Intrepid gets stuck

last updated 8 January 2015

New York City

With two U.S. senators, several admirals, and other dignitaries looking on, six tugboats this week tried to haul the retired aircraft carrier USS Intrepid away from the pier where it has been berthed for 24 years. But the ship’s giant propellers became stuck on the river bottom, and the ship refused to budge. “There’s a buildup of mud underneath the vessel,” said tugboat operator Jeffrey McAllister. “We were trying to get it to wiggle.” The tugs were supposed to guide the carrier, now a museum and tourist attraction, down the Hudson River to a dock in Bayonne, N.J., to undergo maintenance. Museum officials say they’re working with maritime experts on a plan to extricate the ship.