We were docked next to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum and were able to observe the USS Intrepid and many aircraft from the deck of the Norwegian Jewel. Therefore, we are including the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in our tour. We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; for the information we obtained concerning the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum and its displays. For very detailed descriptions of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum and its displays, we suggest going to the Wikipedia web site. The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is a military and maritime history museum with a collection of museum ships and aircraft located at Pier 86 at 46th Street on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum showcases the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine USS Growler, a Concorde SST and a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance plane. The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum also features numerous aircraft of the United States as well as aircraft from other nations. The museum also serves as a hub for the annual Fleet Week events. Numerous visiting warships dock at the various cruise ship terminals to the north of the museum, and events are held on the museum grounds and upon the flight deck of the Intrepid. The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum was founded in 1982, at Pier 86 after Zachary Fisher, a prominent New York real estate developer and philanthropist, and journalist Michael Stern succeeded in saving the Intrepid from the scrap heap in 1978. The museum closed on October 1, 2006 for a 2 year renovation of the Intrepid and its facilities. The museum was again reopened to the general public on November 8, 2008. The USS Intrepid became a National Historic Landmark in 1986. A little known fact is that In September of 2001, the Intrepid served as the temporary field headquarters for the FBI as it began its investigation of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. On October 1, 2006, the Intrepid closed for repairs and renovations to herself and her pier. Intrepid was moved down the Hudson by tugboat to The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, New Jersey (previously the Military Ocean Terminal) to undergo restoration. On November 8, 2008, the Intrepid reopened to the public. Aircraft are also displayed on the flight and hangar decks and the British Airways Concorde was also moved from a barge into an exhibit space on the pier. The USS Growler (1989), a diesel electric submarine which carried out nuclear deterrent patrols armed with Regulus missiles, is also on display, right next to the Intrepid. The USS Growler (SSG-577), is an early cruise missile submarine of the Grayback class, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the growler, a large-mouth black bass. The USS Growler was laid down on 15 February 1955 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard of Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 5 April 1958, being sponsored by Mrs. Robert K. Byerts, widow of Commander Thomas B. Oakley, Jr., who commanded the third Growler on her 9th, 10th, and fatal 11th war patrols. The USS Growler was commissioned at Portsmouth on 30 August 1958 with Lieutenant Commander Charles Priest, Jr., in command. After training exercises off the East Coast Growler sailed south for her shakedown cruise, arriving at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, on 19 February 1959. After a brief run back to Portsmouth, she returned to the Caribbean Sea in March to train in launching Regulus I and II guided missiles. Growler returned to Portsmouth 19 April via Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and New London, Connecticut. The Growler then proceeded into the Pacific via Norfolk, Virginia, Key West, Florida, and the Panama Canal, finally putting in at Pearl Harbor on 7 September to serve as flagship of Submarine Division 12. At Pearl Harbor, the Growler then participated in a variety of battle and torpedo exercises as well as missile practice before beginning her first Regulus Deterrent Mission. On this mission, which lasted from 12 March to 17 May 1960, Growler departed Hawaii with a full store of Regulus sea-to-surface missiles, armed with nuclear warheads, and patrolled under a strict cloak of secrecy. Their patrols could last two months or more at a stretch and required them to remain submerged for hours and even days�which at first hardly seems difficult when compared to the patrols of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, but was a strain for the crew of a much smaller diesel boat. From May 1960 through December 1963 the Growler had made nine such deterrent mission patrols, one of which, the fourth, terminated at Yokosuka, Japan, on 24 April 1962. Returning to Mare Island, California, the Growler was decommissioned on May 25, 1964; and was placed into reserve. She was moved to the Inactive Fleet section in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on August 1, 1980; and was scheduled to be used as a torpedo target. However, on 8 August 1988, Congress awarded the hulk to Zachary Fisher, Chairman of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. Due to the renovations to the entire Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum complex, including the USS Intrepid and Pier 86; the Growler was towed to Brooklyn for repairs. Holes were found rusted in the hull which complicated matters and pushed the Growler repair costs past $1.5 million. The Growler returned to Pier 86 in late February 2009, and was re-opened to the public on 21 May 2009, during the Intrepid museum "Fleet Week 2009" celebration. The SSM-N-8A Regulus used on the Growler, was both a ship and submarine launched, nuclear armed cruise missile deployed by the United States Navy from 1955 to 1964. Production of the Regulus was phased out in January 1959, with delivery of the 514th missile, and it was removed from service in August 1964. The Regulus not only provided the first nuclear strategic deterrence force for the United States Navy during the first years of the Cold War and especially during the Cuban Missile Crisis, preceding the Polaris missiles, Poseidon missiles, and Trident missiles that followed, but it also was the forerunner of the Tomahawk cruise missile. Here is a list and description of the various aircraft on display at the museum; listed by the armed force using them.
