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See USS Intrepid for other ships of this name.
The fourth USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. Intrepid participated in the Pacific War, most notably the Battle of Leyte Gulf, recovered space capsules of the Mercury and Gemini projects, served in the Vietnam War, and since 1982 has been a museum ship in New York City called Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Because of the ship's prominent role in battle, it was given the nickname "the Fighting I."
World War II
- 26 April 1943: The ship was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, sponsored by Mrs. John Howard Hoover.
- 16 August 1943: The ship was commissioned, Captain Thomas L. Sprague in command. Its crew trained in the Caribbean.
Marshalls, Jan. – Feb. 1944
- 3 December 1943: Intrepid sailed from Naval Station Norfolk for San Francisco, then to Hawaii.
- 10 January: She arrived at Pearl Harbor and prepared for the invasion of the Marshall Islands, the next objective in the Navy's massive island-hopping campaign.
- 16 January: She left Pearl Harbor with carriers Cabot and Essex.
- 29 January - 2 February 1944: She raided islands at the northeastern corner of Kwajalein Atoll and pressed the attack until the last opposition had vanished.
- 31 January: By then the raids destroyed all of the 83 Japanese aircraft based on Roi-Namur. The first landings were made on adjacent islets. That morning Intrepid's aircraft strafed Ennuebing Island until 10 minutes before the first marines reached the beaches. Half an hour later that islet, which protected Roi's southwestern flank and controlled the North Pass into Kwajalein Lagoon, was secured, enabling marines to set up artillery to support their assault on Roi.
- 2 February 1944: Her work in the capture of the Marshall Islands was now finished. Intrepid headed for Truk, the tough Japanese base in the center of Micronesia.
- 17 February: Three fast carrier groups arrived undetected at daybreak.
- 17 February 1944: That night an aerial torpedo struck Intrepid's starboard quarter, 15 feet below her waterline, flooding several compartments and jamming her rudder hard to port. By racing her port screw and idling her starboard engine, Captain Sprague kept her on course.
- 17 February - 18 February: The 3 carrier groups sank two Japanese destroyers and 200,000 tons of merchant shipping in 2 days of almost continuous attacks in Operation Hailstone. The carrier raid demonstrated Truk's vulnerability and thereby greatly curtailed its usefulness to the Japanese as a base.
- 19 February: Strong winds swung her back and forth and tended to weathercock her with her bow pointed toward Tokyo. Sprague later confessed: "Right then I wasn't interested in going in that direction." At this point the crew made a jury-rig sail of hatch covers and scrap canvas which swung Intrepid about and held her on course.
- 24 February 1944: Decorated by her crazy-quilt sail, Intrepid reached Pearl Harbor.
- 16 March: After temporary repairs, Intrepid sailed for the West Coast.
- 22 March: She arrived at Hunter's Point, California.
- June 1944: She was back in fighting trim and departed for 2 months of operations out of Pearl Harbor, then to the Marshalls.
Palaus and Philippines, Sept. – Nov. 1944
- 6 and 7 September 1944: Intrepid's aircraft struck Japanese position in the Palaus concentrating on airfields and artillery emplacements on Peleliu.
- 8 September: Her fast carrier task force steamed west toward the southern Philippines.
- 9 and 10 September: She struck airfields on Mindanao.
- 12 through 14 September: She raided bases in the Visayan Sea.
- 17 September: She returned to the Palaus to support marines in overcoming opposition from hillside caves and mangrove swamps on Peleliu.
- When the struggle settled down to rooting Japanese defenders out of the ground man-to-man, Intrepid steamed back to the Philippines to prepare the way for liberation. She struck throughout the Philippines, also pounding Okinawa and Formosa to neutralize Japanese air threats to Leyte.
- 20 October 1944: Intrepid's aircraft flew missions in support of the Leyte landings. Japan's Navy, desperately striving to hold the Philippines, was converging on Leyte Gulf from three directions.
