A visit to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum last weekend was like a dream coming true. Aboard a USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, this museum took us back in history. When we entered the Hanger 1 after taking our tickets, a big movie screen displayed the story of Intrepid.
USS Intrepid- It was built during World War II, for the U.S. Navy. And during the war on 16th April, 1945, a Japanese aircraft dived into Intrepid's flight deck killing 8 and wounding 21 people. Not just this, Intrepid has survived five kamikaze attacks, several bomb attacks and one torpedo strike. It has made seven trips around the globe surviving two wars (that's exemplary).
The 'Intrepid'
The Hanger Deck, was the first exhibit - after watching the story of interpid, we went to see the anchor chain room. There were many interesting exhibits like TBM-3 Avenger Airplane, FJ-3 Fury Airplane, Heroic Journey Exhibit, A-4 Skyhawk Airplane and HUP-2 Retriever Helicopter and XD Theater. The XD Theater was the most awesome part of the visit, a 4D extreme experience for 10 mins, where we sat on our seats, put on our 3D glasses, tightened the seat belts and zoomed into a crazy ride through space, it was unbelievable - a mix of high speed, extreme turns and free falls.
Next was the Flight Deck, from where the aircrafts used to take off. And here was also the huge collection of aircrafts from around the world. The A-12 Blackbird spy plane, F-14 Tomcat, F11F Tiger, F3D-2 Skynight and MiG-21- fabulous collection. And we also got to see the Navigation Bridge where the Captain used to sit and navigate the ship. We clicked lots of pictures. After the flight deck, we went to the third deck- where the crew of intrepid used to eat and sleep. The berthing areas, the 1960 mess and officers quarters- it felt like walking through history.
A-12 Blackbird
From there, we went to the cafe and had some delicious food in the mess lookalike sitting area. The next was the Pier 86- where the British Airways Concorde stood majestically. We got to see the insides of this record-breaking Concorde and the Growler Submarine - the only strategic missile open to public. And then it was time for some souveneirs - we picked up some intrepid coins and badges.
In all, the experience was unbelievable, truly an experience of a lifetime.
From there, we went to the cafe and had some delicious food in the mess lookalike sitting area. The next was the Pier 86- where the British Airways Concorde stood majestically. We got to see the insides of this record-breaking Concorde and the Growler Submarine - the only strategic missile open to public. And then it was time for some souveneirs - we picked up some intrepid coins and badges.
In all, the experience was unbelievable, truly an experience of a lifetime.