US Air Force:
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. It was designed as a lightweight, daytime fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976 The Fighting Falcon is considered a dogfighter with numerous innovations; including a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, reclined seat to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system that makes it a highly nimble aircraft. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and has 11 hardpoints for mounting weapons, and other mission equipment. Although the F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", it is known to its pilots as the "Viper", due to it resembling a viper snake and after the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper starfighter. In addition to USAF active, reserve, and air national guard units, the aircraft is used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an adversary/aggressor aircraft by the United States Navy. The F-16 has also been selected to serve in the air forces of at least 25 other nations. The first production Lockheed A-12 (the predecessor of the SR-71A): The Lockheed A-12 was a reconnaissance aircraft built for the Central Intelligence Agency by Lockheed's famed Skunk Works, based on the designs of Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. The A-12 was produced from 1962 through 1964, and was in operation from 1963 until 1968. The single-seat design, which first flew in April 1962, was the precursor to both the U.S. Air Force YF-12 interceptor and the famous SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft. The final A-12 mission was flown in May 1968, and the program and aircraft retired in June of that year.
US Navy:
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The F-14 was the first of the American teen-series fighters which were designed incorporating the experience of air combat against MiGs during the Vietnam War. The F-14 first flew in December 1970. It first deployed in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform. The F-14 was retired from the active U.S. Navy fleet on 22 September 2006, having been replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
An A-4 Skyhawk:
Fifty years after the aircraft's first flight, and having played key roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Falklands War, some of the nearly 3,000 Skyhawks produced remain in service with several air arms around the world, including active duty on the aircraft carrier, S�o Paulo, of the Brazilian Navy.
A Beech T-34 Mentor trainer:
A TBF Avenger:
A E-1 Tracer:
The E-1 was designated WF under the old US Navy system; the designation earned it the nickname "Willy Fudd". Since the S-2 Tracker was known as S2F under the old system, that airplane was nicknamed "Stoof"; the WF/E-1 with its distinctive radome gained the nickname "Stoof with a Roof."
An F-11 Tiger that was once the number 5 jet on the Blue Angels.
The F11F/F-11 was used by the Blue Angels flight team from 1957 to 1969. Grumman Aircraft Corporation made about 200 Tigers, with last delivered 23 January 1959.
A FJ-2/-3 Fury:
A F-8 Crusader:
An A-6 Intruder: that was used as a test bed for new radar and avionics in 1988.
A F3H Demon:
An F-9 Cougar:
A Piasecki H-25:
US Marine Corps:
The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2. It can carry over 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon, but later models incorporated a cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records,[4] including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record.
A V-8B Harrier II:
A F3D Skyknight. :
A H-1J Sea Cobra: The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the US Army's AH-1 Cobra. The twin Cobra family includes the AH-1J SeaCobra, the AH-1T Improved SeaCobra, and the AH-1W SuperCobra. The AH-1W is the backbone of the United States Marine Corps's attack helicopter fleet, but will be replaced in service by the AH-1Z Viper upgrade in the next decade.
US Army:
The AH-1 was the backbone of the United States Army's attack helicopter fleet, but has been replaced by the AH-64 Apache in Army service.
A Vietnam-era UH-1 Iroquois:
The first combat operation of the UH-1 was in the service of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. The original designation of HU-1 led to the helicopter's nickname of Huey.[2] In September 1962, the designation was changed to UH-1, but Huey remained in common use. Approximately 7,000 UH-1 aircraft saw service in Vietnam.
A Bell 47:
US Coast Guard:
A Sikorsky HH-52 Sea Guardian: In 1960, the S-60 became the first American turbine-powered helicopter to be certified by the FAA for commercial operations. It was also the first helicopter to be built with a watertight boat-hull fuselage.
NASA:
Foreign Aircraft:
A French Dassault �tendard IV:
An Israeli IAI Kfir:
A Chinese built MiG-15:
A Polish built MiG-17:
A Polish MiG-21:
A British Royal Navy Supermarine Scimitar:
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