- 23 October to 26 October 1944: Ships of the U.S. Navy parried thrusts in four major actions collectively known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
- 24 October morning: An Intrepid aircraft spotted Admiral Takeo Kurita's flagship, Yamato. Two hours later, aircraft from Intrepid and Cabot braved intense antiaircraft fire to begin a day-long attack on Center Force. Wave after wave followed until by sunset American carrier-based aircraft had sunk mighty battleship Musashi with her 18 inch (457 mm) guns and had damaged her sister ship Yamato along with battleships Nagato and Haruna and heavy cruiser Myoko forcing the Myoko to withdraw.
- That night Admiral William Halsey's 3rd Fleet raced north to intercept Japan's Northern Force which had been spotted of the northeastern tip of Luzon. At daybreak aircraft took off to attack the Japanese ships then off Cape Engaño. One of Intrepid's aircraft got a bomb into light carrier Zuiho. Then American bombers sank her sister ship Chitose, and an aircraft from either Intrepid or San Jacinto scored with a torpedo in large carrier Zuikaku knocking out her communications and hampering her steering. Destroyer Ayitsuki sank and at least 9 of Ozawa's 15 aircraft were shot down.
- On through the day the attack continued and, after five more strikes, Japan had lost four carriers and a destroyer.
- The still potent Center Force, after pushing through San Bernardino Strait, had steamed south along the coast of Samar where it was held at bay by a small escort carrier group of six "baby flattops", three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts until help arrived and it went back towards Japan.
- As Intrepid's aircraft hit Clark Field 30 October a burning kamikaze crashed into one of the carrier's port gun tubs killing 10 men and wounding 6. Soon skillful damage control work enabled the flattop to resume flight operations.
- Intrepid's aircraft continued to hit airfields and shipping in the Philippines.
- 25 November shortly after noon: A heavy force of Japanese aircraft struck back at the carriers. Within 5 minutes 2 kamikazes crashed into the carrier killing 6 officers and 5 crew. Intrepid never lost propulsion nor left her station in the task group; and in less than 2 hours, had extinguished the last blaze.
- 26 November: Intrepid headed for San Francisco.
- 20 December: She arrived there for repairs.
Okinawa and Japan, March – April 1945
- Mid February 1945: Back in fighting trim, the carrier steamed for Ulithi.
- 13 March She arrived at Ulithi.
- 14 March 1945: She set off eastward.
- 18 March: She made powerful strikes against airfields on Kyushu. That morning a twin-engined Japanese G4M "Betty" broke through a curtain of defensive fire turned toward Intrepid and exploded only 50 feet (15 m) off Intrepid's forward boat crane. A shower of flaming gasoline and aircraft parts started fires on the hangar deck, but damage control teams quickly put them out.
- Intrepid's aircraft joined attacks on remnants of the Japanese fleet anchored at Kure damaging 18 enemy naval vessels including super battleship Yamato and carrier Amagi.
- The carriers turned to Okinawa as L-Day, the start of the most ambitious amphibious assault of the Pacific war, approached.
- 26 and 27 March: Their aircraft attacked the Ryukyus, softening up enemy defensive works.
- 1 April 1945: The invasion began 1 April. They flew support missions against targets on Okinawa and made neutralizing raids against Japanese airfields in range of the island.
- 16 April: During an air raid, a Japanese aircraft dived into Intrepid's flight deck forcing the engine and part of her fuselage right on through, killing 8 men and wounding 21. In less than an hour the flaming gasoline had been extinguished, and only 3 hours after the crash, aircraft were again landing on the carrier.
- 17 April: Intrepid retired homeward via Ulithi and Pearl Harbor.
- 19 May: She arrived at San Francisco for repairs.
- 29 June: Intrepid left San Francisco.
- 6 August: In passing, her aircraft smashed Japanese on bypassed Wake Island.
- 7 August: She arrived at Eniwetok.
- 15 August: At Eniwetok she received word to "cease offensive operations."
