Seeing this, its obvious that modernizing NJ would be... expensive, if not utterly impractical. She was built for a different war and a different time and managed to outlive all expectations.
@@danielboatright8887 naval bombardment might be viable if close at coastal or if having a amphibious landing just to clean up the remains from the tomahawks
NSFS is a primary mission of the navy, a Congressional requirement, and no ship can fulfill that role right now except for the CGs getting laid up right now. You think if we go to war with China we would have no need to bombard the coast?
Great video, gave me a flashback to the mid eighties. We pulled into Sasebo, Japan a few days before the New Jersey arrived. As a nuclear powered fast attack sub, we arrived with little fanfare and were moored in the middle of the harbor. When New Jersey arrived everybody and their brother showed up. Greenpeace and quite a few protesters were there and it was quite the show. I believe this was right around the time that the USN started saying they could not confirm or deny that warships were carrying nuclear weapons. It was a thrill to see the mighty battleship arrive from our vantage point. What a sight!
9:55 "we've got a set of these ship's alarms." Glad to see that unlike the crew on Red Dwarf, if they have to go to red alert, they don't have to change the bulb
We were just there a little over two weeks ago and after watching this video it feels like Ryan was our personal tour guide. It is wonderful to re-live the experience through this awesome video tour and we can’t wait for the opportunity to visit BNJ again and maybe spring for a curator’s tour!
@@eddieb1323 So no more Compliance Symbols? That's good. Is USS NEW JERSEY in New Jersey port? I try to stay out of states that deny my right to self defense which is most definitely something NJ does.
I think a video on the starting procedure for the battleship would be awesome. As in switching from shore power to internal power. Enjoyed this video a lot as well
And if the ship had been completely powered down with no steam, using the piped in shipyard steam to get the systems started would also be interesting.
A video on the starting of the battleship has allready been done, sort of. Look on this channel for "T'was the Night Before Light Off". This video premiered Dec 22, 2022. It is a pretty detailed description. I don't have a link because RU-vid wont let me post links in comments.☹
@@eddieb1323 A video on the starting of the battleship has allready been done, sort of. Look on this channel for "T'was the Night Before Light Off". This video premiered Dec 22, 2022. It is a pretty detailed description. I don't have a link because RU-vid wont let me post links in comments.☹
@@gwc1410 That is what I am referring to, except I would love to see a video of the process rather than a poem. The poem was great, I’d like to see the physical process.
@@gwc1410 I agree with @ryanlimbaugh8361 that I would love to see a video of the process, but I really enjoyed the poem too. I also tried to post the link to the poem “T'was the Night Before Light Off” but to no avail.
I got to go on the bridge of an ore hauler on Lake Superior. I remember it being larger and more "luxurious", with carpets and wood paneling. They had all the modern electronic navigation devices. Great video!
The William A Irvin is a ore hauler museum in dock at Duluth, MN. It was launched in 1937 and you can take tours of it. Your right it seems quite luxurious compared to this.
I find it interesting that the NJ bridge is contrasted with sci fi and LCS bridges collectively. Apparently modern real bridges are closer to the fictional ones than the the battleship. That said, the Star Trek Bridge is partly designed that way to have enough room for a ton of equipment. Not just the starfleet consoles but the camera dolly track, light stands and grip gear, etc. In that sense, it can be just as cramped as the NJ's bridge if you see some behind the scenes photos when they do close ups. Another funny point of analogy is that the Starfleet crew generally walked in from "outside the ship" just like that exterior ladder on New Jersey. The turbolift door was an entrance for the fictional characters within the show, but not a working entrance for the actors. The actors and film crew mostly entered the set by walking in through the main viewscreen which was just a big hole in the set.
Couple of fun facts that I’m reasonably sure you have covered before. There is no magnetic compass in the citadel. It wouldn’t work, but if you are used to conning the ship the helmsman has no “check course” to repeat back to the OOD. It takes some getting used to. Also all of the bridge windows roll down to prevent them from breaking when the 16 inch guns are fired.
