Last show of the year for me....Battleship New Jersey

[moparnutcase]

Went to the Battleship New Jersey car show yesterday. Had about 55 cars. My buddy Rick went with his '71 Vette and a buddy tagged along with me. Show also included a tour of the ship. I have been on it before but my friends had not. We did the self-guided tour. All proceeds went to the ship and veterans groups. Great way to spend the day and wrap up the show season here in South Jersey.

 

[moparnutcase]

Some more.... the last one is cool,standing under the 16" guns looking up.

 

[polara71]

That poor ship.....anchored in Camden

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Spent quite a bit of time following the New Jersey around in the 80s. Those Iowa class BBs have a cool profile at sea in the distance.

 

[Newport 66]

Boats and cars seem to be a common thread recently.....and that's OK!!

 

[moparnutcase]

That poor ship.....anchored in Camden

Terrible area. I call it Cambodia instead of Camden. At least she is close enough to visit and not in some far off place. Shame she is still not plying the seas.....

 

[69CoronetRT]

I toured the Iowa when I was in California.
They are amazing.
I stood on the bow and tried to imagine the view in 1945.

 

[jake]

Very cool!!!!!

 

[75LandYacht]

Thanks for sharing.. didn’t realize she was so close me, 2 hrs give or take. May have to take the family to see her. Love your Doba by the way.

 

[Imperialist67]

GREAT spot / setting for a car show. When I was stationed in Norfolk, one of the New Jersey's "sister" ships, the Wisconsin, was stationed there as well. That class battleship had a really distinctive profile. Despite it's "Cambodia" location, glad to read the state of NJ is keeping her anchored, and not turned over for scrap, which is what happens to a lot of them.....

 

[Snotty]

Nice photos.

Interesting thing about the New Jersey, even though it is an Iowa, it was longer and heavier than all the others. Were they thinking about the planned Montana Class that was to follow, yet were not to be?

 

[tbm3fan]

Nice photos.

Interesting thing about the New Jersey, even though it is an Iowa, it was longer and heavier than all the others. Were they thinking about the planned Montana Class that was to follow, yet were not to be?

I don't see that it was longer in the building specs. All were at 887' 3". Weight could be different in their final state after their mods in the early 80's. Unfortunately I can no longer give you a really specific answer. A fellow, I knew, who was a project manager and did much of the design work for the Iowas at that time just passed away. He would have been able to list, from memory, all the different little design differences in the four battleships from stem to stern. In fact he worked personally on the New Jersey as she was modified at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The naval forums are still mourning his passing which is like having the last old time carpenter die taking all their knowledge with them.

Shot of me on the Iowa in 2009 when he invited me along for a personal tour, through the whole ship top to bottom, while it was in the Suisun Reserve Fleet.

 

[tbm3fan]

Had to go looking and found this nice little comment from the guy I mentioned above when someone made a comment about upgrade of guns and didn't know who he was dealing with.

Re: Upgrading of main guns.

What upgrade have you heard? The only thing we "upgraded" during their 1980's reactivation was to add a Velicometer on the top of each Turret. This device could calculate the muzzle velocity of each round fired. The readings were then used to correct barrel elevation (if necessary) for more accuratcy. As a side benifit, if the velocity readings showed any series changes of speed while using the same amount of powder bags of the same type of powder, we could use those readings as evidence of improperly loaded powder (doubtful) or if was past its "shelf life" (not likely but possible).

The only other upgrades we did was to add extra deluge tanks (sort of like water barrels) on the pan deck, relocated the positive stops of Turret III to clear the boat handling boom to port and the Refueling-at-Sea kingpost to starboard. We also rebuilt exterior green water vents on Turret I of the Missouri as what was done on the Wisconsin. Modifications on Turret II were to relocate the Replenishment-at-Sea tripod to land supplies (or ammo) from a supply ship in a better spot on 01 level for handling of the delivered items.

We did have to change out the center barrel of Turret II on New Jersey due to an erosion pit in the rifling caused by firing many more rounds than the other guns because it was used for the first spotting round before the rest of the guns could open up in salvo or battery fire.

Other than those stated above, the only other "upgrade" planned (but not emplamented) was not to the guns but to the ammo. And that was to fire sub-caliber rounds in Sabots for longer range.

 

[78Brougham]

My dad served on the Wisconsin. He told me that it was the longest of the four by about 14'. The Wisconsin was struck in the bow by another ship in the fog. They limped it home then, cut the the bow from the USS Kentucky (which was never finished and to be the fifth Iowa class ship) and grafted it onto it.

 

[75LandYacht]

My father worked for Ingalls shipbuilding in Pascagoula Mississippi where they retrofitted several of those all battlewagons for the desert storm / desert shield war in the late 80’s early 90s.. I don’t recall which exact ones though .

 

[78Brougham]

The Wisconsin and I believe the New Jersey were both retro fitted with the new Tomahawks etc. If you notice, there are very few, if any of the "40's" that used to line the upper decks left. The Wisconsin was actually in "mothballs" when it first arrived at Nauticus, my dad, mom, Sammie and I were at the ceremony when they opened Nauticus, we weren't allowed below decks. They were sealed off and under climate control and security. But I believe it's been made into a permanent museum piece now, never to see the open seas again.... kinda sad.

Found this about the Kentucky
80-G-670850

 

[75LandYacht]

The Wisconsin and I believe the New Jersey were both retro fitted with the new Tomahawks etc. If you notice, there are very few, if any of the "40's" that used to line the upper decks left. The Wisconsin was actually in "mothballs" when it first arrived at Nauticus, my dad, mom, Sammie and I were at the ceremony when they opened Nauticus, we weren't allowed below decks. They were sealed off and under climate control and security. But I believe it's been made into a permanent museum piece now, never to see the open seas again.... kinda sad.

Found this about the Kentucky
80-G-670850

They pulled her in to Norfolk shortly before I retired, it was a huge celebration when They did to say the least, but I never made it down there to take a tour... i need you

 

[1978 NYB]

I'll have to visit the New Jersey next spring. I have visited the Wisconsin years ago. Monster BB's.

The 8 inch Howitzers that I've fired for 20 years while I was a Warfighter in the Army actually is a naval gun mounted on a tank type chassis. Most accurate artillery piece in the world! Both the Army and the Marines fielded this massive Howitzer.

 

[tbm3fan]

My father worked for Ingalls shipbuilding in Pascagoula Mississippi where they retrofitted several of those all battlewagons for the desert storm / desert shield war in the late 80’s early 90s.. I don’t recall which exact ones though .

Iowa at Ingalls 1982
New Jersey at LBNSY 1982
Missouri at LBNSY 1985
Wisconsin at Ingalls 1987

All Iowa Class ships got Tomahawk and Harpoon launchers. Weapons added were the same across the board as per the plans and budget submitted. Congress insisted the ships needed to have eight ABLs and four Harpoon launchers rather than the four and two budgeted and planned for. This complicated placement on the ships. Dick's book tells about the major problem of finding a place for those four extra ABLs.