- 21 August: The veteran carrier got under way to support the occupation of Japan.
- 2 December: She departed Yokosuka.
- 15 December 1945. She arrived San Pedro, California, .
Post-war service
- 4 February 1948: Intrepid shifted to San Francisco Bay.
- 15 August: Her status was reduced to "in commission in reserve".
- 22 March 1947(?): She was decommissioned and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
- 9 February 1952: Intrepid recommissioned at San Francisco.
- 12 March 1952: She got underway for Norfolk.
- 9 April 1952: She decommissioned in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for conversion to a modern attack aircraft carrier.
- 1 October: She was reclassified CVA-11.
- 18 June 1954: She recommissioned in reserve.
- 13 October 1954: She became the first American carrier to launch aircraft with steam catapults.
- 15 October 1954: She went into full commission as a unit of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
1955 – 1961
- 1955: Shakedown out of Guantánamo Bay
- 28 May 1955: Intrepid departed Mayport, Florida, for the first of two deployments in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet.
- 5 September 1956: She returned to Norfolk from the second of these cruises.
- 29 September She got under way for a 7-month modernization overhaul in the New York Navy Yard, followed by refresher training out of Guantánamo Bay.
- September 1957: Now she had a reinforced angled flight deck and a mirror landing system. Intrepid departed the United States for NATO's Operation Strikeback, the largest peacetime naval exercise up to that time in history.
- December 1957: Operating out of Norfolk in December she conducted Operation Crosswind, a study of the effects of wind on carrier launches. Intrepid proved that carriers can safely conduct flight operations without turning into the wind and even launch aircraft while steaming downwind.
- 1958 - 1961:Intrepid alternated Mediterranean deployments with operations along the Atlantic coast of the United States and exercises in the Caribbean.
1962 – 1965
- December 8, 1961: She was reclassified to an anti-submarine warfare carrier, CVS-11.
- March 10, 1962: She entered the Norfolk Navy Yard to be overhauled and refitted for her new antisubmarine warfare role.
- 2 April 1962: She left the shipyard carrying Air Antisubmarine Group 56.
- After training exercises, Intrepid was selected as the principal ship in the recovery team for astronaut Scott Carpenter and his Project Mercury space capsule.
- May 24, 1962, shortly before noon: Carpenter splashed down in Aurora 7 several hundred miles from Intrepid. Minutes after he was located by land-based search aircraft, two helicopters from Intrepid, carrying NASA officials, medical experts, Navy frogmen, and photographers, were airborne and headed to the rescue. One of the choppers picked him up over an hour later and flew him to the carrier which safely returned him to the United States.
- 1962 summer: Training midshipmen at sea.
- 1962 autumn: A thorough overhaul at Norfolk.
- January 23, 1963: The carrier departed Hampton Roads for warfare exercises in the Caribbean.
- Late February 1963: She interrupted these operations to join a sea hunt for the Venezuelan freighter Anzoátegui, whose mutinous second mate had led a group of pro-Castro terrorists in Hijacking the vessel. The Communist pirates had surrendered at Rio de Janeiro.
- March 23, 1963: The carrier returned to Norfolk.
- Intrepid operated along the Atlantic Coast for the next year from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean perfecting her antisubmarine techniques.
- June 11, 1964: She left Norfolk carrying midshipmen to the Mediterranean for a hunter-killer at sea training with the 6th Fleet.
- While in the Mediterranean, Intrepid aided in the surveillance of a Soviet task group. En route home her crew learned that she had won the coveted Battle Efficiency "E" for antisubmarine warfare during the previous fiscal year.
- 1964 autumn: Intrepid operated along the East Coast.
- Early September 1964: She entertained 22 NATO statesmen as part of their tour of U.S. military installations.
- October 18-19, 1964: She was at Yorktown for ceremonies commemorating Lord Cornwallis's surrender 183 years before.
