Hudson River, Pier 86 at 46th Street and 12th
Avenue
(212) 245-0072
www.intrepid-museum.com/
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Located
on Pier 86 at 46th Street and 12th Avenue,
the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is housed inside the USS
Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier. It’s worth
visiting the Intrepid just for the experience of being aboard an
aircraft carrier. The museum’s exhibits as well as the carrier
itself provide lots of opportunities to get "hands-on"
with both science and history. On the deck of the 900-ft long ship
are jets, helicopters and seaplanes that have all played a role in
history. Aeronautical enthusiasts will be in Nirvana, while kids
love meandering through the cavernous ship’s many hallways and
winding staircases.
One
of the more unusual exhibits on the deck is the A-12 Blackbird,
the highest flying and fastest aircraft ever built. Flown by CIA
pilots during the Cold War, the history of the plane is so secret
that even today they can’t tell you what it did over twenty
years ago. The Blackbird is still a technological marvel built of
titanium and capable of flying over three and a half times the
speed of sound at altitudes in excess of 17 miles high.
One
of the sections of interest below decks is the "Undersea
Frontier". In this exhibit, you can use a nautical chart to
find where significant regional shipwrecks lie, and then see
actual artifacts recovered from these vessels. (Including a large
exhibit on the ubiquitous Titanic).
Admission to the Intrepid allows you to visit two other vessels
docked with "The Fighting – I", the lightship
Nantucket and the USS GROWLER, the only guided missile submarine
in the world open to the public.
