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Military, Civilian Engineers Talk Intrepid Rescue

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Nov 7, 2006 4:04 pm US/Eastern

Military, Civilian Engineers Talk Intrepid Rescue

NEW YORK (AP) ― Teams of military and private experts analyzed blueprints of the mudlocked Intrepid at dockside Tuesday as they strategized on how to move the mighty World War II aircraft carrier for renovations.

The USS Intrepid, which defied kamikaze attacks, bombs and torpedoes during its legendary history, refused to budge from its berth Monday, sending six tug boats with a combined 30,000 horsepower home defeated.

As the tugs moved the ship, the ship's massive propellers screwed themselves into a mound of mud. The mud pile built up higher, like a snow plow, with each subsequent pull, forcing officials to scrub the mission.

Intrepid officials were not deterred, and began working immediately to figure out a new course of attack.

"We are exploring all our options," Bill White, president of the Intrepid Museum Foundation, said Tuesday. "We will be presenting all of them to our chairman, Mr. Arnold Fisher, for review."

White said he is working closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and private industry experts. Senior Pentagon officials have also offered their assistance.

"The old gray lady is digging in her heels and didn't want to leave her home in New York City," White said. "They didn't call her the fighting `I' for nothing."

On Monday, Intrepid received a glorious goodbye with a military band playing and politicians singing its praises while dozens of reporters, radio and television cameras recorded the departure of Intrepid, leaving for a two-year $60 million renovation project.

But for 90 minutes, tugs pulled from the stern while others pushed from the bow, and they could not move Intrepid off the mound of mud that had cradled the ship for the last 24 years.

Intrepid officials had meticulously prepared for the move, even obtaining the necessary federal permits to vertically dredge a driveway from the berthing area out to the Hudson River, according to Peter Shugert, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman. They finished the project last week, removing approximately 15,000 cubic yards of mud which was used beneficially in the closure of a landfill, Shugert said.

"They had hoped to pull the ship off the mound, drop it into the 35-foot dredged hole and then out to the open water," Shugert said.

But as the tug boats moved the ship, its 16-foot propellers, one set located about 100 feet from the stern and the other at the midsection, buried themselves into the thick oozy sediment and prevented movement.

Intrepid was rescued from the scrap heap in the 1970s by New York builder Zach Fisher, who transformed the 27,000-ton veteran aircraft carrier into a mammoth military museum to honor those who served in the armed forces.

(© 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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