NEW YORK — The USS Intrepid is steeped in history: the aircraft carrier took part in major battles and withstood repeated kamikaze attacks during the Pacific War and later saw duty in Korea and as a recovery ship for NASA

For the last 25 years, Intrepid has served a quieter purpose as a floating military museum, docked in the Hudson River.

Now, the aging ship will be renovated, a process expected to be outlined Thursday. Officials were scheduled to announce that the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum will close this fall for an extensive overhaul, a process expected to last 18 months to two years.

Gov. George Pataki confirmed the renovation plan Wednesday night, saying in a statement that it would "add additional support to the grandeur befitting Intrepid's legacy" as an "American icon and an awesome reminder of the sacrifices of generations of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines."

The 27,000-ton carrier, nearly 900 feet long, would be towed to a drydock for repairs — most likely the former military ocean terminal in Bayonne, N.J., said Peter Shugert, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers

The work also would include dredging 13,000 cubic yards of riverbed mud and upgrading pier 86, where the ship is moored, he said.

All warships undergo periodic overhauls and refurbishing due to the effects of salt water corrosion, whether from constant motion or simply sitting idly in port. Intrepid officials had hinted a year ago that the ship needed some work after 25 years at the same location.

The ship has become one of the city's most popular tourist attractions since real estate millionaire Zachary Fisher saved it from the scrapyard in the late 1970s and moved it to pier 86, next to the cruise ship terminal on Manhattan's West Side.

Over the years Intrepid's deck has become filled with an impressive array of historic aircraft and other war artifacts. It wasn't known what would happen to those aircraft, ranging from a Russian-built MiG fighter to an American SR-71 high-altitude spy plane, during the renovation.

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

By Sara Bonisteel

New York — She survived five kamikaze attacks and one torpedo, but the USS Intrepid was no match for a bit of New York City mud.

Crews called off a move of the 63-year-old aircraft carrier Monday after a small armada of tugboats couldn't free the ship from its berth at Pier 86.

Officials planned to move the ship to Bayonne, N.J, to undergo a nearly 2-year restoration as part of a $60-million rehabilitation project that will revamp the Intrepid — now the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum — and the badly crumbling pier that she has called home for the last 24 years.

Crews have worked for the last month-and-a-half removing some 27 feet of silt in preparation for the move, said Kent Karosen, an executive committee member of the museum's board of trustees.

A group of political dignitaries gathered at an adjacent pier to mark the day's sendoff, including last-minute campaigner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and former New York City mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins.

Soon after the ceremonial line toss, it was apparent the ship was not going to leave her berth without a struggle.

One tugboat after another pulled at the dormant ship, moving it 15 feet. After that, it wouldn't budge.

At one point six tugboats strained to free the vessel as other tugboats hovered nearby, mimicking the seagulls circling overhead.

Efforts of a seventh tugboat failed and crews called off the move at 10:30 ET, according to Kathleen Lynn, a spokeswoman for the museum. No plans have yet been made on a new effort to move the ship.

Several dozen veterans had traveled to the aircraft carrier to ride aboard the flight deck for the journey to New Jersey, many for the first time since they left the service.

"Where in the United States can you go where there's 900 feet of history?" said Ed Coyle, who stood aboard the 900-foot flight deck as a 17-year-old on Aug. 16, 1943, when the vessel was first commissioned.

"It's good to know it's here, you know," Coyle said. "It's good to know that maybe some younger people are getting a little taste of history."

The Intrepid saw action in the south Pacific during World War II, surviving so many kamikaze attacks the Japanese referred to her as a ghost ship. During the late 1960s, the ship was base for a group of light attack planes off the coast of Vietnam.

"It has had a multitude of jobs from picking up astronauts in the Pacific to fighting in Vietnam," Fisher said.

The Navy decommissioned the ship in 1974, and in 1982 the Intrepid was moved to the west side of Manhattan, where it became a floating museum.

Arnold Fisher, chairman of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, said the need to rebuild the pier gave museum officials the impetus to restore the ship. They plan to spend $40 million on restoring the pier and another $20 million on the rehabilitation of the ship.

"We're going to restore this ship to a position where we can continue to honor the men and women who served on her and died on her," Fisher said.

Officials estimate it will take 100,000 gallons of Navy gray paint to refurbish the floating museum, which they hope to have back in her New York City berth by fall 2008.

"We'll all be happy when she moves," Karosen said before the attempt. "She survived five kamikaze attacks and one torpedo, so I think she's going to make it five miles down the Hudson."

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

I've quit using the mountain to mohamad b.s. phrase since my feelings for the arab community has pretty much dropped off the planet!

Better up the budget and hope the whole project doesn't turn into a money pit!

I couldn't believe it when I heard the folks down hear couldn't generate enough funds to hold onto Sister Sara for a tourist attraction, oh well, I never got that attached to a boat that it wouldn't bother me if they sank it off the coast for a reef, but some get touchy about that kind of stuff when it hits home that something that important may be lost!

"Let's Go Downtown" - Flight of the Intruder
 

http://www.327infantry.org/second/c_co 

Same Mud Same Blood - NBC documentary filmed 1967 RVN, chronicle Frank McGee

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

"Let's Go Downtown" - Flight of the Intruder
 

http://www.327infantry.org/second/c_co 

Same Mud Same Blood - NBC documentary filmed 1967 RVN, chronicle Frank McGee

SMSB

"Let's Go Downtown" - Flight of the Intruder
 

http://www.327infantry.org/second/c_co 

Same Mud Same Blood - NBC documentary filmed 1967 RVN, chronicle Frank McGee