USS Intrepid (CV-11)

Coordinates: 40°45′53″N 74°00′04″W / 40.7648°N 74.0010°W / 40.7648; -74.0010
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see USS Intrepid.

USS Intrepid on 17 October 1968
History
United States
NameIntrepid
NamesakeUSS Intrepid (1904)
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding
Laid down1 December 1941
Launched26 April 1943
Commissioned16 August 1943
Decommissioned15 March 1974
Reclassified
  • CVA-11, 1 October 1952
  • CVS-11, 31 Mar 1962
Stricken23 February 1982
StatusMuseum ship at the Intrepid Museum in New York City
General characteristics
Class and typeEssex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement
Length
  • 820 feet (249.9 m) (wl)
  • 872 feet (265.8 m) (
    o/a
    )
Beam93 ft (28.3 m)
Draft34 ft 2 in (10.41 m)
Installed power
  • 8 ×
    Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 150,000 shp (110,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range14,100 nmi (26,100 km; 16,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement2,600 officers and enlisted men
Armament
Armor
Aircraft carried
  • 36 × Grumman F4F Wildcat
  • 36 × Douglas SBD Dauntless
  • 18 × Grumman TBF Avenger

USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11), also known as The Fighting "I", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, including the Battle 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 the Vietnam War. She was the recovery ship for a Mercury and a Gemini 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".

Decommissioned for the second time in 1974, she was put into service as a

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Complex in New York City
.

Service history

The

Vice Admiral John H. Hoover. On 16 August 1943, she was commissioned with Captain Thomas L. Sprague in command before heading to the Caribbean for shakedown and training. She thereafter returned to Norfolk, before departing once more on 3 December, bound for San Francisco. She proceeded on to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arriving there on 10 January, where she began preparations to join the rest of the Pacific Fleet for offensive operations against the Imperial Japanese Navy.[1][2]

World War II

Central Pacific operations

Intrepid off Hunter's Point in June 1944, her deck loaded with aircraft to be transported to the Pacific Theater

Intrepid joined the

fire base to support the follow-on attack on Roi.[1]

After the fighting in the Kwajalein Atoll finished, on 3 February, Intrepid and the rest of TF 58 proceeded to launch

Japanese naval base in the Central Pacific, Truk Lagoon. From 17 to 19 February, the carriers pounded Japanese forces in the lagoon, sinking two destroyers and some 200,000 GRT of merchant ships. The strikes demonstrated the vulnerability of Truk, which convinced the Japanese to avoid using it in the future. Intrepid did not emerge from the operation unscathed, however; on the night of 17–18 February, a Japanese torpedo bomber (given the designation "Raid Easy" by Intrepid's CIC[3]) scored a hit on the carrier near her stern. The torpedo struck 15 ft (5 m) below the waterline, jamming the ship's rudder to port and flooding several compartments. 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 then jury-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 which Intrepid steamed on 16 March, escorted by the destroyer USS Remey, to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco for permanent repairs, arriving there six days later.[1]

The work was completed by 9 June, and Intrepid began two months of training around Pearl Harbor. Starting in early September, Intrepid joined operations in the western Caroline Islands; the Fast Carrier Task Force was now part of the Third Fleet under Admiral William 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 of Peleliu, in preparation for the invasion of Peleliu. On 9 and 10 September, she and the rest of the fleet moved on to attack airfields on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, followed by further strikes on bases in the Visayan 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.[1]

Philippines campaign

Intrepid launching an aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf

Intrepid and the other carriers then returned to the Philippines to prepare for the

Okinawa to degrade Japanese air power in the region. On 20 October, at the start of the Battle of Leyte, Intrepid launched strikes to support Allied forces as they went ashore on the island of Leyte.[1] By this time Halsey had reduced the carriers of TG 38.2, commanded by Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan aboard Intrepid, to just Intrepid, Cabot, and the light carrier Independence.[5]

A Curtiss SB2C-3 Helldiver caught in Intrepid's aft radio mast after a night landing accident on 30 October 1944

Between 23 and 26 October, the Japanese Navy launched a major operation to disrupt the Allied landings in the Philippines, resulting in the

Battle of the Sibuyan Sea; this included eight Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bombers from Intrepid, 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, the battleship Musashi was struck starboard amidships by a torpedo from a Grumman TBF Avenger, also from Intrepid. The Japanese shot down two Avengers. Another eight Helldivers from Intrepid attacked Musashi 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 from Essex and Lexington inflicted several more bomb and torpedo hits at around 13:30. At 15:25, 37 aircraft from Intrepid, the fleet carrier Franklin, and Cabot attacked Musashi, hitting her with 13 bombs and 11 torpedoes for the loss of three Avengers and three Helldivers.[6] In addition to the loss of Musashi, many of Kurita's other ships, including battleships Yamato, Nagato and Haruna, and heavy cruiser Myōkō were damaged in the attacks, forcing him to break off the operation temporarily.[1][7]

