Dec 5, 2006 9:11 am US/Eastern
USS Intrepid Free From River Mud
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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In the first attempt on Nov. 6, the 36,000-ton carrier budged only a few feet before the propellers dug into the bottom, the tide dropped, and the mission was scrubbed. (File)
Gregg A. Geller/CBS
A month after a failed attempt to move the USS Intrepid, the historic aircraft carrier was freed Tuesday from the Hudson River anchorage where it had sat for nearly a quarter of a century.
"This old baby is moving," a joyous Intrepid Foundation President Bill White said aboard the vessel. Some crew members cried and gave each other high-fives and hugs. Onlookers ashore cheered.
In the previous attempt, thick mud had proved too strong for six "tractor tugs" exerting some 30,000 horsepower. Another battle occurred this time, too -- the blue water was churned dark brown as tugboats strained to inch the giant vessel away from its longtime home.
"If she doesn't move, we are going to jump in and push her," a former crew member, 84-year-old Joe Kobert, said on the Intrepid's deck before the behemoth began to move on Tuesday.
The smaller boats were pulling the ship stern first -- by its tail-end -- into the center of the Hudson River, then were to nudge the bow until it's parallel with the shore.
The aircraft carrier-turned-museum is to be towed, still backward, down the river toward New York Harbor for a five-mile trip to a shipyard in Bayonne, N.J., where it will undergo renovations.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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