I was an IC2 on the USS Dixie, which was in continuous service from 1940-1982, and I worked on all of the bridge stuff. When I was onboard, in the late 60's, she was in continuous service longer than any other ship in the Navy (except for the USS Constitution)
I was an IC on the USS Kansas City (AOR-3), launched in 1968. I was onboard '88-'90. Our helm console was a Sperry system, complete with the (VERY seldom used) ability to dial in a course, enter compensation for wind/current, flip a switch, and watch the console do a better job than most of the qual'd helmsmen could. A course change was a simple matter of changing the course setting and watching the rudder indicators and gyro repeaters move. About the only time the autopilot was ever engaged was when I appeared on the bridge with a PMS card. The point is that, regardless of whether in auto or manual mode, synchros in the helm console talked to synchros on the steering gear, just as was the case decades before. That fancy helm console and all of the gyro repeaters got their heading info from a MK19 Mod 3A gyrocompass with a control cabinet full of vacuum tubes. Even more of a clash was that the state-of-the-art SLQ-32 EW suite received heading/pitch/roll info from the same old collection of vacuum tubes. By the time I left the ship, I was just as comfortable trying to figure out why a transistor was missing its bias voltage as I was trying to figure out why a 12AX7 tube was missing its filament voltage. FWIW, I took what I learned about dial telephones and our AT&T Dimension 2000 PBX and over the years have turned it into a rather lucrative career in telecommunications. AT&T became Lucent, which became Avaya. I went with the flow and now spend most of my time in large Avaya PBX systems. Plan is to continue doing so for another 12 years, then enjoy my retirement.
@@garyallsebrook3493 Make sure that is documented. Somehow the Navy forgot to document the removal of MUCH pipe lagging and floor tiles during our 1988 DPMA.
I remember touring a Nimitz class carrier and going up on the bridge. I was surprised at how compact it was. I’ve seen bridges on other warships; I’ve forgotten what the bridge on USS Massachusetts was like. I hope to see it again. I look forward to seeing USS North Carolina. We toured USS Iowa in November 2021, it is all a blur now. I remember only 1 door into the conning tower. The weather bridge was rather tight.
I was definitely not aware of how tight the bridge was outside the conning tower. I figured it had at least 2x the space outside the conning tower. I know I've watched a ton of your videos and seen the bridge before but it just never sunk in. Good job showing just what the real conditions are and pointing out something and subtle as that.
You have shown parts of the bridge before, and it always surprises me how small it was. I would have thought where the captains at-sea cabin was would be more for the next watch officer in war time. So they could get some rest, but still be right there if needed. Great look at everything Ryan. Thanks for all the videos you do they are very helpful to those of us not neat the New Jersey.
It would be quite the sight to see her sail the high sea's again! The Iowa's are my absolute favorite! It really pains me to see them just sitting.. Thank you for all of yours and your crew's hard work in keeping these historical ships in great shape so future generations can appreciate what our naval heritage was and still is!
You will see pictures, from time to time, of the drafting rooms where the plans were drawn up to construct ships and aircraft back in the day. Hundreds of guys in ties at drafting tables. These vessels were labor-intensive from the design stage all the way up.
@@jimdennis2451 Beat me to the punch, my friend. My father was test director for the nuclear rocket engine (which NASA is presently dusting off) in the mid- to late 1960’s. One of his engineers was advocating early starts on personal computers but he wasn’t buying it. You had adding machines for addition and subtraction, but nothing for multiplication, division or trigonometry. The three significant digit accuracy of a slide rule could cover a lot of ground.
Did the Captain actually use his bedroom? When I was touring the USS Cassian Young, I was told that the captain slept mostly in his chair on the bridge and not in his at sea cabin.
Neat thing: the typewriter at 15:30 isn't a typewriter, it's a DEC DECWriter Correspondent, a remarkably compact portable teleprinter/terminal from ~1982. I'm curious to know what they would have needed it for in the chart house (not sure how computerized navigation was getting then), maybe weather data?
