Posted on 11/06/2006 8:57:44 AM PST by SmoothTalker
"NEW YORK - The legendary aircraft carrier USS Intrepid got stuck in the deep Hudson River mud Monday as powerful tugboats fought to pull it free to tow the floating museum downriver for a $60 million overhaul."
" After 24 years at the same pier on Manhattan’s West Side, the Intrepid began inching backward out of its berth, but the tugs moved it only a few feet before its giant propellers jammed in the thick accumulation of mud. The decommissioned war ship no longer has engines of its own."
"The Intrepid, launched in 1943, is one of four Essex-class carriers still afloat six decades after spearheading the naval defeat of Japan in the Pacific. It survived five kamikaze suicide attacks and lost 270 crewmen in battle.
Doomed to the scrap heap, it was purchased in 1981 by real estate developer Zachary Fisher, who realized his dream of turning the ship into the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum a year later.
It became one of New York’s major tourist attractions, drawing some 700,000 visitors a year. It also supports a Fallen Heroes Fund that has provided $14 million to aid families of service members killed and wounded in the line of duty and built a $35 million advanced training facility for disabled veterans."
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
They hit Jimmy Hoffa backing up the Intrepid ;-p
How about removing the propellers?
I watched this for about 20 minutes at the pier this AM. Even got to hear the dragon Hillary's shrill voise about how this was a great day for NY.
The barely budged the Intrepid with 6 tugs.
Hmmm. You think the MSM could get it correct or the Navy would inform them......
It's not the "USS Intrepid." The USS Intrepid was decomissioned on 15 Dec 1974.
It is now the Intrepid Sea, Air & Sapce Museum and the ship is refered to as either "The Intrepid" or the Ex-USS Intrepid"
God help the MSM
They'll remove the screws, dredge out the slip behind her, and get her to move in the spring.
...and out the side of her mouth she said.."..and for me just one more photo-op to draw attention away from the fact that my entire time in the Senate I`ve done absolutely nothing except go on an 8 month book tour, go through taxpayer cash like water, and blame Bush for all the problems I`m suppose to solve."
Props are above the bottom of the hull. Yes, they create a lot of drag when pulling/towing the ship, but that's not what's hitting the bottom.
And, even if the propellers ARE touching the bottom (stupid MSM writers) then the hull is not only "touching" but stuck firmly in about 4-6 feet of mud.
Heck, just pumping the bilge dry might do the trick.
It was amazing to see the tugs with engines on full churning up tons of dark smelly silt laden water, but the ship was not going anywhere. I really could smell it standing by the water. The lead tug was porpoising out fo the water it was pulling so hard. I saw it move a couple of feet tops. It was a major PR production today. They had a camera helicopter, at least 6 tugs, tons of security, secret service, thousands of spectators.
PFFFTTTTT.
That was my first thought (remove the propellers). Why does this museum-ship still have propellers (screws), anyway? Without engines they are ornamental, and they are below the waterline. I guess nobody wanted to pay to remove them.
What saddens me is that such an important part of WWII history was destined for the scrap heap.
Why don`t they place Helen Thomas naked on the dock? That ship get the hell out of there so fast, it would spin around the earth like an electric fan.
Yup or damming the river. LOL.
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