War Renews Interest in Sea-Air-Space Museum

Since the hostilities in the Persian Gulf began on Jan. 16, attendance has more than doubled at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in Manhattan, which has had more than its share of financial problems in recent years. During the last few weekends there have been 5,000 visitors, compared with less than half that number in the same period last year.

The curatorial staff of the museum -- a complex of the aircraft carrier Intrepid, the destroyer Edson and the guided-missile submarine Growler at 46th Street and the Hudson River -- is now racing to assemble and install the exhibition "War in the Gulf: The Liberation of Kuwait," which begins on Feb. 27.

"Everyone has been hearing about Tomahawks and Patriots and Scuds, but they're vague about them," Lawrence Sowinski, the museum's executive director, said in an interview the other day. "We felt we had a responsibility to our public to interpret this war that may change the world." Explanation of Deployment

The new show will chronicle the events leading to the Gulf conflict, explaining how the new high-tech tools of the military trade are being deployed in the Gulf.

"These are artifacts of war like the swords in the Metropolitan's collection of arms and armor," Mr. Sowinski said. "Many of the items in our collection are very rare, and in the future, some will be as treasured as the one-of-a-kind swords in the Metropolitan."

The recent attendance boom has not solved financial difficulties. The museum currently has a deficit of "several hundred thousand dollars," Mr. Sowinski said, because of the recession and the recent loss of about $200,000 in education grants from New York City.

From 1985 to 1988, the museum operated under Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy code, but it had been in the black until last fall, when New York City tourism fell victim to the recession. "Right now, we're looking hard to find some additional income," Mr. Sowinski said. Ingenuity and Strength

At times, the peculiar nature of the Intrepid's exhibits tests the mettle of its curators. On a recent morning, a fragile, 1,000-pound artifact worth $700,000 had to be moved into a carefully prepared niche.

"Not the usual museum installation," said Scott Koen, the aircraft curator, after the heaving and aligning was done. The object was a 12 1/2-foot-long Harpoon cruise missile, of the kind that has reportedly destroyed much of the Iraqi Navy in the Persian Gulf war, and the niche was an A-6 Intruder attack bomber, like the ones that have been harrying Iraqi troops in Kuwait.

Some of the items for the new show have yet to arrive. A Patriot missile and a diorama displaying its deployment will soon be on the way from the Raytheon Company in Lexington, Mass. The museum has also found a spare 21-foot-long Tomahawk cruise missile -- disarmed, of course -- in the factory of a Titusville, Fla. contractor.

"We're working with the National Polish Armed Forces Museum to get a Scud missile," said Mr. Sowinski. "And we've located a Scud missile launcher in Germany -- but we haven't been able to find transportation for it yet."

In addition, the museum is negotiating with the Israeli Government for Scud missile fragments from Iraqi attacks on Tel Aviv. Specially Built Models

The exhibition will display more than 30 scale models of aircraft, ships and equipment, most of which are being constructed for the show.

A number of the elements come from the museum's collection. In addition to the Intruder fighter and the Harpoon missile, the museum has an AV8 Harrier jump jet, of the kind being used against the Iraqis; an F-4 Phantom similar to the Wild Weasel missile-hunting aircraft used by the Kuwaiti Air Force; an A-7 Corsair attack plane, and an M-60 main battle tank, the kind used by the Saudis in the recent battle for the town of Khafji. The museum also has a 2,700-pound armor-piercing shell identical to those fired by the 16-inch cannons on the battleship Missouri toward Iraqi positions in Kuwait.

Despite the fearsome power of much of the museum's inventory, a large part of the collection is quite fragile and needs constant maintenance. Plexiglas cockpits deteriorate after too many hours in the sun on the Intrepid's 900-foot flight deck, ship and airplane parts are corroded by the salt air, and the three vessels require $85,000 worth of paint every year.

To Mr. Koen, the aircraft curator, the installation of the Harpoon missile "was pretty easy compared to some of the installations we've done."

His toughest museum installation was a 10,000-pound Regulus missile, which had to be mounted on the launcher of the Growler. "But we found a way to do it," he said. "Once we got an 80-ton crane, the rest was easy."