Dry Docking New Jersey: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 

Lol

That was from when it was mothballed and boaters could get near it.

In this video it's explained that sign was for when the ship was mothballed. It's irrelevant during the refitting and drydock period. Woah, cameradood is such a badass. 🙄

No photography allowed in the shipyard except by authorized personnel

Excuse me, but may I have that camera... Those two gentlemen with the trenchcoats and sunglasses would like to have a word with you... Lol.

As a kid, my dad was a sonar tech at LBNS, and I grew up climbing around in those drydocks and aboard the ships. Sadly dad retired in 1980, too soon for me to get to see the Iowas come thru there...

The best way to be covert is to be overt! I've often used the high-vis vest, hard hard, and clip board approach to go places I shouldn't be 🤣

@@capnthepeafarmer Totally!!! A shipmate and I did a sightseeing trip to DC once in about 92... We had an idea we might not be allowed, but we walked into the Pentagon, flashed our navy IDs and sauntered right in. We wandered a couple rings in when about 15min later multiple security guards ran up to us and rechecked IDs, at which point we were escorted out. "What do you mean we cant be in here, we're in the military...". That didnt help!!🤣 Its almost funny how many places you can go if you just look like you belong and act as if you do!!!🤣

In Almaeda, where they keep the Nuclear Wessels? Its across the bay...in Alameada. Nuuucleeeaaaar Wessels?

Da, Pavel !

She docked not long ago. Watched the livestream. I think Ryan is there or at least was for the leaving.

Thanks for that ! I was just about to ask if it happened. Now I have a whole live stream to watch. Thanks for the info.

I know how impractical it would be, but I hope it’s possible one day for ships like Texas and New Jersey (and really all the other museum ships) to have their mooring be something like a giant pool. A structure where the museum can maintain the water quality, and not be beholden to whatever happens to be flowing down a river or up the estuary depending on which way the tide is going

Glad to hear they're fixing her up. Sorry she won't be back to San Jacinto... I have fond childhood memories, probably my favorite outing as a kid. Might have had something to do with my 30+ year Navy career lol. I would still stop by as an adult any time I drive between CA and FL.

hopefully she goes to corpus wth the other ships down there

I know that the North Caroline and the Wisconsin both used their paravanes in WWII.

Your timestamp got goofed up. I hope someone fixes it.

4:35

9:19 gives a better view

@@pedzsan Fixed it, thanks.

yep, somebody also commented that those holes were cut into the hull to sandblast and repaint inside the tanks down there. Good comment. ☺

I went as well in a 6th grade field trip from Tachihowa AFB and we toured the Coral Sea Aircraft carrier moored alongside. My teacher Ms Belue was dating the Capt of the Coral Sea. We toured the ship will she toured the Capts quarters!

@@deepseadweller687 My father served aboard the Coral Sea from 1964 to 1967 as the Chief Supply Officer. Visited that ship many times when docked in Alameda

Russ, I was on the Missouri in the 1980's and remember one encounter with a Marine boot. Gunny would come up to our gun shack and talk with the petty officers and chiefs from our turret ( 3). Well one day a Marine boot shows up at the door and first thing he said " Gunny, what are you doing up here with these guys? They will do nothing to help you because they will be safely miles off shore." I was expecting gunny to jump on him for disrespecting and talking down to gunny and us, but he did not. Gunny simply sat there and looked down that boot: " You better respect these men because they can and will save your ass. I was in Nam when Charlies had us backed to the sea on the beach no where to go. Out of arty range, no air cover and we needed help or get over run. The radio man was on the radio screaming for help and we heard gunny yell " GET DOWN AND NO MATTER WHAT DO NOT LOOK UP." A few seconds later we heard loud noises overhead and felt the earth shake. When we looked up after it stopped there was no more jungle or Charlie left. It was the Jersey off the coast and out of sight that fired 2 16 inch broadsides. These men can save your ass I I do not want to hear you disrespect them again, understand?" Boot: " Yes gunny." Gunny: " Now what do you want?" Boot: " The captain wants to see you." The thing about that was years later I was at the VA for an appointment when a Marine and army types were debating each other who had the biggest guns back in the 1980's. As they went along I would just chuckle and they would look at me. This went on for about 15 minutes when: Army: " What are you laughing about?" Me: " You two telling each other you had the biggest guns in the military." Army: " And what branch were you in?" (being pretty cocky) Me: " Navy." Army: " You have no dog in this fight, navy only has 5 inch guns." Me: " Ok, what ever you say." Army: " What did you do in the navy?" Me: " I was a 16 inch gunnersmate on the battleship Missouri. Now what were you saying about the army and Marines having the biggest guns and I have no dog in this fight?" The other vets just laughed as it was checkmate on both the army and Marine. The odd thing though was the army guy said in the first Gulf War his ass was saved by a broadside from a battleship.

​@samuelschick8813 , Funny, and Great memory and Thank you for your gallant service. I love Battleships, but, have never seen one. I hope to go to Philly to see the New Jersey while she is drydocked. I personally think it was a mistake not to have at least 2 Battleships in active service at all times. The Montana Class should have been built in my opinion in a modern fashion but include 2 turrets with 3 - 16 or 18" barrels each in the bow and use the rear turrets space for other kind of weapon systems. Just my opinion.

