Intrepid

I can recommend the de Gaulle film, or at least the first part. The second part, Liberté, will be showing in the UK in a few days.  It’s a bit long and has a superfluous sub-plot but that’s necessary to give the story some structure and love interest. It also creates a false narrative about the assassination of Admiral Darlan but nobody expects complete historical accuracy in a film and the truth is his death is an unsolved mystery. I do have a convincing solution but no evidence. As usual I digress.

I went over the Redoutable soon after it opened as a museum in Cherbourg in 2001. I have never been on one of the Royal Navy’s nuclear subs but I bet they don’t have an onboard bakery or wine (officers only). The Captain’s state room is dominated by a large, white, leather and chrome swivel chair. Where is Blomfeld and his Turkish Angora cat?

The diesel-electric submarine that’s part of the Intrepid Museum at Pier 86 on the Hudson is more utilitarian but no less interesting. Astonishingly, it was only in service for six years (1958 – 1964). Was it worth building for much less than the time I keep a car? There were ninety men on board USS Growler in cramped conditions but like the men on Redoubtable they ate well under the circumstances. In those days a cruise was for about two months and the threat of a nuclear conflict greater than today, so mighty stressful. The crew volunteered to serve. Today Royal Navy nuclear submarines are at sea for more than six months.

USS Intrepid is an aircraft carrier that served, with some breaks, between 1943 and 1974 seeing service from WW II, when it was badly damaged by Japanese kamikaze attacks, to Vietnam. If you are an aviation nerd there are plenty of ‘planes exhibited on the flight deck. If you are a child there are plenty of hands-on activities. If you are neither it is less interesting though there is a good film about the history of the carrier honouring the 69 men killed in kamikaze attacks in November 1944.