A Walking Tour of Battleship NJ in Drydock 

I'm glad you did this video. I'm in a wheelchair and there was no way I could have done the tour. I know I was not the only one. Thank you.

Ryan's now an expert on drydocking battleships... which he'll probably never do again.

Ryan! I had the pleasure of seeing New Jersey on 4/27! Flew in from Wisconsin and met up with a friend of mine who went on the tour with me. Now... a guy from Wisconsin would probably be more loyal to the USS Wisconsin, wouldn't you think? Well I'm originally from Chicago - and though I have called Wisconsin home for over 20 years - the New Jersey is My Battleship. The reason is simple! Over the years I feel I have gotten to know New Jersey and her history better than any book or article could ever tell me. And that is all thanks to you Ryan! You have put the ship out there for all to see and the way you do it is kin to a good friend talking about a classic car he loves and has been taking care of for his whole life. Thank you for all you have done to document the history of this national treasure. You have done the State of New Jersey, its residents, and all those who have served aboard her - a great honor! Tom S.

Ryan, first let me say thank you. Thank you for your work to preserve the memory of the Navy I remember. I am a tin can sailor from the 70’s. I served aboard a Gearing class can home ported out of Philadelphia. My ship was dry docked in Philly in 75. To see the below water artistry of the design of a ship is always exhilarating to me. I love what you do to preserve the memory of our efforts to preserve this nation. I love watching the videos you make and look forward to visiting the New Jersey someday. Again thank you! It helps me feel what I did has value.

I'm so pleased that I bit the bullet and went on this tour. Even though I didn't get Ryan as my tour guide, it was a wonderful experience. I'm definitely planning on a curator tour when she is back in Camden!

I enjoyed the "Any ship can be a mine sweeper one time" Funny but true!!

I'm so glad my brother and I were able to make the drydock tour. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this great ship out of the water. Thank you to my beautiful wife for purchasing the tickets for us for my 60th birthday. Ryan looks like a proud father walking the New Jersey, and he should be. The contractors did excellent work on this project. Here's to another 30 years Ryan and company! Long live BB62 the namesake of my home state, New Jersey !

Thank you Ryan , support staff... Oh and BB-62 herself. Thank you for saving this till the end. I'm enjoying it be well #battleshipnewjersey

Amazing to watch a curator underneath his mega-sized object of curation. It's been a great trip Ryan, here's to the next one!

I'm so glad that you made this video for those who were unable to make it for the drydock tour. I did get to do in person tour, however, this will preserve the tour for future generations.

This was wonderful! I wasn’t able to make it out for a dry dock tour, but this makes me feel like I wasn’t left out. Thank you so much for doing this one - I know it had to have taken a lot of your very valuable time.

What struck me first and foremost was the propeller work. You'd talked so much about the paint and through hull openings, (granted, a VERY valid concern) but the only thing I recalled about the propellers themselves were seeing them rather grayish (I worried it was corrosion) at the start, a look at a nick in one prop when you and Drachinfel were talking vibration concerns, and then once you'd raised enough money to box the shafts. We sort of SAW the progression, but I don't recall you ever actually TALKING about that work (other than seeing if there was a problem with them striking bottom and maybe having to be removed)

Took a tour the very first day they were available, took another the next to last weekend before she left. Magnificent work everyone !

I could not be more appreciative, you guys made this. Someday when I'm not a poor I'll donate and probably even visit. You guys are truly valuable.

Ryan, the voulnteers and workers aren't only preserving New Jersey's history, you're part of the history that you're still literally writing.

Got in the last day, met you Ryan, and Jason was our guide. I’m mad I waited but glad i got in. From the son of a USS Saratoga CV-60 fireman, thank you!

Mom "Why are you acting high?!?" Me: "Ryan Szimanski told me to huff this!!!"

I had my tour on May 19th. One of the most amazing experiences of my life!!! I bought a zinc anode as well!

