By Kevin Seabrooke
Nearly 40 years before she was towed to New York City’s Pier 86 to become a permanent part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in June 1982, the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) was launched from the shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. After training in the Caribbean, she set off for the war in the Pacific, to take part in the conquest of the Marshall Islands. Her next assignment was the Japanese fleet anchorage at Truk Atoll in Micronesia, but she never made it. On the night of February 17, an aerial torpedo from a Japanese torpedo bomber struck the ship’s stern below the waterline, flooding several compartments, damaging the rudder, and killing 11 sailors, wounding 17 others. With the rudder jammed hard to port, the crew of the Intrepid jury rigged a sail made of spare canvas and hatch covers to help steer the ship, sailing more than 3,000 miles back to Pearl Harbor. After temporary repairs, she sailed to California for more work and was back in service by June, eventually supporting operations at Palau and Peleliu. Written by Emmy-winning TV personality Montel Williams, who served 22 years in the Navy and Marines, and New York Times bestselling author David Fisher, the history of this iconic and beloved part of the New York cityscape comes alive.
The Sailing of the Intrepid: The Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy’s Iconic Aircraft Carrier (Montel Williams (with David Fisher), Hanover Square Press/ HarperCollins, New York, NY, 2025, 304 pp., maps, diagrams, $30 HC)
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