I've always especially enjoyed the walk-throughs but even more so since I toured the ship in October. On that topic, a special shout out to the volunteers who were all knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.
Honestly, I kind of expected it to be fairly crowded. Though I assumed it would have been more with the 80's commission then to have been near the whole career. Though seeing the LCS and you talking about conning towers disappearing got me thinking. I wonder what a new built big gun bawler would look like today, just as a thought experiment.
A modern battleship would see autoloaders for ammo, modern precision fire, probably far fewer guns due to increased accuracy, and a focus on speed and point defence.
Being in engineering the bridge was a far away place. On my ship we had a problem with engine order telegraph and rpm telegraph, so in restricted maneuvering we had to send someone from the engine room (throttles qualified) to the bridge as a secondary "manning the phones" in case of confusion on either end. I did it once, and found it was pretty cool to be on the bridge (different than just sitting in a main space staring at gauges and machinery) kind of like the difference between being in the trunk of a car, or being in the passenger seat. So I volunteered every time this came up. I think once the Captain or OOD figured out I was enjoying the time on the bridge, and getting in the way, this of course ended, back to my hole. Thanks for the video Ryan. The frigate I was on had a pass though bridge you mentioned on Montana video (the shell would pass right though our aluminum bridge).
I was stationed on the aircraft carrier Franklin D Roosevelt CVA42 in 1963 & was commissioned at the end of WW2. As I watch your tour so much comes flooding back to me of everything painted battleship grey or navy pea green & the equipment looks like it came from the 1920’s/30’s. I was then & still today amazed at the engineering & the complexity of the build of these old girls & what it took to complete in manpower at the shipyards. They really were/are modern day wonders war machines. Thanks.🙏👍🇨🇦
I can remember early in my career looking for the bridge and being surprised . Many ships built with an originally open bridge were reworked in a variety of ways . The modern variety have a lot more electronic aids and are a much bigger space . They all have a Chartroom with charts adjacent .
Great tour Ryan! It would be interesting to see where all the Bridge crew members would actually stand on watch - OOD, JOOD, QMOW, BMOW, Helm, LeeHelm, Radarmen etc...how many crew actually manned the Bridge on a normal watch when operating in a Surface Action Group? Does the Bridge have a pneumatic bunny tube messaging system? As you were walking through, I was trying to imagine what a modernized/refurbished BB62 bridge would actually look like? Thank again for the tour!
Illuminatist. Here is a brief description of the actual position/duty stations on the Bridge for the Bridge Watch. (Following the same path Ryan took entering the Bridge from the Port Bridge Wing)... BMOW: Boatswain Mate of the Watch is a Senior Enlisted (E6) LPO post who is responsible for the instructions and orders given by the OOD being executed forthwith. The BMOW is usually ESWS qualified and is a qualified Helmsman who can provide instructions/training for the Helm Team. BMOW maintains the Ship's Routine and verbal instructions from the Bridge to the Crew, traditionally "piping" (using the Bos'n Whistle or Pipe) the details of the overall message, via the ship's comm system called the 1MC. He is also directly responsible for the enlisted personnel on watch in terms of staffing, qualifications and experience. This includes the Lookouts, Helmsman and Lee Helmsman, Messenger of the Watch and any Sailor assignment that is Under Instruction during the watch. The MOOW is usually near the BMOW and has the potential to be in a UI slot for Helmsman/Lee Helmsman. The MOOW also acts as a relief for Lookouts if needed. In the Citadel is the Helmsman (Driver) and the Lee Helmsman (speed and rudder control instructions to the Engine Room via the Engine Order Telegraph) OOD: The Officer of the Deck is the Senior officer on the Bridge Watch Team in the absence of the CO or XO who is responsible for the overall condition and seamanship of the ship underway. He will also work directly with the Conning Officer and the JOOD, Junior Officer of the Deck. The OOD is a SWO qualified officer and is the Senior Bridge Watch Team Officer. The JOOD is usually working toward the SWO qualification and experience level to promote to OOD and is a Division Officer elsewhere on the ship. Conning Officer: Responsible for the speed, direction and course movements for the ship. Usually equivalent rank to the OOD, but the only officer giving direct control orders to the Helm Team. QMOW: Quartermaster of the Watch is the navigational detail billet on the Bridge who works directly with the OOD. All charts and course movements are both noted and reported to the OOD during the watch in regard to any specific navigational detail of interest to the OOD/CONN. This