|
*Can't Open A File? Click here for free viewers and audio players
Intrepid Museum
Photo Source: Me using a Canon SD-500
It was a beautiful day and the first day after Labor Day. Things were not too busy in New York City as it was the first day for the children to go back to school, a good day for visiting a museum. The Intrepid is an aircraft carrier from World War II. It has become a museum and is anchored on the west side of Manhattan at about 44th street, near the Circle Line Ferry station. Even though this is a World War II flat top, it is still mighty large and very high. The decks have been stocked with planes of all different time periods from World War II onward. There is a submarine anchored at the other side of the dock and further back a ship with a Concorde passenger liner on the deck.
Greeting as you enter into the ship A set of stairs has been erected to let you climb up about three stories into the hanger deck of the ship. This is the area where the planes were stored and worked on when they were not on deck. This is also the area where a Kamikaze suicide plane crashed into the ship during the war and killed many people. Once inside the ship, you can go through many areas and climb up and down, using the internal stairs which are more like ladders or the external stairs.
Left: View from the street It is so hard to imagine the size of this ship unless you are right next to it. When you are up in the pilot's area you wonder how he ever managed to dock this monster. It is like being on top of a ten story building and steering a massive several block long ship from there.
Left: View from gun If you look at the photo on the left, you can't help but notice how high the gun is in relation to the buildings. This gun is mounted below the deck and the deck is still about 12-15 feet higher. The middle photo was taken from behind the first row of planes and the deck is therefore a lot longer than the photo shows. The photo on the right gives you a nice view of the island where all control of the ship takes place.
Left: Torpedo For those of you who have never seen a real torpedo, they are a lot longer than you expect. The deck guns were quite hefty and were backed up by lighter guns as you can see in the photo on the right. There are many planes on and in the ship that we will get to later, but for now, lets go inside the ship and view the different control centers. The next place I went to was the area inside the island where the ship was steered from. I had to climb up several ladder type staircases to get there. On the way I remembered seeing an elderly person, who could hardly walk and was using one of those cane chairs that fold and I couldn't help but think that this was the wrong place for him to be. I am amazed that the public is allowed to use these staircases because I can almost be sure that someone must fall down them every year.
Left: instruments and phone I certainly have no idea what most of this stuff is, having served in the US Army and not the Navy, but it is all in the pilot room, if that is the correct term. This is where the ship is steered from as I said before, but the actual wheel is somewhere else.
Left: Captain's chair I think it is obvious that the computer screen that the Captain's chair faces, is not World War II vintage but must have been added years later. There are many rooms on this ship with many controls and instruments, some of which are obvious duplicates of instruments found in other sections of the ship. Here are a few photos of them, please don't write me asking what their functions are because I really don't know.
Click The 'Next' Button To Continue |
Leave Your Comments On This Article
 |
 |
 |
This entire site with all contents, except where stated otherwise, is Copyright © 2005 by About Facts Net and its licensors. All rights reserved. |