Tag Archives: intrepid

Coast Guard says goodbye to their beloved 52s

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Built at a cost of $235,927, the Coast Guard’s four Victory-class 52-foot steel-hulled motor lifeboats have earned their keep, stationed off the rugged and dangerous coasts of the Pacific Northwest since the 1950s and 60s. Built at the Coast Guard Yard after a century of experience with surfboats and life-saving vessels, they had a design that just wouldn’t quit.

As noted by the Coast Guard Historian:

All four of the steel 52’ MLBs have served their entire careers at lifeboat stations out on the Pacific Northwest coast where their ruggedness and long endurance are needed for the typically high surf conditions that exist there, along with the operational need to tow disabled fishing craft over longer distances and over inlet bars. These lifeboats have all survived multiple capsizing episodes, as well as pitch-poling incidents. The only criticism that has ever been mentioned of these craft is their relatively slow speed, but in the heavy seas and surf in which they typically operate, this has not been viewed as a significant detriment.

Now, after being sidelined earlier this year on “restrictive duty,” these indestructible craft are in their final stages of being decommissioned and have been towed away from their familiar stations.

The Victory, Intrepid, Invincible, and Invincible were towed to Ilwaco, Washington to be pulled out of the water for the last time, shrink-wrapped, and removed from service. 

Retired Master Chief Thomas McAdams reflects on his experiences aboard these magnificent boats as expressed in a poem he wrote inspired by their decommissioning, to the heartbreak of Surfmen everywhere. 

Navy gets Intrepid Corsair back after 71 years

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Director of Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Sam Cox (right), Kate Morrand (middle), Senior Conservator & Laboratory Manager of NHHC's Underwater Archaeology Branch, and Yoshiro Kishida (left), a representative from Saiki, Japan, pose in front of the remains of a World War II F4U Corsair fighter-bomber during a presentation in which NHHC accepted the artifact, March 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric Lockwood/Released)

Director of Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Sam Cox (right), Kate Morrand (middle), Senior Conservator & Laboratory Manager of NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch, and Yoshiro Kishida (left), a representative from Saiki, Japan, pose in front of the remains of a World War II F4U Corsair fighter-bomber during a presentation in which NHHC accepted the artifact, March 22. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric Lockwood/Released)

On March 18, 1945, 19 F4U Corsairs flew off the Essex-class fleet carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) with orders to strike a naval air base on the northern end of Kyushu in the Japanese Home Islands. While their mission was successful, two aircraft did not return.

F4U-1 Corsair 82 of VF-10 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise CV-6 – March 20, 1943. VF-10 later switched to Intrepid in 1945

F4U-1 Corsair 82 of VF-10 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise CV-6 – March 20, 1943. VF-10 later switched to Intrepid in 1945

One gull-wing fighter a “Grim Reaper” from VF-10 surfaced 50 years later when a fisherman caught part of it in a net. This led to a salvage in 2007 of the plane’s engine, propeller and part of a wing which were put on display at Saiki’s Yawaragi Peace Memorial Hall.

Now, the relics have been brought back to the U.S. and turned over to the NHHC on March 22.

Archaeological conservator Shanna Daniel commented, “We are really looking forward to working on these pieces and cannot wait to begin documentation and starting the conservation process.”

The Reapers of VF-10 were deactivated in November 1945 and have remained that way ever since but their flattop, from which the Corsair sortied, is of course very much preserved in New York harbor.