- Night of November 21, 1964: During a brief deployment off North Carolina, swift and efficient rescue procedures saved the life of an airman who fell overboard while driving an aircraft towing tractor.
- Early 1965: Intrepid began preparations for a vital role in NASA's first manned Gemini flight, Gemini 3.
- March 23, 1965: Lt. Comdr. John Young and Maj. Gus Grissom in Molly Brown splashed down some 50 miles from Intrepid after history's first controlled re-entry into the earth's atmosphere ended the pair's nearly perfect three-orbit flight. A Navy helicopter lifted the astronauts from the spacecraft and flew them to Intrepid for medical examination and debriefing. Later Intrepid retrieved Molly Brown and returned the spaceship and astronauts to Cape Kennedy.
- After this mission Intrepid entered the Brooklyn Navy Yard in April for a major overhaul to bring her back to peak combat readiness.
1965 – 1974
This was the final Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) job performed by the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York, which was slated to close after more than a century and a half of service to the nation.- September 1965: Intrepid, with her work approximately 75 percent completed, eased down the East River to moor at the Naval Supply Depot at Bayonne, New Jersey, for the completion of her multi-million dollar overhaul. After builder's sea trials and fitting out at Norfolk she sailed to Guantánamo on shakedown.
- Mid-1966: Intrepid was with the Pacific Fleet off Vietnam. Here her pilots scored what is believed to be one of the fastest aircraft launching times recorded by an American carrier. Nine A-4 Skyhawks and six A-1 Skyraiders, loaded with bombs and rockets, were catapulted in 7 minutes, with only 28 seconds between launches. A few days later aircraft were launched at 26-second intervals. After 7 months of outstanding service with the 7th Fleet off Vietnam, Intrepid returned to Norfolk having earned her Commanding Officer, Captain John W. Fair, the Legion of Merit for combat operations in Southeast Asia.
- June 1967: Intrepid returned to the Western Pacific by way of the Suez Canal just prior to its closing during the Arab-Israeli crisis.
- 1968: She won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.
- mid-1970: Intrepid was home ported at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, relieving Yorktown (CV-10) as the flagship for Commander Carrier Division 16. Between June of 1972, and June of the following year, Intrepid took part in NATO exercises, and made several stops in North Atlantic area ports, including Bergen, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; Holy Loch, Scotland; Portsmouth, England and Rotterdam, Holland. She subsequently returned to her homeport to be refitted and then made her final cruise in the Meditterrean, stopping in Barcelona and Malaga Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Nice, France; Naples, Italy; Palma, Mallorca; and Piraeus, Greece.
- 15 March 1974: Intrepid was decommissioned for the final time.
After her final decommissioning
She was destined to be scrapped shortly thereafter, but a campaign led by real estate developer Zachary Fisher and the Intrepid Museum Foundation saved the carrier, and established it as a museum ship.- August 1982: She opened in New York City as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum.
- 1986: Intrepid was officially designated as a National Historic Landmark.
- In early July, 2006, it was announced that the Intrepid will undergo renovations and repairs, along with Pier 86 itself. It will close October 1, 2006, before being towed to Bayonne, New Jersey for repairs, and later Staten Island, NY for renovation and temporary docking.**
See also
- List of aircraft carriers and List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
- List of World War II ships
References
- Larry Sowinski, USS Intrepid Album (Levittown, New York: Gerard Graphics, 1976)
External links
- Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum homepage
- USS Intrepid Association homepage
- US Navy photos of Intrepid
- NavSource photos of Intrepid
- Interactive satellite view of the museum site
- "My Ship!" The U.S.S. Intrepid - Review of book by Raymond Stone about his experiences aboard Intrepid as a radarman from August 1943 to June 1945.
Battle of Leyte Gulf | Essex class aircraft carriers | Museum ships | United States Navy aircraft carriers | World War II aircraft carriers of the United States | Cold War aircraft carriers of the United States | Vietnam War aircraft carriers of the United States
"USS Intrepid (CV-11)"