After temporary repairs at Pearl Harbor, it was determined that the damaged required a trip to a repair facility on the west coast of the United States.   Intrepid arrived in San Francisco on March 22, 1944, where she stayed until early June.  Upon completion of repairs and upgrades, the "Mighty I" headed west once again, participating in attacks on the Palau Islands, and in the lead up to the planned invasion of the Philippine Islands during September and October 1944. 

Once American forces landed on Leyte, the Japanese had no choice but to contest the landings.   Kicking off the elaborate Operation Sh?-G? 1, the Japanese attempted to thwart the invasion.   It was a scout from Intrepid that spotted the Japanese Center Force approaching through the Sibuyan Sea.  During the subsequent Battle of Leyte Gulf, aircraft from Intrepid's air group helped sink the Japanese super battleships Musashi (for more on this, I recommend the excellent Intrepid Aviators by Gregory Fletcher) during the Sibuyan Sea portion of the battle. 

With the Japanese carriers spotted of Cape Engano, Intrepid raced north with the fast carrier groups to intercept the Japanese Northern Force.  During this phase of the battle, an Intrepid aviator got a hit on the Japanese carrier Zuiho, and either an Intrepid or Cabot aviator put a torpedo into Pearl Harbor veteran Zuikaku.  Post Leyte Gulf, Intrepid and the fast carriers stayed on station off the Philippines, hitting targets to neutralize Japanese airpower.  On October 30, 1944, Intrepid was hit by a Kamikaze, killing 10 and wounding 6.   This was just a portend of what was to come. 

On November 25, 1944, the American task force that Intrepid was part of was attacked by a large group of Japanese aircraft.   A Zero fighter carrying a bomb penetrated the air defenses and crashed into the flight deck.  The bomb penetrated the deck and exploded in the hangar deck, causing much damage and many casualties.   A short time later, a second plane crashed into the flight deck as well, causing additional damage and casualties.   While Intrepid was able to keep station in the task force while fighting the fires, the damage was significant, and once more, she headed to the US West Coast for repairs. 

Repaired and refitted again, Intrepid headed west once more in February, 1945.   She arrived in time to join the carrier raids on the home islands in mid-March.  On March 18, 1945 - the day before the USS Franklin was grievously wounded - Intrepid had a near miss when a Betty bomber blew up only 50 feet from the carrier, causing some minor damage and fires.    Joining the Okinawa campaign, Intrepid's aircraft helped sink another Japanese battleship - this time Yamato.  She continued to operate off Okinawa in support of the landings there.   On April 16, 1945, while engaged in air strikes against the enemy, she was attacked by upwards of five kamikazes.   All but one were destroyed before getting to the ship.   The last plane crashed into the flight deck with such force that it punched through to the hangar deck, where its bomb exploded, killing 8, wounding 21 and destroying 40 planes.   Yet again, Intrepid's damage required a trip to the West Coast.  Her repeated trips to the US West Coast for repairs earned her the derisive nicknames "Evil I" and "Decrepid". 

After the latest round of repairs (Intrepid was the most frequently damaged of the Navy's fast carriers), she returned to the fight, striking targets on Wake Island on August 6, 1945.  It was to be her last action of the Second World War.  Post war, Intrepid was put in reserve status in February 1946, before fully decommissioning in March of 1947. 

In 1952, Intrepid left San Francisco for Norfolk, Virginia, where she underwent modernization and conversion to become more capable attack aircraft carrier.  During her yard period, she was reclassified as CVA-11, the "A" standing for Attack.   She left the yards and was recommissioned into the reserve fleet in June, 1954.   In October of that year, she because the first carrier to launch aircraft from US-built steam catapults (earlier versions were British built).  Shortly after this, CV-11 was fully commissioned and joined the Atlantic Fleet, deploying several times to the Med in 1955 and 1956. 

In September, 1956, she went back into the yards for seven months for yet another upgrade, to bring her up to SCB-125 standards.   These upgrades included the angled flight deck,  enclosed hurricane bow, mirror landing system, mark 7 arresting gear, air conditioning and having the Primary Flight Control moved to aft end of island.   She also had her #1 (forward) elevator lengthened (her #3 elevator had previously moved from centerline to starboard deck edge during the  SCB-27C refit).

Over the next four years, Intrepid operated in both the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, performing various duties, including carrier qualifications for the F-4 Phantom fighter.  In 1961, CVA-11 became CVS-11, signifying the switch from attack to anti-submarine carrier.   This switch also required a trip to the yards for more refits and upgrades.  In 1962, Intrepid was the recovery ship for the Project Mercury space capsule, which she helped recover on May 24, 1962.  Less than two years later, she repeated this role as recovery ship for the Gemini space flight, recovering both astronauts and space ship on March 23, 1964.  Later that year, she entered the New York Navy Yard for another period of upgrades, which were finished in Bayonne, New Jersey when the NY Navy Yard was shuttered. 

Fresh out of overhaul and back to peak efficiency, the "Fighting I", as she was now known (according to Robert Sumrall in Warships Data 4, CVS-11 dropped the "Mighty I" in deference to the newer and larger USS Independence, CV-60) found herself off the Vietnam coast in 1966, launching her first strikes against enemy targets in mid-May.   During her time on station off Vietnam, her air group flew almost 5,000 sorties, destroying or damaging many trucks, railroad cars and bridges.   She ended 1966 on the East Coast of the United States, undergoing another refit, this time at the Norfolk Navy Yard. 

Ready for action in early, 1967, Intrepid headed back to the Pacific via the Med and the Suez Canal, arriving in the Tonkin Gulf in June of that year.  While on duty on Yankee Station, her air group flew over 9,000 sorties, wreaking much havoc from the DMZ to the Chinese border.   The success of her air group - they earned the name "Bridge Busters", due to their proficiency in taking down bridges - earned the ship and her crew a Navy Unit Commendation.   By November, she was headed home by way of South Africa, for another yard period. 

