The Intrepid Naval and Aerospace Museum is located right in the heart of New York City, Manhattan. West Side, Pier 86. The museum complex was founded in 1982 on the initiative of the millionaire philanthropist Zakaria Fischer and became world famous for its rich collection of technology from all times and peoples.
Today the museum is a pier with an aircraft carrier and a submarine. The flight and hangar decks of the aircraft carrier are densely packed with planes, many of which have never taken off from the deck of the ship. In addition to the aircraft presented, there are landing capsules of Russian and American spacecraft on board, as well as a pavilion with the shuttle Enterprise. Nearby on the pier is the Concorde airliner. A cruise missile "Regulus" sticks out of the belly of the moored submarine. This is, in brief, the general view of the Intrepid Museum.
All the equipment presented in the exposition is real. In addition to getting acquainted with the aircraft on the upper deck, spectators can go down inside the aircraft carrier and submarine and inspect the hangar, crew quarters, bridge, and the commander's cabin. Steep narrow ladders of warships, an abundance of passages and equipment sticking out everywhere: children under 16 years old are not allowed to enter the museum complex without an adult. The cost of an adult admission ticket is $ 31, which is a lot even by the standards of New York, where admission to many museums is free.
The main exhibit is undoubtedly the USS Intrepid (Undaunted), one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers during World War II. These ferocious combat vehicles were created in an era when the cruising speed of piston aircraft did not exceed 500 km / h and the combat radius was 300 miles. I had to drag the airfield with me everywhere.
Service record of the aircraft carrier "Intrepid". Downed Japanese aircraft, sunk and damaged ships.
The Intrepid was laid down on December 1, 1941, launched and commissioned in 1943. Length 260 meters. Full displacement over 36 thousand tons. The ship managed to fight at the final stage of the Second World War - its pilots had a chance to see the super-battleships Yamato and Musashi near, take part in the battles in Leyte Gulf, in the raid on Truk, attacks on Japanese positions on the Kwajalein Atoll, in Micronesia, on Formosa (Taiwan), on the island of Okinawa. The aircraft carrier survived five kamikaze attacks, but, despite severe damage, each time returned to service.
After the end of the war, Intrepid underwent modernization, received an angled flight deck and headed for the coast of Korea. Implemented the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis. Then he went to fight in Vietnam. He carried out assignments in the interests of NASA - he was looking for landed vehicles with astronauts in the ocean. By the end of the 60s, its deck had become too short for jet fighters - the Intrepid was retrained as an anti-submarine ship and sent to serve in the Sixth Fleet off the coast of Europe. Finally excluded from the Navy in 1974.
Despite its "museum" status, the Intrepid still retains its practical significance: after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the FBI operational headquarters was located on board. The rusted hull of the ship is now a New York City emergency services backup center.
A sailor aboard the battleship New Jersey watches a kamikaze dive onto the deck of the Intrepid, November 25, 1944. The victims of the explosion will be 65 sailors from the aircraft carrier's crew, "Intrepid" will leave the combat zone and go for lengthy repairs in San Francisco.
Today on board the floating museum "Intrepid" there are 34 samples of aviation equipment, including:
- supersonic high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft A-12 - the prototype of the famous SR-71 "Blackbird";
- multipurpose fighter F-16, which took part in Operation Desert Storm;
- multipurpose fighter "Kfir" of the Israeli Air Force;
- carrier-based fighter "Dassault Etandard IV" from the French Navy;
- a MiG-17 fighter from the Polish Air Force;
- fighter MiG-21 of the Polish Air Force.
In the foreground is the Phantom. In the distance one can see the AWACS aircraft, the A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, the Crusader and Tomcat fighters, and the Intruder attack aircraft. Helicopters - "Cobra" and "Iroquois".
The Yankees have a sense of humor. Opposite the MiG is parked its implacable enemy - the F-4 Phantom fighter.
Planes lined up nearby:
- carrier-based fighter-interceptor F-14 "Tomcat";
- deck attack aircraft A-4 "Skyhawk";
- deck attack aircraft A-6 "Intruder";
- carrier-based long-range radar detection aircraft E-1 "Tracer";
- carrier-based fighter F-11 "Tiger" aerobatic team "Blue Angels";
- carrier-based fighter FJ-2 / -3 "Fury" - "chilled" version of the F-86 "Saber";
- carrier-based fighter F-8 "Crusader" originally from the late 50s;
- carrier-based subsonic fighter-interceptor F3H "Demon";
- deck attack aircraft F9 "Cougar";
- aircraft with vertical takeoff AV-8C - licensed version of the British SeaHarrier;
- torpedo bomber "Avenger" during the Second World War;
- piston trainer aircraft T-34 "Mentor";
- jet training aircraft Aermakki MB-339 of the Italian aerobatic team "Frecce Tricolori".
Next to the planes there are 7 rotary-wing aircraft: Bell 47 from the Korean War, Iroquois from the jungle of Vietnam, army AN-1 Cobra, next to another Cobra - modification AH-1J of the Marine Corps. A couple of relics from half a century ago - military transport helicopters H-19 and H-25. Among the turntables, the search and rescue Sikorsky HH-52 "SeaGardian" stands out for its bright coloring.
Another design masterpiece, the British Airways' Concorde, is a supersonic passenger liner on the dock. It was this aircraft (registration number G-BOAD) that set a record among passenger aircraft in 1996, flying the Atlantic in 2 hours 53 minutes.