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 Admiral

Battle off Cape Engaño.[1][9] Halsey's preoccupation with the Northern Force allowed Kurita the respite he needed to turn his force back to the east, push through the San Bernardino Strait, where it engaged the light forces of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts that were directly covering the landing force in the Battle off Samar. Kurita nevertheless failed to break through the American formation, and ultimately broke off the attack.[1]

Crew members clearing away wreckage in the hangar deck after Intrepid was hit by Kamikazes, 25 November 1944

On 27 October, TG 38.2 returned to operations over Luzon; these included a raid on Manila on 29 October. That day, a kamikaze suicide aircraft hit Intrepid on one of her port side gun positions; ten men were killed and another six were wounded, but damage was minimal.[1][10] A Japanese air raid on 25 November struck the fleet shortly after noon. Two kamikazes crashed into Intrepid, killing sixty-nine men and causing a serious fire.[11] 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.[1]

Okinawa and Japan, March–December 1945

In the middle of February 1945, back in fighting trim, the carrier steamed for

L-Day, the start of the most ambitious amphibious assault of the Pacific war, approached. Between 26 and 27 March, their aircraft attacked the Ryūkyūs, 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 into Intrepid'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.[1]

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 bypassed

San Pedro, California, on 15 December.[1]

Post-war

Composite views of USS Intrepid after SCB-27C (left) and SCB-125 (right).

Decommissioning and conversion to attack carrier

On 4 February 1946, Intrepid moved to

Pacific Reserve Fleet. On 9 February 1952, she was recommissioned and on 12 March began the voyage to Norfolk, where the carrier received SCB-27C modernization to operate jet aircraft as an attack aircraft carrier. On 9 April, Intrepid was temporarily decommissioned for the modernization at the Norfolk 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 the Atlantic Fleet in full commission.[1]

1955–1961

In 1955, Intrepid conducted her shakedown cruise out of

Operation 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 conducted Operation 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.[1]

1962–1965

The Gemini 3 spacecraft alongside Intrepid, 23 March 1965.

Intrepid was reclassified to an

frogmen, 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.[1]

On 23 January 1963, the carrier departed

hijacked by a group of pro-Castro mutineers led by the second mate[citation needed]. After the mutineers had surrendered at Rio de Janeiro, the carrier returned to Norfolk on 23 March. Intrepid operated along the Atlantic Coast for the next year from Nova 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 a Soviet task group. En route home her crew learned that she had won the coveted Battle 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 at Yorktown for ceremonies commemorating Lord 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.[1]

On the night of 21 November, during a brief deployment off

Cape Kennedy.[1]

1965–1974

Intrepid operating as an auxiliary attack carrier off Vietnam, 1966.

After this mission Intrepid entered the Brooklyn Navy Yard in April for a major overhaul to bring her back to peak combat readiness. This was the final

Naval Supply Depot at Bayonne, 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.[1]

From April 1966 to February 1969, Intrepid made three Vietnam deployments, with

A-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 the United States Seventh Fleet off Vietnam, Intrepid returned to Norfolk having earned her commanding officer, Captain John W. Fair, the Legion of Merit for combat operations in Southeast Asia.[1]

On 9 October 1966

VA-176 from Intrepid, flying a propeller driven A-1H Skyraider, shot down one MiG-17. For the action, Lieutenant (jg) Patton was awarded the Silver Star
.

Intrepid operating in the Mediterranean in the 1970s.

In June 1967, Intrepid returned to the Western Pacific by way of the Suez Canal just before it closed due to the Israeli–Arab crisis. There she began another tour with the Seventh Fleet.[1]

In 1968, Intrepid won the

HC-2 Detachment 11.[12]

In 1969, Intrepid was home ported at

Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, relieving Yorktown as the flagship for Commander Carrier 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 limitations Intrepid spent as much time in port as she did underway.

On 15 March 1974, Intrepid was decommissioned for the final time.