includes depth, weather, current, obstacles that may be a hazard to the sea lane and directional guides in relation to the ship's movement. QMOW is also directly responsible for the Deck Log and entries in the Deck Log with reference and regard to the official record of the overall Ship action and disposition. (The Deck Log is a continuous record of the day and is maintained in Port and at Sea). The QMOW is traditionally posted on the Starboard side of the Bridge at the mirror opposite of the BMOW. There are usually two QMOWs on duty during the watch, a Petty Officer LPO and a junior QM (E3/E4). The only other individuals who are likely to be seen on the Bridge minus the CO/XO are an Engineering Spaces messenger that reports to the OOD and the Marine Corps Detachment Roving Patrol, called Post 9. USN Battleships had Marine Detachments that handled the ship's physical security. A Corporal of the Guard was also assigned to the CO of the Ship as the Captain's Orderly. Typically there would be three sets of four such watch standers and they would rotate. So if you had the midnight to four AM (0000-0400) watch you would also have the noon to four PM (1200-1600) watch and so forth. It was known as four on and eight off. Occasionally, if the department was short staffed, someone - usually the bottom of the totem pole - the Messenger - would stand six on and six off. In Port, we usually followed a Port Starboard rotation for Duty.
@@mikecavanaugh257 Mike - thanks for the excellent description of the positions and rolls of an underway watch Team on the New Jersey or any one of the Iowas! That's what I was hoping someone could provide. Your description really completes a picture of what would be going on in that Main Command and Operational Center of these ships as they sailed the Oceans. It certainly would be cool if some videographer at some point, had captured footage of an underway Battleship Watch Team in action on one of the IOWAS! Oh well. But I guess we can't have everything...and that actually leaves some of the lore and tradition of these Ships intact. It puts that experience in the category of "you really had to have been there to appreciate it!"...thanks again.
@@theilluminatist4131 ... You're very welcome Sir. The Bridge Watch was a major part of my career in the Navy and I hope You have a chance to visit any of the four Iowa's someday. USS IOWA BB61 is located in Long Beach CA near the Queen Mary. USS NEW JERSEY BB62 is located in Camden NJ. USS MISSOURI BB63 is located in Pearl Harbor HI. (Sidenote: the US Navy really made an excellent choice by sending "Big Mo" to HI where she is very near the final resting place of 🇺🇸 USS ARIZONA BB39 🇺🇸, standing watch in Eternal Vigilance of Sacrifice over the hull of ARIZONA. In the perfect sense of historical irony, the ARIZONA is considered the start of WWII for the United States and it was aboard the MISSOURI that the enemy surrender documents were signed in Tokyo Bay Japan, ending the war. All of the Iowa's were there that day and there is a photo taken from an American aircraft flying over the Bay that clearly shows IOWA and TEXAS in the background, MISSOURI in the foreground and either the USS SOUTH DAKOTA BB57 or USS NORTH CAROLINA BB55 or USS WEST VIRGINIA BB48 just to the right in the frame near NEW JERSEY, just to the right of MISSOURI.) Finally, USS WISCONSIN BB64 is located in downtown Norfolk VA. Each of these battleships are absolutely beautiful as warships and have extensive historical archives. Each of the Iowa's today are exceptional museum ships and worth visiting. I served aboard the USS IOWA and USS WISCONSIN from 1987-1991 as a QMOW. I had cruises aboard USS AMERICA CV66, USS JOHN F KENNEDY CV67 and my final cruise was aboard USS VINCENNES CG49. My career was exclusively US Second Fleet (Norfolk VA) and US Sixth Fleet ( Rota Spain/ Bahrain) with the sole exception of the VINCENNES (US Third Fleet in San Diego CA). Without question or doubt, my tours aboard the battleships were the highest honor to be a part of and the highest possible achievement in my career. My fondest memories of my career in the Navy will always be aboard the battleships. One more bit of trivia for You.... IF you ever get the chance to visit the USS TEXAS BB35 in Houston TX, you are literally standing on the only remaining dreadnought battleship in the world. TEXAS is the only American battleship to have service in both World Wars and has an incredible history of Naval service. USS NORTH CAROLINA BB55 ( Wilmington NC) SOUTH DAKOTA BB55 and USS MASSACHUSETTS BB59 ( Fall River MA ) are all similar in design to the Iowa's, just a little smaller in length. Fair Winds and Following Seas🇺🇸
My experience included serving on an LST and reserve training on Fletcher destroyers. New Jersey's bridge is quite spacious compared to those ships. They were both WW II designs also. The equipment seems much the same, although you have a lot more of it. The only other notable difference is that the Captain's chairs look a lot more comfortable than those on the ships I was on. I guess Captains get better accommodations than Lieutenants and Commanders.