Under the wing of the Concorde, its engine, the Olympus 593, is on display.
Senator McCain's terrible dream: MiG-21 against the backdrop of New York skyscrapers. Behind, the MiG-17, AV-8C Harrier II and the French Dassault Étendard IV were lined up.
F-14 Tomcat. Double deck interceptor with variable geometry wing. Heaviest of the aircraft carrier-based aircraft with a take-off weight of over 30 tons. In the period from the 70s to the beginning of the 21st century, "Tomkets" were the basis of the air defense of the AUG.
Lokheed A-12. Fantastic reconnaissance aircraft capable of flying at altitudes up to 25 km at a speed of over 3000 km / h. It was created in 1962 in the interests of the CIA. He made reconnaissance flights over the DPRK and North Vietnam from the Okinawa airbase. The superplane's design served as the basis for the SR-71.
Israeli IAI Kfir ("Lion Cub"), aka the modernized French "Mirage 5" with an Israeli engine and electronics. Technique of the late 70s.
F-8 Crusader ("Crusader"). Supersonic deck interceptor, the only aircraft in history with a variable wing angle of attack in flight. According to official figures, it had a better ratio of aerial victories and losses in the Vietnamese skies than the more advanced but heavy Phantom. It was operated in the Navy until 1976, and in the version of the RF-8 photo reconnaissance aircraft - until March 1987. He served in the French Navy until the end of the century. The successful layout of the aircraft served as the basis for the creation of the light deck attack aircraft A-7 "Corsair II".
A note on board the Crusader about the downed MiG.
Deck aircraft AWACS E-1 Tracer ("Pathfinder") - the "eyes" of the American fleet in the 60s. An AN / APS-82 radar is hidden in a drop-shaped 9-meter fairing above the fuselage.
In the foreground is the F9 Cougar carrier-based jet attack aircraft from the Korean War. Behind is an F-11 Tiger fighter in the traditional Blue Angels. Further - the powerful subsonic attack aircraft A-6 "Intruder" (was in service with the Navy and the ILC from 1963 to 1997). In the distance sticks out the "face" of a fat cat.
TBM Avenger. The main carrier-based torpedo bomber of the US Navy during World War II
"Vertical" AV-8C Harrier II. Attack VTOL aircraft are still in service with the Marine Corps aviation. The F-35B is now being created to replace them.
Military transport Piasecki H-25. Operated by the US Navy from 1949 to 1964.
The Intrepid Museum's aircraft collection is complemented by spacecraft:
- the descent vehicle of the spacecraft "Aurora-7" (type "Mercury") on which astronaut S. Carpenter made three orbits around the Earth in May 1962, becoming the first American in low-earth orbit (capsule of the spacecraft "Aurora-7" - perhaps the only replica from the entire exposition of "Interpida");
- the descent vehicle of the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft. Real, scorched by hellfire upon returning to Earth. Soyuz TMA-6 completed a 180-day expedition to the ISS from April to October 2005;
- since July 2012, the space shuttle "Enterprise" has been on display at the museum. The first of the family of reusable spacecraft, despite its external identity to other shuttles, has never been in space (an attentive eye will quickly notice that it lacks thermal protection and shunting rocket engines). The Enterprise was used only for test flights in the atmosphere and for the development of landing elements. After the death of the Challenger, it was decided to compensate for the loss by including the Enterprise in the ranks of the active space shuttles. Alas, these plans were not destined to come true: a new Endeavor was built to replace it.
In addition to the aircraft carrier and a variety of aircraft, the collection of the Intrepid Museum includes an underwater combat ship - the USS Growler submarine.
Diesel-electric submarine "Grayback" - one of the last diesel-electric submarines built in the United States. Initially, both Greyback boats were designed as multipurpose hunting submarines, but they entered service as carriers of Regul strategic cruise missiles.
Aboard a submarine
The Growler was laid down in 1954 and launched in 1957. Armament - 8 torpedo tubes, 2 launchers with 4 missiles ammunition. The SSN-8-M Regulus sea-launched cruise missile was a subsonic munition weighing 6 tons with a range of 900 km. The missile was equipped with a special warhead with a capacity of 2 Mt. The launch was carried out from the surface position using two powder boosters on the sides of the rocket. The development of the system was "Regulus II" with a doubled speed and range.
Such weapons were supposed to shell the coastal regions of the USSR. The boat "Growler" nine times approached the borders of our country, but the order was never received … In the early 60s, with the advent of "Washington" and SLBM "Polaris", the outdated and unreliable system "Regul" was removed from service. Since 1964, the boat "Greyback" stood in reserve for 20 years until it became part of the exposition of the New York Museum.
This is, in short, an excursion to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. An interesting place that gives a rather extensive view of the American navy.
Intrepid evacuates the Gemini-3 descent vehicle from the water, March 23, 1965
Aircraft carrier commander's apartment. Everything is strict and serious, as befits a battleship.
There is an opinion that in the past, ships were made of wood, and people were made of iron. Now it's the other way around. In any case, the living conditions aboard the Intrepid are far from modern standards. Even on such a huge ship, there was not enough space: the aircraft carrier's crew consisted of 2500+ people.
Bridge. From here, an impressive panorama of an aircraft carrier formation in full swing opened up.
