedoed the carrier near herstern. The torpedo struck 15 ft (5 m) below the waterline, jamming the ship'srudder to port and flooding several compartments and killing 11 sailors. Sprague was able to counteract the jammed rudder for two days by running the port side screw at high speed while idling the starboard screw, until high winds overpowered the improvised steering. The crew thenjury-rigged a sail out of scrap canvas and hatch covers, which allowed the ship to return to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 24 February. Temporary repairs were effected there, after whichIntrepid steamed on 16 March, escorted by the destroyerUSS Remey, toHunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco for permanent repairs, arriving there six days later.[2]
The work was completed by 9 June, andIntrepid began two months of training around Pearl Harbor. Starting in early September,Intrepid joined operations in the westernCaroline Islands; the Fast Carrier Task Force was now part of theThird Fleet under AdmiralWilliam Halsey Jr., and had been renamed Task Force 38. On 6 and 7 September, she conducted air strikes on Japanese artillery batteries and airfields on the island ofPeleliu, in preparation for theinvasion of Peleliu. On 9 and 10 September, she and the rest of the fleet moved on to attack airfields on the island ofMindanao in the Philippines, followed by further strikes on bases in theVisayan Sea between 12 and 14 September. On 17 September,Intrepid returned to Pelelieu to provide air support to the Marines that had landed on the island two days before.[2]
_during_Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf_1944.jpeg)
Intrepid and the other carriers then returned to the Philippines to prepare for thePhilippines campaign.[2] At this time,Intrepid was assigned to Task Group 38.2.[5] In addition to targets in the Philippines themselves, the carriers also struck Japanese airfields on the islands ofFormosa andOkinawa to degrade Japanese air power in the region. On 20 October, at the start of theBattle of Leyte,Intrepid launched strikes to support Allied forces as they went ashore on the island ofLeyte.[2] By this time Halsey had reduced the carriers of TG 38.2, commanded by Rear AdmiralGerald F. Bogan aboardIntrepid, to justIntrepid,Cabot, and the light carrierIndependence.[6]
_on_30_October_1944_(NH_95398).jpg)
Between 23 and 26 October, the Japanese Navy launched a major operation to disrupt the Allied landings in the Philippines, resulting in theBattle of Leyte Gulf. On the morning of 24 October, a reconnaissance aircraft fromIntrepid spotted Vice AdmiralTakeo Kurita's flagship,Yamato. Two hours later,Intrepid andCabot launched a strike on Kurita's Center Force, initiating theBattle of the Sibuyan Sea; this included eightCurtiss SB2C Helldiverdive bombers fromIntrepid, which launched their attack at 10:27. One 500-pound (230 kg) bomb struck the roof of Turret No. 1, failing to penetrate. Two minutes later, thebattleshipMusashi was struck starboard amidships by a torpedo from aGrumman TBF Avenger, also fromIntrepid. The Japanese shot down two Avengers. Another eight Helldivers fromIntrepid attackedMusashi again at around noon, scoring two more hits, with two Helldivers shot down. Three minutes later, nine Avengers attacked from both sides of the ship, scoring three torpedo hits on the port side. Further strikes fromEssex andLexington inflicted several more bomb and torpedo hits at around 13:30. At 15:25, 37 aircraft fromIntrepid, the fleet carrierFranklin, andCabot attackedMusashi, hitting her with 13 bombs and 11 torpedoes for the loss of three Avengers and three Helldivers.[7] In addition to the loss ofMusashi, many of Kurita's other ships, including battleshipsYamato,Nagato andHaruna, andheavy cruiserMyōkō were damaged in the attacks, forcing him to break off the operation temporarily.[2][8]
After Kurita's force began to withdraw, Halsey ordered TF 38 to steam north to intercept the aircraft carriers of the Northern Force, commanded by Vice AdmiralJisaburō Ozawa.[2] Bogan correctly perceived that Ozawa's force was intended to lure TF 38 away from the landing area to allow Kurita to attack it, but Halsey overruled him and several other Task Group commanders who voiced similar concerns.[9] Early on 25 October, aircraft fromIntrepid and the other carriers launched a strike on the Japanese carriers. Aircraft fromIntrepid scored hits on the carrierZuihō and possibly the carrierZuikaku. Further strikes throughout the morning resulted in the sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers and a destroyer in theBattle off Cape Engaño.[2][10] Halsey's preoccupation with the Northern Force allowed Kurita the respite he needed to turn his force back to the east, push through theSan Bernardino Strait, where it engaged the light forces ofescort carriers, destroyers, anddestroyer escorts that were directly covering the landing force in theBattle off Samar. Kurita nevertheless failed to break through the American formation, and ultimately broke off the attack.[2]