I think the bridge pretty well fits my idea of a WWII ship's bridge. There are quite a lot of iconic or famous images of important people on bridges during the war, and they do for the most part tend to look fairly crowded. Having said that if you say to me "It looks like a ship's bridge" the idea I will get in my head by default is a much more modern ship, that of a cruise ship or perhaps a modern frigate, and of course the bridge of the Enterprise (NCC-1701)
It would be great to see a look at these spaces with typical Staffing of sailors. It's one thing to say x sailors maned this space, but to see x people in the space and how crowded it would be might give a bit of perspective.
Remember that "Under Siege" movie? It was set on USS Missouri, filmed on USS Alabama, but some parts were definitely shot on soundstage. Because movie depicted the bridge like large room with helm wheel inside and no armored conning tower at all.
Having served on an older ship built in the 1950's (USS Luce), even I was surprised at how "Small" the bridge was on the USS Iowa in CA. The bridge on the Luce was absolutely spacious in comparison, certainly not in square footage, but without the armored citadel taking up what seems to be 75% of the deck space, you could play catch if you wanted to (Not that that ever happened, nor did the OOD or JOOD participate).
Very similar to the bridge on the USS Massachusetts. The first time I was on her bridge I was surprised by the small size of the conning tower which I believe is identical to the New Jersey.
I just can't justify travelling half a planet to visit New Jersey in person. Watching you guide a tour for a video like this is the next best thing. Thank you!
I was on the USS Missouri last November. On the starboard outside wing bridge close to the captains chair was a set of huge binoculars mounted on a rotating pedestal. They were so powerful I could read ships names and see sailors on ships that were over 5,000 ft away. I was surprised to not see them on USS New Jersey. Excellent job of pointing out the differences in the ships of the same class.
The ships all had "Big Eyes" mounted on each bridge wing. It is now a matter of whather or not the museums had been able to track down a set for that ship.
The grease pencil on the window at 12:48 is very interesting. Date is 8 Sep 81. Ship is apparently inbound toward Bremerton, passing Ediz Hook (Port Angeles, WA) then Point Wilson (Port Townsend, WA), a couple of miles from where I'm sitting. That fits with her trip from Long Beach to Bremerton for deactivation, where she arrived on that day. But in 1969! She was reactivated in 1981. Under tow from Puget Sound to Long Beach, where I actually saw her at the time. Is this a figment of someone's imagination? Or perhaps I'm misinterpreting. Maybe the log was done from the bottom up, I can't read times on it. Is this from when whe was towed for reactivation? But why would it still be there? Enquiring minds want to know!
I saw the Point Wilson notation but couldn't make out the date.... Yup, a lot of ships have gone through Admiralty Inlet heading to Bremerton and Bangor. I can usually see them as they come around us at Marrowstone Point. Great stuff!