Just fantastic Ryan. Thank you, and the camera operator for an amazing tour of Battleship New Jersey.

I have not cried so much in the last 20 years as the last 30 days. I lost my beloved dog Layla of 17 years. She was a beautiful brown/red dachshund. I remember bringing her home so small and weak. She was my every day routine for 17 years. Every sad video sets me crying. Don't be sad it's over, smile because you have a lifetime of memories to cherish. RiP Layla, but long live BB-62 and long live her sister ships.

I got to do a tour, and it was an outstanding experience. As to her size, look at a picture of NYC's skyline; standing on her keel, the Big J would be the 29th tallest skyscraper.

this is an amazing video and I hope more things like it come after it. It may come as a shock to some people, but an overwhelming majority of people wont be able to go see a museum ship, in or out of the water. videos like this give more people than could ever come see the ship in person a chance at the experience.

Following from waaaay down here in New Zealand. Came close to coming up for a tour but dates coincded with ankle surgery so not mobile. It has been a pleasure to follow this process on line. As I am 66 years old, for sure I will not be around for another dry docking of the New Jersey. Thanks to Ryan and the crew for enabling this experience. I fully aim to make a trip in the next year or two for a tour of this amazing warship. It would be great to meet you in person Ryan.

Awesome, thanks for letting us ride in the cheap seats! Will have to visit the gift shoppe

Thanks for the vid Ryan, unable to visit her while in drydock sucks, but your videos filled the gap. she will outlive us all!

Well done Ryan, thanks for taking such great care of our treasure. With you and your team at the helm, she will be around for generations to come, again we'll done and Thanks!! Long live the Battleship USS New Jersey BB62!!

From Australia, Ryan to you and your team, you let us all in to experience the rejuvenation of a true icon of the US navy. For the next 30 years the ship is well preserved due to your efforts and dedication.

Too funny about the stairs and getting in shape. I can almost hear the old girl sigh with relief that her buddy the river water will be supporting her soon (Already has been for a few days as of the posting of this video). Good video, thanks for sharing.

I too am super excited to see this. I worked on crab boats in Alaska and have worked on the very boats I fished on in drydock so I can relate with the feeling of scale and excitement to see it in person. Now I have kids, and work on the land full time and couldnt make it out to see the New Jersey as much as I wanted to. Thank you all for documenting this proccess in such detail. Nothing beats the sounds and smells of a shipyard. Needle guns, oxyacetelene torches and absolutely the strongest smelling paint imaginable.

I went on a tour, to get the full experience you need to also hear 15 planes taking off as well!

Any ship can serve as a mine sweeper once 31:52

Libby, great job of schlepping after the Boss. You are our favorite schlepper! 😂

So thankful that you had done a video of the drydock tour for everyone to enjoy & to document the overall work. I think the drydocking has been an experience for everyone to learn something. What an awesome experience!

My tour was on the last weekend so no banging or paint smell, and the dock was mostly dry, but the jet noise every 2 minutes and being out of breath by the time you get to the top of the caisson were part of the experience. The sound of the water coming in around the caisson was also pretty loud. I thought the propellers would be the most impressive things to stand under but it was the rudders and the bow that made me feel small. Went over to take pictures of the JFK and the carrier just didn't seem as big as it usually does after standing under the battleship, and speaking of jets half my pictures have them in the background, they really are a constant presence. When are the T-shirts that say "Two part cold bonded polysulfide sealant" going on sale? 😁 Someone needs to donate a steadicam for Libby.

Ryan is awesome...I love it when he pauses between thoughts...I like to imagine that his mind working like a 90's computer....processing, processing.....

I liked the block with the spray paint smiley face...

Fun fact - the drydock was filled with Ryan's tears. It's been a great adventure!

This is the perfect curtain call to such an amazing process. Great job by Ryan and the entire BB62 Team!

This is really cool of you guys to put up on RU-vid. Thank you!

