Intrepid Museum: An Aircraft Carrier You Can Board

It had been a while since anything surprised me as much as the day I stumbled onto Pier 86 on the Hudson River and ran into the monumental USS Intrepid, the aircraft carrier that gives this floating museum its name: the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

New York has a huge variety of museums, but I never imagined there would also be a museum inside an aircraft carrier that survived kamikaze attacks and a torpedo strike during World War II…

Or a museum inside a submarine armed with nuclear missiles that patrolled submerged off the coast of the USSR during the Cold War…

Or a pavilion where you can get up close to the Enterprise, the first space shuttle ever built. All of that is the Intrepid Museum.

Why the Intrepid Museum Matters

The Intrepid Museum in Midtown West is a one-of-a-kind institution with impressive historical and documentary value.

It isn't strictly a military museum. It's an institution that aims to make clear how much of the American identity and technological development has been built on the country's active military role on the world stage.

The idea is that these subjects should be discussed openly so they can be understood. It's precisely because of this educational and documentary approach that the Intrepid Museum has been designated a National Historic Landmark of the United States.

What to See at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

As I mentioned, the Intrepid Museum floats at Pier 86 on the Hudson River and is made up of 3 exhibits:

1. The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid
2. The submarine USS Growler
3. The Space Shuttle Enterprise pavilion.

Here are the details on each one:

1. The USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier

The main attraction at the Intrepid Museum is the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, the enormous warship whose flight deck displays close to 30 aircraft from World War II and the Vietnam War that you can see up close.

Standouts include the Lockheed A-12, the fastest military spy jet in the world, and the British Airways Concorde, the supersonic airliner that crossed the Atlantic in under 3 hours (going inside the Concorde costs an extra 7 dollars).

Other aircraft in the museum's fleet include:

🛫 An F-8K Crusader: a fighter with a shark mouth painted on the nose

🛫 A single-seat MiG-21, the Soviet Union's first Mach 2 fighter

🛫 A UH-1A Huey: served as a medical evacuation helicopter in Vietnam.

You can also walk through the hangar and intermediate decks, where you'll find displays of original historical artifacts, photographs and documentary footage. You'll get a look at the sailors' bunk rooms and mess halls, among other spaces.

The inside of the Intrepid is so big that there are even escalators to take you up to the captain's bridge.

Inside the Intrepid there are also 3 flight simulators, which are ticketed separately (10 dollars each, or 27 dollars for all 3).

History of the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier

The USS Intrepid first set sail in 1943 to serve in World War II. Over its history it survived 5 kamikaze attacks and a torpedo hit.

The ship also served during the Cold War and the Vietnam War. It was used by NASA as a recovery vessel for the Gemini and Mercury space missions in the 1960s.

Its final mission came in 1974, after 29 years of active service. Over those years more than 50,000 sailors served aboard the carrier, 250 of whom died in the line of duty.

The ship was slated to be scrapped, but in 1982 it was saved when it was acquired as the first piece of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

2. The USS Growler Submarine

The USS Growler submarine joined the Intrepid Museum's collection in 1989, making it the only American nuclear missile submarine open to the public.

Visiting the Growler is a rare chance to see what life aboard a submarine was really like. You'll also see military secrets that civilians couldn't have dreamed of viewing decades ago, like the missile command center and the nuclear warheads themselves.

Before boarding the sub you'll pass through an exhibit that gives you historical and technological context on the Growler. At the end, you'll step through a hatch the same size as the ones you'll encounter throughout the tour of this 96.9-meter-long vessel.

That test is there to confirm you can move through the submarine's narrow passageways. If you're claustrophobic, this is not the place for you!

Because the spaces are so tight, the tour inside the USS Growler has limited capacity, so I'd recommend going first thing in the morning and on a weekday. Otherwise you'll be waiting in long lines, and if you show up too late you won't get in at all.

On the tour you'll see the 2 torpedo rooms at either end of the sub, the control room with its SONAR, radios and 2 periscopes, the engine room, the quarters for the captain, officers and sailors, the tiny meeting rooms, offices, bathrooms and galley.

Once you're inside, try to picture the 9 officers and 78 sailors who stayed aboard for missions of 2 months or more, spending entire days submerged and silent.

It's a unique chance to feel like part of history, and part of the movies too, because the submarine retains its original operational appearance.

You'll see notebooks with worn-down pencils, typewriters, 1960s office supplies, desks and chairs frozen in time as silent witnesses to the missile crisis.

History of the Growler Submarine

It served from 1958 to 1964 at the height of the Cold War, and its mission was deterrence. It completed 9 patrols of 2 months or more each in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off the Soviet coast.

Its objective was to be ready to take out the Soviet naval base at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky if the feared nuclear exchange ever happened. Fortunately, it never did.

3. The Space Shuttle Enterprise Pavilion

Installed on the Intrepid's stern since 2012, the Space Shuttle Pavilion houses the remarkable Space Shuttle Enterprise, NASA's first prototype orbiter and the vehicle that launched the Space Transportation System program.

That program was created as a reusable transport system for astronauts and cargo headed to the International Space Station, and for servicing satellites and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Several exhibits on the history of the space shuttle program are arranged around the space shuttle itself. One highlight is a Soyuz TMA-6 space capsule, which lets you compare the similar technologies used during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Why Is the First Space Shuttle Called Enterprise?

The story behind the name of NASA's first prototype orbiter shows how pop culture can inspire science.

The space shuttle was originally going to be called «Constitution,» in honor of the United States bicentennial in 1976.

After the announcement, more than 400,000 Star Trek fans organized to ask President Gerald Ford to name it Enterprise instead, in tribute to the show's iconic starship. And that's exactly what happened! Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk were invited to the christening 😉.

So there you go: if you love ships, planes and space exploration, you have to visit the Intrepid Museum. It's also a fantastic adventure if you're traveling to New York with kids.

Summer Movie Night at the Intrepid Museum

On the last Fridays of summer in New York you can watch movies on the flight deck of the Intrepid, at Pier 86 in Manhattan.

It's one of NYC's most anticipated free movie series: The Intrepid Museum's Summer Movie Night.

Picture watching classics like Top Gun on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier floating on the Hudson River. And watching them steps away from the world's first space shuttle, a supersonic spy plane, a nuclear submarine, and 27 aircraft and helicopters that flew in World War II and the Vietnam War. Pretty exciting, right?

Movies are screened between 5 pm and 9 pm. Access is first come, first served, so get there early if you want a good seat.

It really helps to bring a blanket or a cushion to sit on, and skip the chairs so you don't block anyone's view. Pack a nice picnic and leave the alcohol at home, since you can't bring it in.

You can check the film festival lineup on the Intrepid Museum's website.

Intrepid Museum hours

Monday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm (last entry at 4 pm)

The museum is closed on Thanksgiving and December 25.

More information about hours on the official website.

Intrepid Museum prices

Ages 13 to 64) US$ 33

Ages 65 and over US$ 31

Ages 5 to 12 US$ 24

Under 5 free

How do you get to the Intrepid Museum?

The closest subway station is 42 St – Port Authority on the A, C, and E lines. From there you can hop on a bus or walk (check out how to plan the best route).