@@dpeter6396 The Battleships left Bremerton some time in 1982 or later. I remember watching from the bridge of the TRUXTUN as the MISSOURI as it was towed out for recommissioning.
I took a tour of the Iowa a month and a half ago but I really want to check out the New Jersey. It looks like you have more open on your tour and the ship looks much more complete
Both my paternal grandparents built liberty ships during ww2 in Portland Oregon. My grandfather was a welder and my grandmother was a literal rosey the riveter. They were both resigned multiple times to assist with special rush repairs and refits. One of the last jobs they did was refits in puget sound at the end of the war up until early 1946. I only know this because I searched through all their pay stubs and tax info. I wish they were still around to ask which ships they worked on.
Brian, WW1, even WW2 British capital ships had an Admiral's bridge, even an Admirals cabin, not so on US ships it would seem. The only alcohol allowed on USN ships was in the medics bay I understand, I'm sure senior officers made frequent trips to see the ships doctor seeking tincture for their coughs and colds.
As is generally the case with anything prohibited, the banning of alcohol on US Navy ships is tempered by the multitude of places that a bottle (or case) can be hidden. On longer deployments, a LOT of fruit and fruit juice ends up in hidden places after the addition of a 50-cent package of yeast... On a related note, the amount of beer smuggled on board can generally be gauged by the number of CO2 fire extinguishers suddenly losing their charge and needing to be refilled. A smaller extinguisher can chill a half-rack quite nicely.
This is an interesting note. It appears that of the IOWA only the IOWA was originally fitted with a Flag bridge. lt is below the main bridge. I served on CGN's in the 80's and both, had flag accomedations. Unfortunately the only alcohol I was able to consume was as a guest on Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy warships.
You mentioned a "flag bridge". I figure that's where the commodore or admiral commanding the whole task force (the battleship and all its escort ships) does his stuff, while the captain focuses just on the battleship itself. How about showing us that?
I love my home state of New Jersey and I'm so proud of this ship! I'm very happy she was preserved and turned into a museum ship and that people still love her 80+ years after she was launched.
yes, it was mostly what i expected. my favorite ship is the uss ohio bb-12 which had an open bridge that was a bridge that spanned the beam of the ship to facilitate navigation. it was partially enclosed in the center (probably the charthouse). later on after the refit it looks like the often had it partially covered on the sides with canvas.
Awesome tour! yet it was toooo short again! I want to watch a 15 min. documentary of these spaces! With you pointing to everything, and explaining it, and how it works, when it would be used, etc. Please! Oh, and don't just suddenly disappear from one area and then the filming picks up with you in a new area, without us simply following along. please keep the camera rolling! take us along please.
It is gratifying to see BB 62 so well preserved as a tribute to those who served on her, and to honor them. Let us spare no expense to keep these wonderful machines of war far into the future. Ryan is a very knowledgeable tour guide, and I have enjoyed his many videos.
BB-61 (Iowa) is so well preserved too and their RU-vid/social media presence nowadays is just as good as BB-62 (look at those RU-vid channel views that only NJ has when comparing between BB museum RU-vid channels). I am happy that Turret 2 is sealed off to everybody except a handful of museum maintenance workers and family members of the 47 fallen sailors from that 1989 tragedy that never should have happened. They never repaired Turret 2 and there is still a lot of damage there.
Was very interesting when we were on the ship how spartan and simple the bridge and even the conning tower were. In an age where I run small boats that have screens and instruments that would almost rival the combat center, seeing the bridge with simple instruments and equipment that are there was the thing that I found most different than I had envisioned. I've watched many videos and had some idea but a visit really puts it into perspective. While things were somewhat tighter and packed in more than I had expected, and the ship was easier to navigate thru, the way the bridge, conning tower and chart room being so open and sparse was the biggest surprise.
Pretty much as I expected having been aboard Massachusetts and Alabama. Would love to have a similar look at the Flag Bridge and associated spaces if they are available. Thanks, Ryan!
It's very different from the only warship bridge I have been on HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate. As you walked through New Jersey it almost felt like the equipment is in corridors rather than it being the bridge!
