Hackensack, N.J. ? No longer stuck in the mud, the USS Intrepid returned to the sea Tuesday and sailed to Bayonne, N.J., where the warship-turned-museum will get a $17 million facelift.

In New Jersey, the 27,000-ton aircraft carrier will get new exhibits and a fresh coat of battleship gray before returning in 2008 to Pier 86 in Manhattan, which will undergo a $36 million restoration.

Spectators toting video cameras cheered as the 902-foot aircraft carrier – moving no more than 3 knots – docked near the Bayonne Dry Dock and Repair Corp., which is performing much of the overhaul work.

“I just wanted to see it one more time,” said John Chisholm, 86, who was one of the ship’s crew members in World War II. “I don’t think I’ll be back when it’s done in two years.”

The arrival ended a six-hour Hudson River journey for the Intrepid, which moved from its muddy berth one month after its first attempt failed.

The early morning departure drew muted cheers from a shivering crowd, some of whose members feared that the mud again would win the battle. Others were more hopeful.

“I never dreamed that it wouldn’t go,” said Chris Scheck, 52. “It’s an inspiring sight.”

Two large tugboats used 100-foot chains to pull the engineless ship past the former World Trade Center site, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty on the way to the Bayonne shipyard.

The USS Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum aircraft carrier passes the Statue of Liberty as it heads to Bayonne, N.J., for repairs, traveling along the Hudson River in New York on Tuesday. The banner reads Honor

Crew members stood in silence, and even wept, as the vessel stopped briefly near ground zero and unfurled a 90- by 100-foot American flag.

“I’m speechless,” said Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, who was aboard the ship. “This is such a glorious day for us.”

Museum officials also breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the majestic ship that survived five kamikaze attacks during World War II once again show its resilience.

The ship fought in every major battle in the last two years of the Pacific war, surviving bombs and torpedoes while losing 270 crewmembers. It was commissioned in 1943 and served in Korea and Vietnam, and was a recovery ship for NASA astronauts.

The Intrepid was rescued in 1981 from the junk heap by the late Zachary Fisher, a New York builder, who transformed it into a sea, air and space museum. It draws about 700,000 visitors annually.

Since the Intrepid got stuck, the Navy helped dredge about 35,000 cubic yards of material – filling about 50 barges – to free the stern, rudder and propellers from the mucky river bottom.

The Navy is footing the $3 million mud-removal bill, but museum officials promised that they will reimburse the cost. The museum will also spend nearly another $1 million for school outreach programs while the Intrepid is being restored.