USS Intrepid No Match for the Hudson River Mud

For those familiar with NYC and the Hudson River, the fact that the USS Intrepid gut stuck in the mud comes as no surprise. To other it almost sounds like a stereotypical joke regarding the Hudson River. I am reminded of the movie, ‘National Treasure,’ when Nicolas Cage (Ben Gates) dives into The Hudson off the USS Intrepid. Harvey Kietel asks that memorable and comical question while receiving the all to honest answer:

Sadusky: Agent Dawes, do you have a visual? Do you see Gates in the water?
Agent Dawes: Sir? It’s the Hudson. Nothing is visible.

Such was the case for the USS Intrepid’s efforts to move her to dry dock in Bayonne, NJ, for a $60 million renovation. It would appear that 6 tug boats with a combined 30,000 hp were no match for the Hudson River mud and sludge as the tugs could only move the floating military museum 15 feet.

Six tugs pulled with a combined 30,000 horsepower but moved the Intrepid only about 15 feet. Not even an unusually high tide could free the 27,000-ton, 872-foot-long ship from the ooze.

“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.

The Intrepid has been moored at a pier on Manhattan’s West Side for 24 years, during which time silt accumulated as deep as 17 feet around its keel. The decommissioned ship no longer has engines, but it does still have its four propellers, each about 15 feet across, and they got stuck in the mud. (AP)