Visiting the Intrepid Battleship Museum in New York City
The Intrepid Battleship has a very rich history and long in detail. It was first used in World War 2 in fighting the Japanese. The Intrepid was launched in 1943, two years after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. In December it traveled to the coastal islands that the U.S. owned and participated in the Marshall Islands invasion in February of 1944. That same year it was badly damaged by a Japanese air attack by managed to stay afloat as repairs were quickly made. It soon participated in attacking the Japanese forces off of the Philippines.
In October of 1944 in was engaged in a giant battleship battle between the Japanese ship called the Musashi. It was able to successfully sink the Japanese ship. In October of that year it was hit by a giant Japanese Kamikaze plane but still managed to return to battle. When the war ended soon afterward, it helped patrol the west coast. Other events it was included in was retrieving a space capsule and operating with the 6th U.S. navy fleet. Finally in 1947 it was decommissioned and in 1982 it was made into a museum in New York City and was opened to the public.
The Intrepid is a great trip to take that I myself have personally been to several times. Most people have never seen a real battleship and it is a real sight to see. You will be in awe at the missiles on board, the torpedoes, and the flight deck. As an aircraft carrier, the entire upper deck of the ship has dozens of helicopters and planes that were used to carry out coordinated attacks with the ship against the enemy. The upper deck looks like a runway on an airport where planes would take a liftoff and fly.
Every plane and helicopter was fully loaded with guns and missiles. Some planes tourists can board the cockpit and see what is was really like for a pilot to fly one of these planes. Each plane has been decommissioned and can no longer fly and the rudder of the ship has also been taken out. However you can still go inside the ship which is huge and see a view outside from the captain of the ship’s viewpoint. Tourists can see all of the controls used to radio signals to the navy headquarters and the different controls used to steer the ship.
The bottom deck is modernized, with a McDonald’s restaurant located there for tourists to eat and stay at the ship the entire day. There are also a few gift shops to take home souvenirs. The inside of the ship is where the real fun for tourists is located. There are many interactive exhibits in which a computer explains what life was like for navy men aboard the vessel. Tourists also get to see the cramped sleeping area where the men stayed. One type of interactive exhibit is a rock climbing exhibit where a harness is strapped to a person and they get to scale a wall and reach the top.
Another fun thing especially for children is to get aboard a small contraption that simulates life in an airplane. There is also special equipment tourists get to see that contains diving equipment used to rescue soldiers. You can watch movies of real battles that the Intrepid was involved in. Inside the ship you can also see the transformation of the planes as each one got more advanced every year.
I thoroughly enjoyed going aboard the Intrepid battleship. It is truly a sight to see no matter if you are a historian or an ordinary person you will love making the trip.
