On the West Side of Manhattan, is the Intrepid Museum the most important museum of maritime and military history in the United States.
USS Intrepid CV-11 was one of 24 aircraft carriers belonging to the United States Navy that were built during World War II. Intrepid was based at Pearl Harbor, where it prepared for the invasion of the Marshall Islands.
The Intrepid was hit on two occasions by Attacks by Japanese suicide bombers, the first on 30th October 1944 and the second on 16th April 1945.
The aircraft carrier returned to operation during the Vietnam War
Intrepid was finally decommissioned on 15th March 1974 when it was moored at a shipyard in Philadelphia and in 1978 was converted into a national museum.
What to see at the Intrepid Museum
The deck of the USS Intrepid CV-11 now houses a collection of 28 perfectly restored aircraft. These include the Lockheed A-12, a US Air Force reconnaissance jet that was built for the CIA and was nicknamed “Archangel” for its characteristic shape.
On the deck of the aircraft carrier there is also a specimen of the Concorde, the fastest transport aircraft in the world belonging to the Anglo-French aeronautical consortium.
The USS Growler SSG-577 missile submarine, the first produced by the U.S. Navy and the only one currently open to the public.
Mercury-Atlas 7, the space capsule that was used for the fourth flight of Project Mercury, the first manned space program in the United States that saw astronaut Malcolm Scott Carpenter come on board.
The most visited pavilion, however, is that of the Enterprise Space Shuttle, where it is possible to admire the first orbital prototype produced by NASA. Also in the pavilion is the Soyuz TMA-6 space capsule of the International Space Station.
In September 2001, following the terrorist attacks that struck New York and the Twin Towers, the Intrepid was temporarily used as the headquarters of the FBI.
