Intrepid Museum
 | |
  Location of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City | |
| Established | 1982 |
|---|---|
| Location | West Side Highway and 46th Street, Manhattan, New York |
| Director | Susan Marenoff-Zausner |
| Website | IntrepidMuseum.org |
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is a military and maritime history museum with a collection of museum ships in New York City. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street on the West Side of Manhattan. The museum showcases the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine USS Growler, a Concorde SST and a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance plane. Additionally on April 12, 2011, the museum was awarded the Space Shuttle Enterprise.[1] The museum serves as a hub for the annual Fleet Week events. Visiting warships dock at the cruise ship terminals to the north, and events are held on the museum grounds and the deck of the Intrepid.
Originally founded in 1982, the museum closed in 2006 for a two-year renovation of the Intrepid and facilities. The museum reopened to the public on November 8, 2008, with William White as its president.
History
The museum opened in 1982 at Pier 86 after Zachary Fisher, a prominent New York real estate developer and philanthropist, and journalist Michael Stern succeeded in saving the Intrepid from the scrap heap in 1978.[2] The USS Intrepid became a National Historic Landmark in 1986.[3]
In September 2001, the Intrepid served as temporary field headquarters for the FBI as it began its investigation of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. It is also used in the 2007 film I Am Legend, where Will Smith's character practices golf from the deck.
2006-2008 renovation
On October 1, 2006, the museum closed for repairs and renovations to both the ship and the pier. Intrepid was moved down the Hudson by tugboat to The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, New Jersey (previously the Military Ocean Terminal) to undergo restoration.
The scheduled move was delayed on November 6, 2006, when the ship's propellers stuck in the thick Hudson River mud, preventing the tugboats from moving the ship out of her berth. A second successful attempt was made on December 5, 2006, after extensive dredging operations. The aircraft carrier was later floated to Staten Island where her museum facilities were upgraded and expanded before returning to her renovated pier in Manhattan.
The carrier was towed back into place on the Hudson River on October 2, 2008, and reopened to the public on November 8. Additional aircraft are displayed on the flight and hangar decks and the British Airways Concorde was moved from a barge into an exhibit space on the pier.[4]
Selected exhibits
- US Air Force
- An F-16 Fighting Falcon that flew in support of Operation Desert Storm
- The first production Lockheed A-12 (predecessor of the SR-71A)
- US Navy
- USS Growler (1989), a diesel electric submarine which carried out nuclear deterrent patrols armed with Regulus missiles.
- The seventh F-14 Tomcat ever built. It was used in 1973 as a Super Tomcat prototype
- A-4 Skyhawk
- A Beech T-34 Mentor trainer
- TBM Avenger
- E-1 Tracer
- An F-11 Tiger that was once the number 5 jet on the Blue Angels
- FJ-2/-3 Fury
- F-8 Crusader
- An A-6 Intruder that was used as a testbed for new radar and avionics in 1988
- F3H Demon
- An F-9 Cougar that is currently under restoration
- Piasecki H-25
- US Marine Corps
- US Army
- A fully restored Army AH-1 Cobra
- A Vietnam-era UH-1 Iroquois
- Bell 47
- US Coast Guard
- NASA
- Aurora 7 Mercury capsule replica
- Space Shuttle Enterprise (future, to be located at adjacent Pier 86)[5][6]
- Foreign Aircraft
- British Airways Concorde G-BOAD (2004). This very airplane on display set a world’s speed record for passenger airliners on February 7, 1996, when it flew from New York to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds
- An Italian Aermacchi MB-339, painted in the colors of the Frecce Tricolori
- A French Dassault Étendard IV
- An Israeli IAI Kfir
- A Chinese built MiG-15
- A Polish built MiG-17
- A Polish MiG-21
- A British Royal Navy Supermarine Scimitar
- Other attractions
- Exploreum, an interactive hall designed to educate children and adolescents about life on an aircraft carrier.
Popular Culture
In the film I am Legend, Will Smith's character hits golf balls off the Intrepid towards New Jersey in a deserted New York City. The vessel was also featured in the film National Treasure. In the book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians this is the temple of Ares, god of war.
See also
- List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
- List of maritime museums in the United States
- List of museum ships
- List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
- U.S. Navy museums (and other aircraft-carrier museums)
Notes
- ^ Martinez, Michael. "NASA announces new homes for retiring space shuttles". Cnn.com.
- ^ Saxon, Wolfgang. Zachary Fisher, 88, Dies; Helped Alter New York Skyline. June 5, 1999. New York Times. Accessed November 8, 2008.
- ^ USS Intrepid CV 11. United States Navy. Accessed November 8, 2008.
- ^ Pyle, Richard, "Aircraft carrier survived wars, years of decay", Associated Press (printed in the Washington Times, p. 10), September 30, 2008.
- ^ Intrepid Museum (April 12, 2011). "Enterprise - Space Shuttle Orbiter - To Come to Intrepid Museum". Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ CBS New York (April 12, 2011). "Space Shuttle Enterprise Landing At Intrepid Museum". CBS New York. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
External links