Ryan thanks for all that you let us see. I really wish I could come up and see NJ and get a chance to visit with you and the crew... God bless and ready for more videos!!
The only ship bridge I've been on was the Iowa. I was shocked at how tiny it is. New Jersey's seems much larger. I had previously thought all ships of a class were identical to each other. These videos are really great and educational! Thanks everyone!
It makes sense by WWII standards, but I can't imagine how shocked crews were in the 1980's when they got to their new assignments. Most of the guys driving the ship in the 80's were probably born after WWII.
I visited the Battleship before Covid and would love to go back. I started watching the channel in early 2020 and I can’t explain how happy I am that it’s grown exponentially since! Ryan and team, great work on the content, and sharing the ins and outs of the Iowas!
My first ship, USS Alamo LSD-33, an old amphib, had an open backed bridge. Not so fun standing bridge watches steaming off of South Korea in the winter. I definitely liked having the enclosed bridge on my next ship. The bring on New Jersey seems rather disjointed and cramped with the armored conning tower in the middle of it like that.
Outstanding. Was always curious about this. I’m a history nut and from Missouri. Since NJ is sister to the Mighty Mo. I found this enlightening. And you always present well.
I would like you to do another video on the 'battery back ups' used so many places, for example the 16-inch gun turrets. And do you keep batteries in those battery compartments yet? Do you service any batteries on board the ship?
Yes it is pretty cluttered. Especially considering the technical evolution of the ship and her capabilities. Built in a time when comforts were only considered in terms of keeping crew working. It wasn't a priority on a wartime vessel. I'd like to see the flag bridge where you began done the same way, and if there's an open deccked space on top... I'm not sure, I only toured the .50 caliber mount on what may have been her last tour. If I ever make it to the states I will definitely visit her museum!
Well, it’s a lot different than the bridge on my fast frigate built in the 60s I’ve been a destroyer escort at that time it was ours was smaller and more compact. Things were closer together which made it seem much easier to navigate.
I’d like to know what the ship looked like and what things were done when she was in battle mode and light discipline was called, since you brought up the double door walk throughs
nice job Ryan, this is now one of my favorite ones. I spent alot of hrs on the bridge of my first tincan and this brought back some good memories. you always cover something that I use to answer on tours.
The Jersey was just getting out of the yards when i got to my ship. I had a buddy that was an FTG like me on it and took me for a tour. The amount of brass on that ship is unreal! They had I believe 200+ FTs aboard at the time. We had like 14 on ours (LHA). We went to San Clemente for gunnery practice and I really didn't notice anything before the Jersey went out. We went back after they did and it looked like the moon. I also walked underneath the Missouri when it was in drydock right before i got it. Very cool!
When I toured with the Scouts, I was surprised how tight it was in fact. The conning tower was insane. I never knew that was hidden inside. Good time sleeping aboard, had a blast and lots of great memories. Thanks for keeping her in our hearts.
Great tour. It's about what I expected as I have seen the bridge of the earlier USS Alabama however, it seems as if it laid out less than optimally, with the bridge crew and navigation being spread out over a large area where they can not readily see and communicate with each other.
Awesome information. Please do point out directions as you're moving around, try to avoid jump cuts to different areas, and start with wide shots to establish the area.
Thanks a lot for the great tour around. Have seen a few bits before from your other videos, so I wasn`t surprised- but this one was a great summary shot of all the features and their locations to each other. Wasn`t expecting wide open spaces anyway, because room is precious- even on a Battleship. I was wondering how many people where there working on the shift in those spaces you just showed all together (so how many people in the bridgecrew)?
Enjoyed the tour. Visited USS Missouri last summer and I don't think we were allowed into the conning tower at all. The bridge on it was just as cramped appearing. Thanks for the extensive views and the history!
Outstanding explanation and walk thru... I served in the mid 70's when things were modernized to that era.. todays vessels are a computer with a bunch of armaments' I love this kind of look into the historical conditions our elders worked with!!!
