Intrepidly Stuck In The Mud
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Ex-USS INTREPID
The former USS INTREPID has been pierside in Manhattan, New York for, oh, 24 years.
They decide she needs a little maintenance, across the harbor in New Jersey. $60,000,000.
So they get a bunch of tugs, a retired admiral who used to be one of the INTREPID’s skippers, a lot of dignitaries, and they make a big deal out of it. Two former mayors (Dinkins and Koch) handle the bow line.
They cast off the lines, get all six tugs pulling and the ship moves.
About 15 feet.
Then it’s stuck in 24 years of mud.
17 feet of it.
Now, they have to wait until the next spring tide (it coincides with a full moon, and has nothing to do with the season). Maybe someone will get a water cannon to pump some of the mud out of the way. And maybe lighten the ship of some of it's portable museum stuff.
And maybe get help from one of us who know about moving ships away from piers!
Ex-USS INTREPID
The former USS INTREPID has been pierside in Manhattan, New York for, oh, 24 years.
They decide she needs a little maintenance, across the harbor in New Jersey. $60,000,000.
So they get a bunch of tugs, a retired admiral who used to be one of the INTREPID’s skippers, a lot of dignitaries, and they make a big deal out of it. Two former mayors (Dinkins and Koch) handle the bow line.
They cast off the lines, get all six tugs pulling and the ship moves.
About 15 feet.
Then it’s stuck in 24 years of mud.
17 feet of it.
Now, they have to wait until the next spring tide (it coincides with a full moon, and has nothing to do with the season). Maybe someone will get a water cannon to pump some of the mud out of the way. And maybe lighten the ship of some of it's portable museum stuff.
And maybe get help from one of us who know about moving ships away from piers!
posted by Greg Finnegan @ 11:50 AM
4 Comments:
At 5:07 PM,
kenju said…
Wasn't that the funniest thing? Why didn't anyone thinkabout that possibility beforehand?
At 5:10 PM,
Greg Finnegan said…
UPDATE
Navy divers are inspecting the ship’s hull, while crews are working around the clock to remove the mud, including digging a 35-foot trench on one side of the ship. The Army Corps of Engineers is assisting the Navy.
The carrier‘s 16-foot propellers got wedged in the mud as tugs tried to tow the ship from its berth. The ship “displaces” (weighs) 27,000 tons.
Intrepid officials said they hope the $3 million operation will take no more than a month. Then, it can start the $60,000,000 overhaul.
At 9:23 PM,
Stew Magoo said…
Don't look now but I think I see a SR-71 hanging off the side there...
At 11:42 AM,
Greg Finnegan said…
Yep, Stew, I think that's what it is.
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