Ship Stuck In Mud On Its Way To NJ Drydock

Plans to move the legendary World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid across the Hudson River are temporarily on hold. Actually, it's more accurate to say those plans are stuck... in the mud.

Workers planned to take advantage of an unusually high tide Monday to dislodge the aircraft carrier from its pier on Manhattan's West Side, where the massive ship has rested for the last 24 years. The plan was to move the ship across the river to dry docks in Bayonne, NJ so it could undergo a $60 million overhaul.

That tide wasn't high enough, though, as the ship's propellers got stuck in the mud after tug boats managed to move the storied ship all of 15 feet.

"We had the sun, the moon and the stars in alignment, and it was just a very disappointing day for us," said Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, to the Associated Press.

The next high tide is December 6... but that may not be enough, either, as it's expected to crest about a foot lower than Monday's swells. Crews are now trying to determine whether to attempt to move the 27,000-ton, 872-foot-long ship then, or to perform the retrofit where it lies.

Launched in 1943, the Intrepid suffered seven bomb attacks, five Japanese Kamikaze attacks and one torpedo hit during its service in World War II. The ship later served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, as well as recovering Mercury and Gemini astronauts for NASA.

Today, in addition to serving as a naval air museum -- and a tribute to the 270 crewmen who died serving aboard her in WWII -- the Intrepid also serves as an emergency operations center for city and federal authorities. The FBI used the ship as an operations base in the days following the 9/11 attacks.

FMI: www.intrepidmuseum.org