Preservation as museum ship

USS Intrepid
Intrepid functioning as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City
USS Intrepid (CV-11) is located in New York City
USS Intrepid (CV-11)
LocationIntrepid Square, New York City
Coordinates40°45′53″N 74°00′04″W / 40.7648°N 74.0010°W / 40.7648; -74.0010
Built1941
ArchitectNewport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock
NRHP reference No.86000082
NYSRHP No.06101.006464
Significant dates
Added to NRHP14 January 1986[13]
Designated NHL14 January 1986[14]
Main article:
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

In 1976, Intrepid was moored at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia and hosted exhibits as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations.

marker on board the ship

Plans originally called for Intrepid to be

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Four years later, Intrepid was officially designated as a National Historic Landmark.[14][16]

Over the years Intrepid hosted many events including wrestling, press conferences, and parties, and served as the FBI operations center after the

11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.[17]

2006–2008 renovation

The Intrepid museum operated a fund for the restoration, raising over $60 million to refit Intrepid, to improve the ship's exhibits for visitors, and improve Pier 86.

In early July 2006, it was announced that Intrepid would undergo renovations and repairs, along with Pier 86 itself. The museum closed on 1 October 2006, in preparation for Intrepid's being towed to Bayonne, New Jersey, for repairs, and later Staten Island, New York, for renovation and temporary docking.[18][19]

On 6 November 2006 the aircraft carrier could not be moved due to 24 years worth of accumulated silt; a $3 million program dredged away the mud and silt over three weeks. On 5 December 2006 Intrepid was removed from her pier and towed to Bayonne.[20]

At Staten Island, Intrepid received an $8 million interior renovation. The forecastle (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 339 epoxy-coated steel pilings 60 to 183 feet long were installed. 7,000 gallons of paint were used to re-paint the interior, hull, towers, and decks. Total cost of the renovation was $120 million—$55 million for the ship and $65 million for Pier 86.[21]

The carrier was towed back into place on the Hudson River on 2 October 2008 and reopened to the public on 8 November.[21]

Since 2008

Space Shuttle Enterprise being lifted onto Intrepid, June 2012

On 12 December 2011, ownership of the Space Shuttle

Verrazano-Narrows Bridges, and several other landmarks in the city in an approximately 45-minute "final tour", landing at JFK International Airport.[25]
The shuttle was returned by barge to Hangar 1 on 12 May 2012[26] and taken to the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan on 6 June.[27]

Enterprise went on public display on 19 July 2012, at the Intrepid Museum's new Space Shuttle Pavilion.[28]

Intrepid with USS Growler in the lower left during Fleet Week 2010

Awards

Intrepid earned five

battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation
during World War II, and a further three battle stars for Vietnam service.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v DANFS Intrepid (CV-11).
  2. ^ Gardiner & Chesneau, p. 104.
  3. OCLC 856063761
    .
  4. ^ Willmott, p. 318.
  5. ^ Willmott, p. 93.
  6. ^ Hackett & Kingsepp.
  7. ^ Willmott, pp. 113–116.
  8. ^ Willmott, pp. 130–131.
  9. ^ Willmott, p. 159.
  10. ^ Willmott, p. 230.
  11. ^ "Intrepids Journey". intrepidmuseum.org. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. ^ a b "CVW-10(Ak)".
  13. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 23 January 2007.
  14. ^ a b "Intrepid, USS (Aircraft Carrier)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 28 July 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  15. ^ "Group Seeks to Bring Old Carrier To New York for Naval Museum". The New York Times. 10 July 1987. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  16. ^ Harry A. Butowsky (May 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: USS Intrepid (CV-11)". National Park Service. Retrieved 22 June 2009. and Accompanying 8 photos, exterior and interior, from 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1944. (1.27 MB)
  17. ^ Milton, Pat (7 November 2006). "Mud Stops USS Intrepid Move From N.Y. Pier". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
  18. ^ "The Intrepid Will Be Temporarily Moved and Pier 86 Will be Reconstructed Under an Historic $55 Million-Plus Capital Expansion Plan". Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum. Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
  19. ^ "Intrepid to Close for Repairs, Renovation". Marinelink.com. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
  20. ^ "Briefly, Slowly, Intrepid Moves Again" – New York Times
  21. ^
    Washington Times
    , p. 10), 30 September 2008.
  22. ^ Pearlman, Robert Z (12 December 2011). "Intrepid Museum Celebrates Ownership of Space Shuttle Enterprise". CollectSpace. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  23. ^ "NASA Transfers Enterprise Title to Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City". NASA.gov. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  24. ^ "NASA Transfers Title to Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City" (Press release). PRWeb. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  25. ^ Shamburger, Merideth (27 April 2012). "In Photos: Enterprise Takes Flight Over Hudson". The Tarrytown Daily Voice. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  26. ^ Pearlman, Robert Z (1 March 2012). "Space shuttle Enterprise lands in New York City on April 23". CollectSPACE. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  27. ^ "Enterprise to spend day in Jersey City". NJ.com. Associated Press. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  28. ^ Katz, Alex (18 July 2012). "Space shuttle Enterprise set to open to public". Bradenton Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2012.[permanent dead link]

References

Further reading

External links

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