VOICE ONE:
This is Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program”EXPLORATIONS.” Today, we visit the Intrepid Sea-Air-and SpaceMuseum in New York City. It is an unusual museum that seeks topreserve old ships as an educational experience and as a memorial topeace.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
A visit to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum begins with a shipthat carried fighter planes. This aircraft carrier is the U-S-SIntrepid. The Intrepid is a very honored name among ships of theUnited States Navy. The huge aircraft carrier is the fourth ship tohave that name. The first was a small wooden sailing ship that wasbuilt in Eighteen-Oh-Three. It was lost a year later in battleagainst pirates.
The U-S-S Intrepid that visitors see today in New York Citysailed during World War Two. Few ships are as famous as theIntrepid. It was so successful in battles during World War Two inthe Pacific Ocean that the Japanese Navy began calling it “The GhostShip.”
The Japanese believed they had sunk the Intrepid severaldifferent times. The ship may have been seriously damaged, but italways came back to fight again and again.
The Intrepid took part in many battles. The most famous of thesemay have been the battle of Leyte Gulf, near the Philippines. It wasthe largest naval battle in history. The ship also supported thelandings of Allied troops in their effort to free the PhilippineIslands from Japanese control.
VOICE TWO:
During the last months of World War Two, the Japanese militaryattacked American ships by crashing airplanes into them. TheJapanese pilots gave their lives in an effort to cause as muchdamage as possible.
The U-S-S Intrepid was one of the first American aircraftcarriers to suffer this kind of an attack. On October twenty-ninth,Nineteen-Forty-Four, a Japanese aircraft crashed into the left sideof the ship. Ten American sailors were killed.
That was only the first time this kind of attack would happen tothe Intrepid. To better understand happened during these attacks,imagine for a few moments we are on the U-S-S Intrepid on Novembertwenty-fifth, Nineteen-Forty-Four.
((CUT ONE: MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS))
VOICE ONE:
It is a bright clear day in the Phillipines. It is a little afterone in the afternoon. High above the Intrepid, a group of severalJapanese airplanes flies over the American force. The Intrepid’screwmembers are at their battle stations. They quickly beginshooting at the small Japanese planes. The crew of the Intrepidknows that an aircraft carrier is the first choice of the Japanesepilots who want to crash their planes into American ships.
One Japanese pilot points the front of his airplane down. Heincreases his speed. He is aiming his plane at the Intrepid.
Faster and faster he dives toward the large carrier. Gunfire fromthe ship hits his airplane many times. But the pilot continuestoward the carrier and his sure death.
High above the ship, another Japanese pilot pushes the controlthat aims his airplane toward the large carrier.
Within five minutes, the two Japanese airplanes crash into theIntrepid. One explodes below the huge carrier’s landing area. Thisarea is called a hanger deck. It is where aircraft are kept whenthey are not flying.
Huge fires begin immediately. Smoke fills the sky. The ship burnsfor about six hours. Sixty-nine crew members of the Intrepid arekilled. Another eighty-five are seriously injured. The Intrepid canno longer take part in the battle.
The skill and bravery of the crew saves the Intrepid. Slowly, thecarrier leaves the battle area to return to the United States forrepairs. When the repairs are completed, the U-S-S Intrepid and itscrew return to battle again.
((CUT TWO: MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS))
VOICE TWO:
The U-S-S Intrepid also took part in battles during the KoreanWar and the War in Vietnam. But not all of its working life was inbattle. It was used in the American space program. It recovered somespace vehicles that landed in the ocean after their flights intospace.
The Intrepid was the ship that rescued American astronaut ScottCarpenter after his flight in May of Nineteen-Sixty-Two. Later itwas the recovery ship for Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young aspart of the Gemini space program.
VOICE ONE:
In October, Nineteen-Seventy-Six, the Intrepid was the officialNavy and Marine Corps ship used in cerebration of the two-hundredthanniversary of the United States. The ship was retired from activeduty in Nineteen-Seventy-Four.
When old ships can no longer continue in active duty, they aresold for the metal that can be taken from them and reused. ByNineteen-Eighty, the Intrepid, which had such a proud past, seemedto have no future.
Then, a number of interested people formed a group called theIntrepid Museum Foundation. Their main goal was to save the ship andturn it into a museum. One member of that group became the economicforce behind the effort.
That man was Zachary Fisher of New York City. Mister Fisher spenttwenty-four million dollars of his own money in order to save theIntrepid. He wanted to make the Intrepid a lasting memorial to thosewho gave their lives in defense of their country. He also wanted itmade into an educational museum.
VOICE TWO:
The United States Navy agreed. The Navy permanently lent theU-S-S Intrepid to the Museum Foundation. In August,Nineteen-Eighty-Two, the Museum opened to the public on the HudsonRiver on the west side of New York City.
The goal of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is to educate thepublic about the history of the Intrepid and the men who served asmembers of the crew. The museum also wants it to represent the peacethat these men worked so hard to protect.
Later two other ships were added to the Museum’s collection. Theyare both much smaller than the Intrepid. One is the a submarine, theU-S-S Growler. It was in active duty for only six years. The Growleris the only missile submarine open to the public anywhere in theworld. It offers visitors a close look at life on a submarine.
Just behind the Growler is the U-S-S Edson. The Edson is adestroyer. It was built in Nineteen-Fifty-Eight. The Edson served asan active ship for more than thirty years. It is named for MarineCorps General Mike Edson, a hero of battles in the Pacific duringWorld War Two.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Last year, about six-hundred-thousand people visited the IntrepidSea, Air and Space Museum. Museum officials say that number isincreasing each year.
The first thing these visitors see when they arrive at the Museumis the Intrepid. It is very hard to miss the huge ship. It weighsmore than forty-thousand tons and is more than two-hundred-seventymeters long.
On the long flight deck of the carrier are airplanes. Some arevery large. Other countries owned several of them. There is aBritish plane, a French plane, and a Russian built jet fighter thatonce belonged to the Polish air force.
Perhaps the most famous airplane on the Intrepid is the LockheedA-Twelve Blackbird. This spy plane could fly higher and faster thanany other plane. It could travel faster than three times the speedof sound. One of these planes once flew from Los Angeles, Californiato Washington D-C in a little more than one hour.
VOICE TWO:
Visitors can move about the Intrepid and see how the crew livedand worked. They can climb the stairs to the room that controlledthe ship. Many people bring cameras and have their picture takenwith their hands on the wheel that was used to guide the hugeaircraft carrier.
On the area called the hanger deck visitors can inspect aircraftused in World War Two. They can also watch movies and see howairplanes took off from and landed on the carrier. They can seepictures of important events in the history of the ship.
Very often visitors can talk to several older men who weremembers of the crew of the Intrepid. These men give freely of theirtime to tell the story of the “Ghost Ship.”
(((THEME)))
VOICE ONE:
You can learn more about the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museumand see pictures of its famous ships by entering the word Intrepidin a World Wide Web search. It is spelled…I-N-T-R-E-P-I-D. That isI-N-T-R-E-P-I-D.
This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It wasproduced by George Grow. Our studio engineer was Keith Holmes. Thisis Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.