On 27 October, TG 38.2 returned to operations overLuzon; these included a raid onManila on 29 October. That day, akamikaze suicide aircraft hitIntrepid on one of her port side gun positions; ten men were killed and another six were wounded, but damage was minimal.[2][11] A Japanese air raid on 25 November struck the fleet shortly after noon. Two kamikazes crashed intoIntrepid, killing sixty-nine men and causing a serious fire.[12] The ship remained on station, however, and the fires were extinguished within two hours. She was detached for repairs the following day, and reached San Francisco on 20 December.[2]
In the middle of February 1945, back in fighting trim, the carrier steamed forUlithi, arriving on 13 March. She set off westward for strikes on Japan on 14 March and four days later launched strikes against airfields onKyūshū. That morning a twin-engined JapaneseG4M "Betty" kamikaze broke through a curtain of defensive fire, turned towardIntrepid, and exploded 50 ft (15 m) offIntrepid's forward boat crane. A shower of flaming gasoline and aircraft parts started fires on the hangar deck, but damage control teams quickly put them out.Intrepid's aircraft joinedattacks on remnants of the Japanese fleet anchored atKure damaging 18 enemy naval vessels, including battleshipYamato and carrierAmagi. The carriers turned to Okinawa asL-Day, the start of the most ambitious amphibious assault of the Pacific war, approached. Between 26 and 27 March, their aircraft attacked theRyūkyūs, softening up enemy defensive works. The invasion began on 1 April.Intrepid aircraft flew support missions against targets on Okinawa and made neutralizing raids against Japanese airfields in range of the island. On 16 April, during an air raid, a Japanese aircraft dived intoIntrepid's flight deck; the engine and part of the fuselage penetrated the deck, killing eight men and wounding 21. In less than an hour the flaming gasoline had been extinguished; three hours after the crash, aircraft were again landing on the carrier.[2]
On 17 April,Intrepid retired homeward via Ulithi. She made a stop at Pearl Harbor on 11 May, arriving at San Francisco for repairs on 19 May. On 29 June, the carrier left San Francisco. On 6 August, her aircraft launched strikes against Japanese on bypassedWake Island.Intrepid arrived atEniwetok on the next day. On 15 August, when the Japanese surrendered, she received word to "cease offensive operations."Intrepid got under way on 21 August to support the occupation of Japan. On 2 December, she leftYokosuka and arrived atSan Pedro, California, on 15 December.[2]
On 4 February 1946,Intrepid moved toSan Francisco Bay. The carrier was reduced in status to "commission in reserve" on 15 August, and she was decommissioned on 22 March 1947. After her decommissioning,Intrepid became part of thePacific Reserve Fleet. On 9 February 1952, she was recommissioned and on 12 March began the voyage toNorfolk, where the carrier receivedSCB-27C modernization to operate jet aircraft as an attack aircraft carrier. On 9 April,Intrepid was temporarily decommissioned for the modernization at theNorfolk Naval Shipyard. On 1 October, she was reclassified as attack carrier CVA-11 and recommissioned in reserve on 18 June 1954. On 13 October, the carrier became the first to launch aircraft with American-built steam catapults. Two days later,Intrepid became part of theAtlantic Fleet in full commission.[2]
In 1955,Intrepid conducted her shakedown cruise out ofGuantánamo Bay. On 28 May, she departedMayport, Florida, for the first of two deployments in the Mediterranean with the6th Fleet.Intrepid returned to Norfolk from the second deployment on 5 September. On 29 September, she entered theNew York Navy Yard for herSCB-125 modernization, which added an enclosed bow and an angled flight deck. After the end of the modernization in April 1957,Intrepid conducted refresher training out of Guantánamo Bay. In September, she participated inOperation Strikeback, the largest peacetime naval exercise up to that time in history, which simulated a Soviet attack on NATO. In December, operating from Norfolk, she conductedOperation Crosswind, a study of the effects of wind on carrier launches. The study proved that carriers could safely conduct flight operations without turning into the wind and even launch aircraft while steaming downwind. Between 1958 and 1961,Intrepid alternated Mediterranean deployments with operations along the Atlantic coast of the United States and exercises in the Caribbean.[2]