Following further refitting at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Intrepid returned once again to Yankee Station in June, 1968, to begin air operations against the enemy, coordinating strikes with her sister ship Bon Homme Richard.  Her aircraft once again devastated the enemy, destroying bridges, a SAM site, a truck park and the HQ of a Vietnamese Infantry Division.  In September, 1968, one of her F-8 Crusaders piloted by Lt. Tony Nargi shot down a MIG-21, while his wingman damaged a second MIG.   Operations continued over North and South Vietnam and Laos until late December, 1968, when she once again headed for the United States, where she arrived in February 1969.

Intrepid was overhauled once more, this time at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, returning to service in September, 1969, once again functioning as an anti-submarine carrier.   She performed this role, sailing from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean to the Mediterranean to the North Sea until April, 1973, when she returned to the United States for the final time.   In July, 1973, CVS-11 was taken out of active duty and was placed "in commission in reserve" until March, 1974, when she was decommissioned for the last time.   Intrepid languished in the reserve basin at the Philadelphia Navy Yard until February, 1982, when she was transferred from the Navy to the Intrepid Museum Foundation, in preparation for her conversion into a museum and tourist attraction in New York City.   Opened in August, 1982, CVS-11 continues to perform this duty to this day, tied up to Pier 86 on the west side of New York's Manhattan Island, where she is visited by over one million people each year, according to the Intrepid Museum website. 

Dimensions:

• Length: 898 feet (SCB-27); 894 feet, (SCB-125)
• Beam: 101 feet 
• Draft: 28.7 feet
• Displacement: 40,600t full load

• Warship's Data 4 USS Intrepid, Robert Sumrall
• Essex Class Carriers, Alan Raven
• The Essex Class Carriers, Andrew Faltum
• Various websites, including Wikipedia, Naval Historical Center, Navsource and others

Intrepid comes in the by now familiar sturdy Gallery  black accented box, with an attractive painting on the box top (see image at the top of the page). Upon removing the lid, you'll find the box packed to the top with parts, all nicely packaged. The flight deck - which is on the bottom of the box - is wrapped in a clean plastic bag,  and the large one piece hull is secured with by cardboard boxes both fore and aft. The aircraft, lower portion of the island and photo-etch all  come in a smaller box inside the larger box for further protection. 
 

The hull has many surface details molded on.  This high level of detail is well executed, and looks great. The conduits and pipes running along the hull are nicely done.  The upper part of the bow and the bottom of the hull shows some slight mold lines, but they will be easily removed with some light sanding.

When trying to figure out the length of the modernized Essex-class kits, the Naval Historical Center website said the carriers with the full SCB-125 upgrade ended up 894 feet long.  The kit measures out to about 30 inches overall (this includes the aft gun tub), which comes in a little shorter than the 30.6 inches it should be in scale.  When put against the older 1/350 Trumpeter short-hull Essex kit, the Gallery hull is actually SHORTER in length than that kit (the Trumpeter Essex kit, for what it's worth, seems to scale out almost perfectly in overall length).   The Intrepid is almost spot on in beam at about 3.5", which equates to the 101 feet of the real thing. 

In Alan Raven's Essex Class Carriers, it's stated the angled flight decks were covered with various panels and overlays to protect the deck.  My recollection of being on the Intrepid in New York City is that you can see the outline of planking through some of these panels and overlays, but not everywhere (and it's been awhile since I've been on board), so the mix of planked and smooth deck seems to be correct.   While I'm not a huge fan of the raised lines for the flight deck markings, they are subtle and should be less visible under a coat of paint and then decals.   The tie downs look a little deep, but should also benefit from a coat of paint.  All in all the flight deck is well done - I especially like how the planked areas looked, and the single piece deck is a huge improvement over the old Trumpeter kits.   Another nice touch - which is repeated throughout the kit - is ribbing underneath exposed overhangs, which replicates support bracing.  So many model companies leave this smooth, it's nice to see Gallery include this, even if these ribs are probably a little under scale. 

With the hull being slightly under scale in length, the flight deck appears to be as well (even though I couldn't find an official flight deck length anywhere), but it's proportional to the hull, so not really noticeable. 

A-4 Skyhawk 
E-1B Tracer
EA-1F Skyraider
F-8 Crusader
UH-2B Seasprite

Each aircraft and it's parts on contained on one sprue except the Tracer, which has two sprues per aircraft.  Mercifully, the aircraft are NOT clear plastic.  Hopefully this means manufacturers are listing the modeling community.  All the aircraft are well molded and have decent detail, albeit heavy panel lines. 

An injection molded,  modernized angle-deck Essex Class carrier has been a 'holy grail' item for many ship modelers for a long time.   With this release, one has finally been released for the very first time.   It was worth the wait, as, overall, this is a very good kit.   It's well molded with crisp details. 

Not to say it's perfect:  It is slightly under scale in length, and the lack of detail in the hangar is a bit of a disappointment (though you can't see much compared to a World War II Essex), as is the omission of the underway replenishment booms and gear.   Then there are those ejector pin marks on the undersides of many platforms, but with a little work those can be cleaned up, and don't do much to diminish the overall quality of this kit.   The relatively small air group and the lack of any deck equipment is also a bummer, but hopefully Gallery will release these separately, as they did for the aircraft for the Wasp and Iwo Jima. 

All in all, this looks like it will be a pretty straightforward - and enjoyable - build.   My verdict: Highly Recommended!

Thanks to MRC for the review sample. Gallery Models is exclusively imported into the USA by MRC.  This kit is  your local hobby shop or favorite online retailer now! It is kit #64008 and retail price is $329.98.