USSIntrepid...stuck

[MrBern]

The legendary WWII aircraft carrier is being moved to New Jersey for a $60 million overhaul.
But the Intrepid's giant propellers got stuck in the mud as the tugboats strained to move the behemoth from its berth onthe Hudson river.
Hector Giannesca stood on the flight deck Monday morning.
"On March 25, 1944, I was standing on this deck almost in the exact spot as today when a kamikaze crashed into the deck and killed 79 of my shipmates. I was spared," he said.

fullstory
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/06/national/main2154887.shtml

 

[Harp]

$$$

If the Intrepid is in a decommissioned state, should the taxpayers
be footing a $60,000,000 overhaul bill? Can't this money be put to
better use, and no offense to the historic contribution the ship made
during WWII, but enough is enough.

 

[MrBern]

seems like its still doing good as a vital part of NYC:

It became one of New York's major tourist attractions, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, 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.

 

[Harp]

Intrepid

At the risk of sounding the boor, and a Scrooge of sorts, given the
associated charitable organizations connected to the ship; having
seen defense department cost-cutting from inside the military,
then slugging through college on Vietnam's joke GI Bill, and later
VA counseling of disabled vets, I regretfully hold to my prior post.
I've seen too many other instances of when the cash was needed
but not available for more pressing human needs. Perhaps I still
carry the cynicism of my generation, but $60mil for a decommissioned
ship seems extravagant.

 

[Tomasso]

should the taxpayers be footing a $60,000,000 overhaul bill?

It's a civic amenity like Navy Pier in Chicago.

 

[The Wingnut]

This most likely falls to a property issue. If the ship is still the property of the USN (as the USS Hornet in Alameda, CA is), and is a national historic landmark like other warship museums, the cost for major overhauls / heavy work such as this is going to likely be government subsidized out of necessity. No private interest is going to have the funds available to undertake such a project as this, and the continued existence of the ship as a museum necessitates major work being done to preserve it. Since it's still government property and serves in a public interest role, it does fall to the government to undertake major upkeep when necessary.

As for where the money is coming from, so many budgets, bureaus and departments are compartmentalized from each other that saying the money being spent could be better spent elsewhere is a moot point...to use the old phrase, 'You can't get there from here'. It's amazing the money to overhaul the Intrepid is even available, yes. The fact that it IS available indicates that it probably CAN'T be spent elsewhere. Many government agencies, in order to maintain the money alloted to them, have to show that they spend the total sum alloted each fiscal year, or the amount that they didn't spend will be cut from the next year's budget. This is certainly the case with my USAF Reserve unit.

This is probably work that's been put off for quite some time and is now finally being done. A ship can't sit in the water for years on end without needing major work to the hull to stave off corrosion and undertake other preventive maintenance. This is an issue that plagues all floating museums.

 

[MrBern]

The ship will be repainted & parts of the interior refurbished.
AND the pier will be revamped. So not all the money is going into the ship.

this ship, full of history & potential was saved from the scrapheap.

Back in the dark days following 9/11, the intrepid was used a secure base for many of the govt responders.

its one of the finer tourist traps in NYC.

 

[MrBern]

The Navy & Army Corp of Engineers are on the way to free the Intrepid. But it will cost another $3mil
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061111/ap_on_re_us/uss_intrepid

 

[MrBern]

unstuck

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/nyregion/06intrepid.html

A month after a first effort failed, tugboats Tuesday got the carrier Intrepid free of the river mud at its West Side pier and off to Bayonne, N.J., for refurbishment. It is due back in New York in 2008

“Just when I was ready to say this isn’t going anywhere again and I was formulating my defeat speech, she moved,” said Jeffrey K. McAllister, senior docking pilot for McAllister Towing. “If we had one less horsepower with us today, we’d still be sitting back there scratching our heads.”

 

[Tomasso]

YEA!!

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Watch here.

 

[Phil]

Don't we have a war to fight still? Maybe we should focus our funds on the more important matters like new ships, better weaponry, or better protection for our troops rather than restoring a ship that has been put out of comission.

 

[Jay]

Don't we have a war to fight still? Maybe we should focus our funds on the more important matters like new ships, better weaponry, or better protection for our troops rather than restoring a ship that has been put out of comission.

I agree. Let's refit the Intrepid to fight again. I'd be glad to serve on it.

 

[Phil]

There you have it. Let's make it fighting fit again! All the new technology aside, there's no better way to kill an enemy than nice, hot lead.

 

[Jay]

Exactly!

 

[MrBern]

Re-opening

And now its back & ready for business. A review of the museum:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/arts/design/07intr.html

what is really new is an extensive exhibition chronicling the Intrepid’s history: its construction in 18 months during World War II, its participation in that war’s 82-day Battle of Okinawa, its place in cold-war maneuvers and training, its use in recovering astronauts from Mercury and Gemini space missions and its three tours of duty during the Vietnam War.

displays are meant to be touched and climbed, pushed and entered. You can crawl into a typically sized crew member’s bunk too narrow to roll over in and stacked too close for occupants to sit up. You can scramble up a cargo net, practice Morse code, sit in a helicopter complete with sound effects.

 

[Chas]

I think that the $$ would be better spent on intelligence gathering.

As Sun Tzu said, Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations.

What good is a museum relic when the war is one that should be fought in the shadows?

 

[LordBest]

I would imagine similar debates went on at the Admiralty regarding the HMS Victory, until the wife of the Admiral responsible burst into tears and saved the ship. Heritage is unfortunately expensive, but future generations will be thankful.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

In these tough economic times I'm sure all the people that worked on revitalizing that ship where glad to have the work. It's not just a pile of money sitting on the flight deck.

 

[Feraud]

Exactly!

 

[SGT Rocket]

ornerly old lady

The legendary WWII aircraft carrier is being moved to New Jersey for a $60 million overhaul.
But the Intrepid's giant propellers got stuck in the mud as the tugboats strained to move the behemoth from its berth onthe Hudson river.
Hector Giannesca stood on the flight deck Monday morning.
"On March 25, 1944, I was standing on this deck almost in the exact spot as today when a kamikaze crashed into the deck and killed 79 of my shipmates. I was spared," he said.

fullstory
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/06/national/main2154887.shtml

She's an ornery old air craft carrier. More power to her!!! She isn't used to having little boats push her around. They should have asked politely!