Another outstanding and informative video Ryan. With all the wiring, pipes, conduit, and other equipment how much overhead clearance is there for sailors 6 ft or taller?
For scale, Ryan is 6ft tall. He manages pretty well in all of these spaces. Mind you, the 5ft tall camera person smashed her head on a periscope in the conning tower while filming so not all great.
I was fortunate enough to have toured the Missouri when she visited Seattle for fleet week in the '90s. I was indeed surprised at how cramped the bridge was having spent time on commercial vessels. That said, commercial vessels don't have armored conning towers taking up so much space. One nit to pick ... on the vessels I worked we referred to the "broom closet" as gear locker.
Do you keep any of the communication equipment operative today, that was used to contact different sections of the ship? Seems that would come in handy when your teams are doing maintenance and repairs. And those crews are scattered throughout the ship. besides, how cool to use an old, original, communication device to contact a different part of the ship, say, machine shop, or galley, or weld shop etc. Would make a great vidoe!
The ship's dial telephone system is operational and is used. The Sound-Powered phone circuits would also be usable if the wiring is intact, as no equipment or power is required...just two headsets or handsets and an intact pair of wires between them. Ditto for the "Growler" circuits, as they are basically just a Sound-Powered circuit with a little hand-cranked AC generator and selector switch for the noisemaker.
You're right, nothing like I was expecting. Going down with the ship or being last to leave makes even more sense, as the conning tower is the best protected so most survivable in combat. The captain has the 'luxury' of having so much armour around him, he could be eating his last meal whilst a shell from an enemy battleship strikes that conning tower and bounces off, while the rest of the ship is pummeled. 17 inches of steel! Thanks for the detailed tour.
My first ship was a Knox class frigate that started life as a destroyer escort our primary mission was sub hunter when I was on board and we were very good, anyway the bridge was pretty open with exterior access from both sides and interior access from a ladder across from cic.
To think that EVERYTHING we see designed and thought through without the aid of Computer CadCam! Every panel is unique, hand made per specs drawn up using a slide rule! This is a real wonder of technology!
I gotta say, when I went on the USS North Carolina, the bridge did seem alot smaller than I imagined it. The limiited tour I did on it, the ship was larger than I imagined in some areas, smaller in some as well. Things like the turrets and guns, they were actually larger than I figured they would look, as was the OS2U Kingfisher on the back, things looked massive sitting there. THen there came the tiny little hole under the turret to get in it, that thing was itsybitsy lol. Alot of the stairs and ladders felt like death traps lol. I climbed into one of the 5"/38 turrets and I was doing mental gymnastics trying to figure out how to get in and out without slipping off it. All the hallways and corridors were alot shorter than I thought they would be to.
I would really like it if you did a video on where they stored fastners, parts, etc. With a ship so large, they must have had their own "hardware store" onboard.
I stood a couple of ASDO, (Assistant Squadron Duty Officer) watches on the Admiral's Bridge on the Carl Vinson, (CVN 70) and it was entirely different. Of course there was no conning tower and it was more like what one might expect a ship's bridge to look like. But carriers represent the future while battleships represent the past. I was an Airdale though and we almost never went into those spaces. Other than the Admiral's Bridge for a those watches, the only other place in the Island that I ever spent any time was vulture's row. I spent all of my time on the outboard side of the #1 cat during the day and working in the airframes shop at night.
Great video. Stuff like this needs to be done on all museum ships. The thing that surprised me the most is how little was done during the previous modernizations. I'm also a little surprised of all the exposed wiring. I expected more conduit.
The bridge seems much more crowded and less desired place to be. It's a WWII battleship, though, and creature comfort was a likely afterthought. I'm curious to know if New Jersey could be reactivated, given its current renovation and preservation. In readiness percentage, how far along would New Jersey be considering the equipment removal and newer weapon systems reintegration?
I expected something more open and elaborate. This is like a bunch of connecting rooms. Most of the sailors can’t even see where they are going. So interesting. Thank you.