So Lucky to have Ryan,He loves this ship.beautiful machine given its purpose.

You’re a legend Ryan! Your Love for what you do is contagious!

Outstanding, just what I asked for!

We get a Ryan guided tour woohoo.

This is so interesting Ryan, as are all your episodes. I look forward to every update. The amount of paint used is unbelievable!

Thank you for this video. Sadly time & money prevented me from getting over to the USA to see New Jersey in dry dock. I know what you mean about seeing a ship in dry dock gives a real impression of the size of a proper big ship - I saw RMS Queen Elizabeth on the ways shortly before she was launched, mind blowing to say the least.

A labor of love is worth spilling a tear or ten.

Thank you for making this vid. Doing a dry dock tour was out of the question for me, distance being the biggest problem. I live in the U.K.! However, we got a Curator's Tour. All the better!

I'll bet you're loving the guy that decided to remove the elevator!

Thank you! No way could I get out there so curator's tour? Perfect!!!

Hard to understand how you managed to contain your emotions while doing this video. A once in a lifetime event most likely not to be seen again by anyone watching this today. Outstanding event by the entire crew you have there. Try to get all the workers to sign a poster to keep on board.

If you would have cried I would have understood why, got to be a great time seeing her get out of drydock and knowing all the other ones are in good enough shape to not be there! Good job to your team and the dock workers who got it done!

Thank you- I have family in New Jersey and really wanted to make the trip but couldn't make the trip out due to work requirements and greatly appreciate your sharing this once in my lifetime event.

Well done Ryan!

Thanks for a great walking tour of the dock Ryan. You've done a fantastic job of covering the whole dry docking project so well - your coverage will live on through the years. Thank you.

Enjoyed the video tour. Thank you. Ryan, I hope you realize that you are now part of history for ever!!

Thank you Ryan. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. As a big gun warship nerd, this for me is one of the best things I have ever seen.

I'm curious about what types of creaks, groans or "oil canning" noises occurred during filling, draining or just sitting there dry. I'm sure if you're down there working beneath the ship, such noises would send a shiver up your spine. I know it would me!

Such a beautiful place. I will visit here one day. I am speaking from Bangladesh 🇧🇩

Bravo Zulu to Everyone involved ! Ryan , the shipyard, those that donated/took the tours for the extra work...Job well done !

Great video, I've been watching daily and this was a great way to Finnish the series. Thank you and God bless America!

Excellent showing of the proper way to grip a stair rail when descending. HS&E must love you. Now that things are all over, it would have been interesting if someone had "rung" the hull while she was dry. Basically take a 5# hammer and smite the hull at diffeent places so we could here the difference in sound between the various thickness and types of steel. Maybe someone recorded such sounds when they were checking rust depth or something. Finally, perhaps for a future look at the bottom of the ship you might have someone do a rendering of just that the water chests would have looked like before being blocked over. I saw one in a video but there are many more.

Nice video tour Ryan. 2 of my daughters and myself took the tour on Saturday May 18th complete with mud. It was pretty quiet and most, if not all the hull painting was completed. Our tour guide said how noisy it was during pressure washing. The only area we couldn't go into was the Holland Tunnel, there were lifts in there and welding going on. Pretty cool being able to see her in the drydock !!! Adding ..... I saw a pallet of aluminum anodes by the tour orientation building and noted one that had a bunch of signatures on it.

She looks good!

Its great to see the ship in such good hands and a lot of care has been taken to make her last as long as possible. Thank the crew doing the paint for me. They did a beautiful job!

Thank you for this virtual tour, I truly appreciated it. And a nice historic record to add to your collection of a pretty rare event. One thing I'd like to know: disregarding the practical implications of pancaking versus corrosion, and of course cost, would Ryan prefer New Jersey permanently displayed in a dry dock or floating? In a dry dock you get to see all of her and truly see her scale, but floating is her 'natural' state.

