The More Things Change

As with most events memorialized from the past, there is a modern connection. You cannot escape history. Today a great lady moved from her old neighborhood. Ladies of her advanced years often need a nip here and a tuck there to resemble their younger selves, so she is heading to the surgeons for a lift or ten.

She was born 65 years ago. It won't be the first time she moved, and there were often difficulties when she had to do so. She was a part of some of the major events of the last three generations. She has seen disease, death, heroism, and great events. Unlike most of the men and women she has known, she is still healthy and serving a useful purpose. So for the Thursday anniversary of Pearl Harbor, I give you

THE INTREPID

• December 1, 1941: Intrepid's keel laid at Newport News, Virginia.
• December 7, 1941: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.
• April 26, 1943: Launched.
• August 16, 1943: Commissioned CV-11.
• December 3, 1943: Sailed for Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Francisco.
• January-February, 1944: Participated in the Marshall Islands invasion.
• February 1944: Participated in raid on Truk.
• February 17, 1944: Damaged by Japanese aerial torpedo.
• September-October 1944: Participated in attacks on invasion of the Palaus.
• Strikes against the Philippines, Formosa, and Okinawa.
• Operated out of Utilic fleet anchorage in the Carolinas as unit of Task Force 38.
• October 24, 25, 26, 1944: Participated in Battle of Leyte Gulf. Helped sink the super- battleship Musashi.
• October 30, 1944: Hit by kamikaze--slight damage.
• November 25, 1944: Hit by two kamikazes--heavily damaged.
• March 1945: Strikes against Tokyo and Okinawa. Near miss by a Japanese heavy bomber kamikaze.
• April 6, 1945: Helped sink the Japanese super-battleship Yamato.
• April 16, 1945: Damaged during invasion by kamikaze attack off Okinawa.
• August 1945: Reported back to the Fast Carrier Force. War ended.
• August-December 1945: Policed the coasts of China and Korea, aiding in repatriation of Allied POW.
• December 1945: Arrived back in the United States after Japan occupation duty.
• 1946: Put in reserve at San Francisco.
• October 1954: Completed modernization at the same yard at which she was built.
• 1955-1962: Operated in the Mediterranean with the Sixth Fleet.
• 1956: Refitted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Angled deck added.
• May 24, 1962: Served as Recovery Ship for Mercury VII space capsule (astronaut Scott Carpenter) .
• March 23, 1965: Acts as Recovery Ship for Gemini III space capsule (astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young).
• May 1966-1968: Served with the Pacific Fleet off Vietnam in three combat cruises.
• 1974: Decommissioned at Quonset Point R.I. Towed to Philadelphia for bicentennial celebration.
• July 1982: Opens as the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City.
• December 5, 2006 The Intrepid moves to the shipyard at Bayonne, NJ for renovations.