Intrepid: The Epic Story of America's Most Legendary Warship

This fascinating story of the beloved aircraft carrier, the USS INTREPID, and the valiant men who served her so bravely is a must-read for all who would savor a true-to-life account of heroism in the service of our country. The book was written by Bill White, President of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, in collaboration with Robert Gandt, a former US Navy aircraft carrier pilot, whose inimitable style never ceases to capture the hearts and minds of his readers. Commissioned in 1943 as Navy CV-11, the Essex Class INTREPID fought long and hard throughout the Pacific Theater of World War II before finally sailing in victory beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in 1947 to her well-deserved resting place in San Francisco. Her battles had been fierce. Many innocent lives had been sacrificed aboard the ship and in the air to the Japanese Imperial Navy and savage kamikaze attacks. Refurbished in the mid-1950s, the Intrepid was recommissioned and returned to the high seas where she played a major role as a recovery ship for America's space program. In the 1960s, she went on to see three tours of duty in Vietnam earning many much-coveted commendations. After extensive modernization in 1972 she, once again, entered the fray and began two years of Cold War duty in the Mediterranean with multi-mission capabilities -including nuclear strike deterrence- before sailing to Quonset, Rhode Island under her own power only to be ignominiously towed to what was to have been her final resting place in Philadelphia. Life began anew, however, when in 1982 she was resurrected and transferred by a Special Act of Congress to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City along the placid banks of the Hudson River in Manhattan. There she would also proudly serve as a temporary emergency center headquarters for the FBI following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Most recently, she has undergone extensive renovations and remains a treasured National Historic Landmark for all to visit and bask in her glorious history. Having read the book with immense interest, the Intrepid and her museum are now at the very top of my own personal "bucket list". The book is a story well-told and much appreciated.

I discovered this book on the Don Imus Show on RFD TV. A well written history of a great ship. A must for any history buff.

My husband bought this because we're friends with one of the ace pilots who flew off her. I picked it up to read the parts about that friend and was hooked. Every page is a shining example of the fact that America is "the home of the free because of the brave". The authors have woven interviews with pilots and crew members, journals, and ship logs to make a very readable book that puts it's readers in the pilot seat for some incredible battle recollections. We had visited the Intrepid in New York in 2001. I wish I had the insight of this book to help understand that visit. We plan to go back to visit her again since the restoration. When we were there, we were overwhelmed with the docents' personal stories and the emotional reaction of the young people who were visiting with us. I'm ordering another copy for a "loaner".

INTREPID appears, at first glance, to be just another book about a warship. Not until I got into it did I realize this was a story about people, many of them incredibly heroic. That this ship is still with us sixty-five years since she was commissioned is a miracle. Even more of a miracle is how she survived five kamikaze strikes, a torpedoing off Truk, fought her way through some of the greatest sea battles of all time, then soldiered through the Cold War and three combat tours in Vietnam. It's all here, told from the viewpoints of gallant Americans serving aboard a gallant ship. Highly recommended. FlyBabe, Satellite Beach, Florida