There's still riveting teams on the Great Lakes because there are ships older than New Jersey still in active service. Fresh water means less corrosion, so it's not uncommon for ships to last 50+ years, where on salt water they might last 20-30.

Thanks for the tour Ryan! My legs are so glad I did the tour this way!

So clean looking up close.... it's like a model!

Very good reason to hold off on the release. Thank you for sharing after the process was finished. Keep up the excellent work you and your team are doing!!

Thanks for the tour. It added a lot yo the physical size of the ship and the huge scope of the work done. Now that said, I wish to point out that it was never the plan to use battleships and cruisers to as mine sweeper. The paravane gear was a defensive system that was deployed in areas that there was a suspicion of mines that had not been swept. The Idea was that the mines mooring cables would be caught by the paravane lines which would pull the mine down and push out away from the hull and may also drag it out to a cable cutter on the paravane line. A ship running without the gear deployed may miss a direct bow on mine strike to have a near missed mine sucked against the hull further down the side where it would do much more damage. I can't give chapter and verse on this, but I have read statements to the effect that, "Our orders would be taking use through an area that may have been mined , and we were to deploy the paravanes while cruising."

Thank you Ryan -- great job to you and all the team as well as the dry dock crew and contractors - -beautifully done

As someone that couldn't make it all the way there for the tour in person, thanks for sharing this! Listening to some of the issues you had and trouble figuring out some things I'm sure you're going to be leaving better documentation ( and video even! ) for those that take care of the ship in the future.

That was some trippy cinematography! I approve.

Wished that I had the time to do this tour of New Jersey. Had the honour and privilege of visiting USS Missouri and USS Alabama in Pearl Harbor in December 2023.

The live tour was amazing. Thank you sending this out, too. Great work, Ryan and team.

beautiful ship regards from england

Thank you so much. As someone that has watched this channel since the beginning. It hurt that I couldn’t feasibly fly out there and accommodate my self to witness such a beautiful ship What a rare moment Thank you for everything you and your museum have done You’ve ignited my sense of wonder

THANKS FOR THIS Ryan!!! I wish battleship Texas had videos like this.

You didn't call it "freeboard" I'm proud of you! Great job on the drydocking and the videos, Ryan. Best of luck with the rest of the restoration and upgrades.

Shafts props, zincs look real good.

Bravo Zulu Ryan, to you and your team!! Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

"Besides, ANY ship can serve as a mine sweeper... once." LOL

Great finale to a wonderful series. Thanks!

When you put coins under the mast you should include a challenge coin from the new submarine New Jersey.

Awesome the walk along, and great camera work to show what it would have been like to be there. Medical and money made it impossible, so really cool video!

Well done ❤ I really enjoyed the tour.

Ship looks great Ryan! Good job! Thanks for this video tour of the drydock-really informative. Cudos to all who had a hand in the process! And thanks for the random bits of humor!

Thanks for keeping her preserved.

Next time Ryan gets craned in and out of the drydock. LUL Thank you for the tour.

Thank you for doing this, I had other committments that prevented me from visiting.

What an awe inspiring sight, certainly would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this in person 👍

Excellent Ryan, Thanks, Lane

"Any ship can serve as a minesweeper once". Of all the variations of this joke I've heard, this is the best.

Did the tour in late April,loved it.Shes in good hands

Did the tour June 1st awesome experience thank you guides

Well done, Ryan and Crews! Do Curators get ribbons and medals? You have earned a Dry Docker with Gold Corn Husk device ... 😂 Thank you for bringing us RU-vid fans along.

Love this channel. Great job, Ryan!

Thank you for this video Ryan. I wanted to do one of the tours, but being wheelchair bound put a wrench in that plan

I'm not a math expert but I do want to help out my favorite curator. I'm sure Ryan had his hands full. Heck maybe I'm wrong. But 3000s of an inch would be .003. But a millimeter is 1/26 of an inch so I believe the thickness of paint would be .118 inches :)

Those props look brand new.