Mega Movers (2006)

Follow the massive move of the USS Intrepid from its New York City pier to Bayonne, New Jersey. This legendary carrier helped to destroy Japan's Imperial Navy and survived five kamikaze attacks. A New York real estate developer opened it as a museum in 1982. Watch as it gets stuck in the mud when attempts are made to move it for much needed repairs, then ultimately freed by Navy divers.

The world's oceans are graveyards for some of the greatest ships ever built. But thanks to Mega Movers some of them have risen from the dead. During the mid-1500's the English warship Mary Rose was sunk by a French cannon. Many times it was attempted to be recovered but they all ended in heartbreak. Finally, more then 400 years after it sank, its massive 580-ton hull would be raised from its watery grave. In the Baltic Sea the 17th century warship, The Vasa, was heralded as the greatest ship ever built at that time. On the day of her maiden voyage she sank. After early salvages failed, Mega Movers spent more then a year battling dangers to raise her to the surface. When the huge French liner Normandie capsized in New York Harbor, it created a deadly toxic cesspool. A team of Mega Movers with the Navy Salvage Service braved deadly conditions and pulled off the dangerous mission of bringing her back up. At the end of World War II in the shallow area of Scapa Flow a captured German Admiral gave the orders to scuttle 72 captured ships. Experts said they could never be raised. One man proved them wrong and raised 28 of them in what still remains the largest salvage operation in history.

War inspires ingenuity... some of the greatest battles have been won or lost based on the work of Mega Movers. In 218 B.C. the Mega Movers' tool was 37 elephants that transported men and cargo across the Alps, ensuring victory for Hannibal at the Battle of Trebbia. In 304 B.C. the famous 160-ton Helepolis siege tower, which required 3,400 men working in relays to move it, was used for the Siege of Rhodes. And in 1944, at D-Day, the battle turned on the work of military Mega Movers who built two massive harbors in just two weeks. It's not only on the battlefield where the military has earned their Mega Mover stripes but also during times of crisis. October 8, 2005 - Pakistan is hit by a major earthquake. With the death-toll climbing, aid is desperately needed to prevent thousands more from dying. In one of the fastest mobilizations of Army helicopters ever used for relief, four CH-47 choppers were loaded into two mammoth C-5 Galaxy cargo planes and flown from Hawaii to Pakistan, delivering life-saving supplies to thousands of refugees.

Imagine trying to move a 475,000 pound structure from Texas to Minnesota. Forget freeways, it'll never clear bridges or overpasses. Flight is out of the question. The only way to do it--lift it by crane, load it onto a barge and float it up the mighty Mississippi River... an amazing move that will travel past 10 states and cover more than 2400 miles.