Intrepid
Many a ship has a remarkable tale to tell but few have survived as many scraps as the aircraft carrier berthed at Pier 86 in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. The
Intrepid (CV-11) and its sailors and aviators survived hits from four Kamikaze planes, helped sink the largest battleship ever built, recovered three astronauts from the sea, and shot down a MiG jet over Vietnam.
The “Fighting I” was one of two dozen Essex-class fleet carriers that entered U.S. Navy service during World War II. The 266-meter-long flattops, which displaced twenty-seven thousand tons empty, were larger and boasted superior armor protection made possible by the termination of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1936. The carriers could accommodate the heavier combat aircraft entering service, such as the SB2C Helldiver, the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber, and Hellcat or Corsair fighters, and bristled with new air- and surface-search radars, up to seventy-two forty-millimeter Bofors air-defense guns, and