_-_Mar_65_a.jpg)
Intrepid was reclassified to ananti-submarine warfare carrier,CVS-11, on 8 December 1961. On 10 March 1962, the carrier entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for overhaul and refit for her new anti-submarine warfare role. After the completion of the overhaul and refit, she departed on 2 April withCarrier Antisubmarine Air Group 56 embarked. After training exercises,Intrepid was selected as the principal ship in the recovery team forastronautScott Carpenter and hisProject Mercuryspace capsule,Aurora 7. Shortly before noon on 24 May 1962, Carpentersplashed down inAurora 7 northeast of Puerto Rico and several hundred miles fromIntrepid. Minutes after he was located by land-based search aircraft, twohelicopters fromIntrepid, carryingNASA officials, medical experts, Navyfrogmen, and photographers, were airborne and headed to the rescue. One of the helicopters picked him up over an hour later and flew him to the carrier, which safely returned him to the United States.Intrepid spent the summer of 1962 training midshipmen at sea, and received a thorough overhaul at Norfolk in the fall.[2]
On 23 January 1963, the carrier departedHampton Roads for warfare exercises in the Caribbean. In late February, she interrupted these operations to join a sea hunt for the VenezuelanfreighterAnzoátegui, which had beenhijacked by a group of pro-Castro mutineers led by thesecond mate[citation needed]. After the mutineers had surrendered atRio de Janeiro, the carrier returned to Norfolk on 23 March.Intrepid operated along the Atlantic Coast for the next year fromNova Scotia to the Caribbean perfecting her antisubmarine techniques. On 11 June 1964, she left Norfolk carrying midshipmen to the Mediterranean for a hunter-killer at sea training with the 6th Fleet. While in the Mediterranean,Intrepid aided in the surveillance of aSoviettask group. En route home her crew learned that she had won the covetedBattle Efficiency "E" for antisubmarine warfare during the previous fiscal year. In the fall of 1964, the carrier operated along the East Coast. In early September,Intrepid entertained 22 NATO statesmen as part of their tour of U.S. military installations. Between 18 and 19 October 1964,Intrepid was atYorktown for ceremonies commemoratingLord Cornwallis's surrender 183 years before. The French Ambassador attended the ceremony and presented the U.S. with 12 cannon cast from molds found in the Bastille, replicas of those brought to American forces by Lafayette.[2]
On the night of 21 November, during a brief deployment offNorth Carolina, airman Jenner Sanders, who had fallen overboard while driving an aircraft towing tractor, was rescued. In early 1965,Intrepid began preparations for a role in NASA's first mannedGemini flight,Gemini 3. On 23 March,Lieutenant CommanderJohn Young and MajorGus Grissom inMolly Brown (the Gemini 3 spacecraft) splashed down some 50 nmi (90 km) fromIntrepid, after the first controlled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere ended their three-orbit flight aboard Gemini 3. A Navy helicopter flew the astronauts toIntrepid for medical examination and debriefing. Later,Intrepid retrievedMolly Brown and returned the spacecraft and astronauts toCape Kennedy.[2]
_underway_in_the_South_China_Sea_on_13_September_1966_(K-33170).jpg)
After this missionIntrepid entered the Brooklyn Navy Yard in April for a major overhaul to bring her back to peak combat readiness. This was the finalFleet Rehabilitation and Modernization job performed by theNew York Naval Shipyard,Brooklyn, New York, which was scheduled to close. In September 1965,Intrepid, with her work approximately 75% completed, eased down theEast River to moor at theNaval Supply Depot atBayonne, New Jersey, for the completion of her multimillion-dollar overhaul. After builder's sea trials and fitting out at Norfolk she sailed to Guantánamo Bay on a shakedown cruise.[2]
From April 1966 to February 1969,Intrepid made three Vietnam deployments, withCarrier Air Wing 10 embarked.[13] Mid-1966 foundIntrepid with the Pacific Fleet off Vietnam. NineA-4 Skyhawks and sixA-1 Skyraiders, loaded with bombs and rockets, were catapulted in seven minutes, with only a 28-second interval between launches. A few days later planes were launched at 26-second intervals. After seven months of service with theUnited States Seventh Fleet off Vietnam,Intrepid returned to Norfolk having earned her commanding officer, Captain John W. Fair, theLegion of Merit for combat operations in Southeast Asia.[2]
On 9 October 1966Lieutenant, junior grade William T. Patton ofVA-176 fromIntrepid, flying a propeller driven A-1HSkyraider, shot down oneMiG-17. For the action, Lieutenant (jg) Patton was awarded theSilver Star.
