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Photo #  NH 97468:  USS Intrepid operating in the Philippine Sea, November 1944

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Intrepid (CV-11, later CVA-11 and CVS-11), 1943-1982

USS Intrepid, a 27,100 ton Essex class aircraft carrier built at Newport News, Virginia, was commissioned in August 1943. After arriving in the Pacific, she operated in support of the Kwajalein invasion in January-February 1944. On 17 February, while taking part in raids on the Japanese central Pacific base at Truk, she was hit by an aerial torpedo. An improvised sail was used to help maintain course while she steamed to Pearl Harbor for repairs. The carrier was back in the combat zone in September 1944. Over the next few months, she participated in strikes on the Palaus, Okinawa, Formosa and the Philippines. Her planes sank or helped to sink several Japanese ships during the 24-25 October Battle of Leyte Gulf. On 25 November, while attacking targets in the Philippines, Intrepid was hit by a suicide plane. She lost over sixty officers and men and had to go to the U.S. for shipyard work.

Intrepid returned to the western Pacific in time for attacks on the Japanese home islands in mid-March 1945, during which she was lightly damaged by a "Kamikaze". She next participated in the Okinawa operation, beginning in late March. On 16 April, two suicide planes attacked her, one hitting the flight deck and causing enough damage that Intrepid again needed Stateside repairs. Japan surrendered while she was en route to rejoin the fight in mid-August, and she spent most of the rest of 1945 supporting occupation efforts. Inactive through much of 1946, Intrepid was decommissioned in March 1947.

Temporarily recommissioned in February 1952, Intrepid went to Newport News, Virginia, for thorough modernization over the next two years. Redesignated CVA-11, and now equipped with a stronger flight deck, new island and powerful steam catapults, she reentered active service in June 1954. The carrier twice deployed to the Mediterranean during 1955-56, then was further updated with an angled flight deck and enclosed "hurricane" bow. She continued her Atlantic and Mediterranean attack carrier operations until late 1961. In March 1962 she was reclassified as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) support aircraft carrier with the new designation CVS-11.

Into the mid-1960s, Intrepid took part in anti-submarine exercises in the Atlantic area, occasionally deployed to European waters and helped with space flight recovery work. Following a major overhaul, the ship was given an air group of light attack planes and the temporary designation of "special attack carrier" for Vietnam war service. She deployed to Southeast Asia three times in 1966-69 before returning to her regular Atlantic Fleet ASW role. Intrepid cruised in the Mediterranean in 1971 and 1973 and visited Northern Europe in 1972. Decommissioned in March 1974, she was a Bicentennial exhibition ship at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1976. USS Intrepid was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in February 1982 and transferred to a New York City organization for further service as a museum, a role she plays to the present day.

This page features selected views of USS Intrepid (CV/CVA/CVS-11).

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 53254

USS Intrepid (CV-11)


Off Newport News, Virginia, on 16 August 1943, the day she went into commission.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 630 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97468

USS Intrepid (CV-11)


Operating in the Philippine Sea in November 1944.
Note F6F "Hellcat" fighter parked on an outrigger forward of her island.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 122KB; 200 x 157 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-659612

USS Intrepid (CVA-11)


Operating off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 9 February 1955, shortly after her SCB-27C modernization.
F2H "Banshee" jet fighters are on her fight deck.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 610 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: K-33170

USS Intrepid (CVS-11)


Steaming in the South China Sea, with her attack air group parked on the flight deck, 13 September 1966.
Photographed by V.O. McColley.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 610 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-K-33170.
NOTE: Though reproductions of this photo from the Naval Historical Center's collections are available in black & white only, those from the National Archives should be available in color.

 
Photo #: USN 1136993

USS Intrepid (CVS-11)


Underway in the South China Sea, 15 November 1968, while serving as a "special attack carrier".
Photographed by PHCS K. Shrader.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

Online Image: 126KB; 595 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1136993.

 
Photo #: 80-G-227134

USS Intrepid (CV-11)


Crewmen prepare to load a 2000-pound general-purpose bomb in the bomb bay of a TBM "Avenger" aircraft, 27 January 1944. The carrier was then en route to support the invasion of Roi and Namur Islands, Kwajalein Atoll.
Note inscriptions on the bomb, from Torpedoman 3rd Class R.A. Franco, addressed to "Hon. Hirohito, Imperial Palace, Tokyo".
Also note flame reducer on the plane's exhaust port, and landing gear details.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 600 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 62958

Japanese "Kamikaze" suicide plane


Disintegrates in flames after hitting USS Intrepid (CV-11), during operations off the Philippines on 25 November 1944.

Collection of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-328441

Okinawa Campaign, March-June 1945


USS Intrepid (CV-11) afire, after she was hit by a "Kamikaze" off Okinawa on 16 April 1945.
Photographed from USS Alaska (CB-1), as a Fletcher class destroyer steams by in the foreground.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 500 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-20593 (Color)

USS Intrepid (CVA-11)

Prepares to launch a McDonnell F2H-2 "Banshee" jet fighter from the starboard catapult, June 1956.
Note details of the carrier's island, including radar antennas.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 615 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 82271

Grumman S2F-1 "Tracker" Anti-Submarine Aircraft

(Bureau # 136502)

Leaving the angled deck of USS Intrepid (CVS-11) in July 1962. Note vapor trails made by its propellers.
This plane belongs to squadron VS-27.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 75KB; 645 x 675 pixels

 
Photo #: USN 1135374

Douglas A-4F "Skyhawk" attack plane


Is brought to the launching position on a steam catapult aboard USS Intrepid (CVS-11), during flight operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, September 1968.
Note nosewheel steering bar in use.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 585 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1135374.

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 15 December 2000
Link added 8 October 2001