The Intrepid Museum is located near Hell's Kitchen on the west side of Manhattan.
You can use (at an additional cost) an audio guide (like I did) to learn more about what you are viewing, or you can book a guided tour in various languages.
The museum was founded by the Fisher family about 40 years ago because the Fisher firmly believed in the importance of honoring brave men and women who work in the military. Initially they were only looking for a place where to display the USS Intrepid, damaged by the war and saved from being scrapped at the end of the 70s’. Thanks to their commitment, this initiative then evolved with the inauguration of the Intrepid Museum.
The main attractions of the museum are essentially four:
1. The Intrepid aircraft carrier and the flight Pavilion
This is THE Intrepid aircraft carrier that fought during the Second World War and which made history. This engineering jewel flew for the first time in 1943, facing five enemy airplanes and was also attacked by a torpedo. We can consider the Intrepid as a separate museum on its own. Stepping up on the Flight Deck you can see a dozen aircraft used in the Vietnam war and some helicopters used to recover the astronauts returning from their missions.
History lovers can watch the 4D movie on the history of the aircraft carrier in the cinema room dedicated to this.
The third deck is dedicated to the rooms that the military used daily, such as the canteen and the bedrooms.
2. The Enterprise spacecraft
The prototype of the Enterprise is located in the Space Shuttle Pavilion which, as I wrote above, is located inside the Intrepid. There are seventeen exhibitions with photographs, audio recordings (such as pilot conversations) and films that trace the history of this NASA spacecraft.
An exhibition is also dedicated to the incredible journey and work that was needed to transport the Enterprise to the museum. In addition to the Enterprise you will also see the space capsule actually flown into the Soyuz TMA space mission. The Station LIFE exhibition is entirely dedicated to the International Space Station and, through interactive screens, you can observe the daily routines and better understand the work that the astronauts perform every day in space.
3. The Growler submarine
The USS Growler is the only American submarine currently open to the public. The rooms you can visit are the canteen, with adjoining galley and kitchen, where the crew ate, played cards or watched movies; the control room, with the three pilot stations and the 2 periscopes used to examine the surface of the water; the two rooms for the launch of the torpedoes in the stern and in the bow and the armament which was designed for self-defense.
Here you will also find 9 berths where the crew members slept.
4. The Concorde supersonic plane
Aviation enthusiasts will love British Airways’ historic Concorde. At a speed of more than 2,000 kilometers per hour, this Concorde began to transport passengers on the Atlantic between London and New York in the late 70s’. The trip lasted less than three hours, but due to problems related to costs and environmental damage, it was decided to stop the use of these supersonic flights, especially after the July 2000 accident which claimed many victims.
At the museum, the G-Force Encounter and Transporter simulators are fun to ride both for children and adults.