In June 1967,Intrepid returned to the Western Pacific by way of theSuez Canal just before it closed due to theIsraeli–Arab crisis. There she began another tour with the Seventh Fleet.[2]
In 1968,Intrepid won theMarjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet. For Carrier Air Wing 10's final cruise aboardIntrepid from 4 June 1968 to 8 February 1969 off Southeast Asia, the wing consisted ofVF-111 Detachment 11 (F-8C),VA-106 with the A-4E,VA-66 Waldos (A-4C),VFP-63 Detachment 11 (RF-8G),VA-36 'Roadrunners' (A-4C), VAQ-33 Detachment 11 (EA-1F),VAW-121 Detachment 11 (E-1B), andHC-2 Detachment 11.[13]
In 1969,Intrepid was home ported atNaval Air Station Quonset Point,Rhode Island, relievingYorktown as theflagship for CommanderCarrier Division 16. In the fall, the ship was run aground by Captain Horus E. Moore, but was freed within two hours. From April to October 1971,Intrepid took part in NATO exercises, and made calls in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean ports of Lisbon, Plymouth, Kiel, Naples, Cannes, Barcelona, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Greenock, Rosyth, Portsmouth, and Bergen. During this cruise, submarine detection operations were conducted in the Baltic and at the edge of the Barents Sea above the Arctic Circle, under close scrutiny of Soviet air and naval forces. She subsequently returned to her homeport to be refitted.
Beginning in July 1972,Intrepid participated once again in NATO exercises, visiting Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Bergen, Brussels, Portsmouth and Gourock.Intrepid found herself in the Barents and made round the clock flight operations as she was above the Arctic Circle. She cut her North Atlantic cruise short, returning to Quonset Point for a mini-overhaul. She made her final cruise in the Mediterranean, stopping twice in Barcelona and Malaga Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Nice, France; Naples, Italy; Palma, Majorca; and Piraeus, Greece once. Due to fuel limitationsIntrepid spent as much time in port as she did underway.
On 15 March 1974,Intrepid was decommissioned for the final time.
USSIntrepid | |
.jpg) Intrepid functioning as theIntrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City | |
  | |
| Location | Intrepid Square, New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°45′53″N74°00′04″W / 40.7648°N 74.0010°W /40.7648; -74.0010 |
| Built | 1941 |
| Architect | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock |
| NRHP reference No. | 86000082 |
| NYSRHP No. | 06101.006464 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 14 January 1986[14] |
| Designated NHL | 14 January 1986[15] |
In 1976,Intrepid was moored atPhiladelphia Naval Shipyard inPhiladelphia and hosted exhibits as part of theUnited States Bicentennial celebrations.
Plans originally called forIntrepid to bescrapped after decommissioning, but a campaign led by Michael D. Piccola, president of the nonprofit organization Odysseys in Flight saved the carrier and established her as amuseum ship.[16] In August 1982, the ship opened at Pier 86 on theHudson River in New York City as theIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Four years later,Intrepid was officially designated as aNational Historic Landmark.[15][17]
Over the yearsIntrepid hosted many events including wrestling, press conferences, and parties, and served as the FBI operations center after the11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.[18]
TheIntrepid museum operated a fund for the restoration, raising over $60 million to refitIntrepid, to improve the ship's exhibits for visitors, and improve Pier 86.
In early July 2006, it was announced thatIntrepid would undergo renovations and repairs, along with Pier 86 itself. The museum closed on 1 October 2006, in preparation forIntrepid's being towed to Bayonne, New Jersey, for repairs, and laterStaten Island, New York, for renovation and temporary docking.[19][20]
On 6 November 2006 the aircraft carrier could not be moved due to 24 years worth of accumulatedsilt; a $3 million program dredged away the mud and silt over three weeks. On 5 December 2006Intrepid was removed from her pier and towed to Bayonne.[21]
At Staten Island,Intrepid received an $8 million interior renovation. Theforecastle (fo'c'sle, commonly known as the anchor chain room), general berthing quarters and the ship's machine shop were opened to the public for the first time. The hangar deck layout and design were improved. Around 1,200 tons of steel were removed and 339epoxy-coated steel pilings 60 to 183 feet (18 to 56 m) long were installed. 7,000 US gallons (26,000 L) of paint were used to re-paint the interior, hull, towers, and decks.[citation needed] Total cost of the renovation was $120 million—$55 million for the ship and $65 million for Pier 86.[22]
The carrier was towed back into place on the Hudson River on 2 October 2008 and reopened to the public on 8 November.[22]
On 12 December 2011, ownership of the Space ShuttleEnterprise was officially transferred to theIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.[23][24][25] On 27 April 2012Enterprise was flown from Dulles International Airport for a fly-by over the Hudson River, New York'sJFK International Airport, theStatue of Liberty, theGeorge Washington andVerrazano-Narrows Bridges, and several other landmarks in the city in an approximately 45-minute "final tour", landing at JFK International Airport.[26]The shuttle was returned by barge to Hangar 1 on 12 May 2012[27] and taken to the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan on 6 June.[28]
Enterprise went on public display on 19 July 2012, at theIntrepid Museum's new Space Shuttle Pavilion.[29]
Intrepid earned fivebattle stars and thePresidential Unit Citation during World War II, and a further three battle stars for Vietnam service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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