I did a little cruise on the Peleliu in 1994, I was in the Marine Corps and was stationed in Hawaii at the time, they pulled into Pearl Harbor we got on and sailed to Singapore, when we left there we were told that we were needed in Somalia ASAP, took CH-46 back to Singapore to get flight to Diego Garcia...... there was no connecting flight to Somalia, so we sat on the beach and jet skied and drank beer until the Peleliu was within range of a 46 to pick us back up..... fun times.... eventually made it to Somalia to spend a few months until the pull out was finished....... Loved it, great times

Do you remember " building 5"?

@@samuelschick8813 Sure do, "headquarters" where all the Captain department heads hung out!

@@timspence3597, LHA 5.

@@samuelschick8813 USS Peleliu. My first evolution as Docking Officer was to undock USS Tarawa LHA-1, what a nightmare, thought that would be my first and last evolution. As the dock was being flooded for lift-off, their DCA came over and gave me a new liquid load, which was significantly different than what they had given me a couple days earlier for stability calcs. It would have taken several hours to recalculate and I would probably have lost the high tide window. I decided to continue because it would have delayed the undocking several days for the correct tide to exist and you really don’t want to re-land the ship only as a last resort. Well, as soon as the ship started to float, it heeled over to port and kept heeling over as the water level rose. I sent one of my under-instruction officers over to watch the deck edge elevator, which was fully down and could not be operated, for clearance as it overhung the drydock wall. There was a large mobile shipyard crane on the flight deck, so I had one of the riggers drive it over to the starboard side of the deck opposite of the elevator hoping that would offset some of the heeling. I slowed the flooding and listened as he called out the clearance. At 6” above the wall, it stopped heeling and continued the undocking without further incident. Need less to say, when the shipyard commander found out, he reemed the Tarawa CO a new one. My second evolution was the New Jersey docking, which went smoothly except for the PCO (prospective commanding officer, a rear admiral-select, told me to stop the entry into the drydock so he could get off the ship and didn’t want to wait until it was on the blocks and a gangway was installed. Since Navy Regs clearly states as soon as the stern crosses into the drydock, the Docking Officer owns the ship, not the CO. There was no way I was going to stop the ship entering the dock, so it was my first and only time to tell a flag officer NO! Pretty gutsy for a young Lieutenant but I was just following Navy Regs!

@@timspence3597, Best one I saw was a chief tell a Lt. "Fuck you sir!" in a rather loud voice. Now the details. We moored out to take on ammo and our chief made a deal/bet with us. He said if we had our rounds and powder onloaded and stored properly before turret 1&2 we would get a day of liberty when back pier side. Chief did not try to stump us up and had the barges coming fast. Now an onload for a battleship 16 inch guns takes 3 days. Well we finished our onload in 2 days working from 0600 to 2300, we wanted that liberty. Yes we beat the other turrets by 1 full day and spent the rest of the time working on the turret. So we get dockside after knock off but quarters the next am is when it started. There we are at quarters and chief tells us those who do not have duty can hit the beach after quarters. Then along comes our Lt and starts handing out work assignments. Chief told him the deal he made to no avail. Lt said these jobs had to be done today. Chief asked us as a favor to him to stay and work so we did. Come quarters the next day chief says if no duty hit the beach after quarters. Once again here comes out Lt with job assignments that cannot have to wait and have to be done today. ( both days they were bull shit jobs). Once again chief reminded Lt of the deal and he owed us a day off, again to no avail. Again chief asked us to stay as a favor to him, we did. Now the 3rd day at quarters and chief says if not on duty hit the beach after quarters. Along comes Lt and once again hands out work assignments that cannot wait and have to be done that day. Chief: " Lt, I promised the men a day of liberty when we got back in for their hard work. I asked them the last 2 days to stay and work as a favor to me." Lt: " I don't care chief. These jobs have to be done today." Chief faces the Lt: " Fuck you sir!!" Chief turns to the division: " G3! Attention!! DISMISSED HIT THE BEACH!!! If you have duty standby." Those not on duty went down changed and hit the beach. Lt stood there with dropped jaw that an enlisted man told him " FUCK YOU!!". Nothing ever happened to chief over that. After the Missouri was decommed I went to ships reunion in Pearl where I ran into my old division officer ( LCDR) and told him that story. He said he never heard that story and if the Lt started paperwork on our chief he would have stopped it. Lcdr said our Lt was a real prick and non of the officers liked him. Said he wished he was there to see our chief put out Lt in his place. Chief earned our respect even more than he already had. We would have followed that man to the gates of hell no questions asked. I learned as an NCO you take care of those under you and stand up for them. Don't ask them to do anything you are not willing to do. But I admit I did at times wonder about O's coming out of the academy. We did a dependents cruise out to Santa Catalina and back so took my wife on it. Standing above the 5"38's there was an officer to our left with a woman. Officer pointing at the 5"38" twin mount: " Those are the 16 inch guns." Damn it was hard to bite my tongue but I did. I always wanted to ask him if those were the 16 inch guns then what are the guns forward of the bridge and aft of the superstructure. LOL

Yup same saw USS Cassin Young in Boston drydock about 10 years ago. Much smaller ship maybe not the same impressiveness but up there. Saw the damage to the hull, "old scars" from the Kamikaze attack. Impressive.

I was stationed in Yokosuka and still recall last time I saw the Midway there was of her in drydock. While I never got a chance to take a closer look, I was still impressive to see a full sized carrier high and dry. We're talking early '85.

Not a one upsmanship story here. I reported aboard USS Saratoga in dry dock at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1982. A few months later USS Iowa appeared in the dry dock across the pier from Sara. To see the first super carrier commissioned (USS Forrestal CVA-59 actually was built in a different shipyard and was commissioned 1-2 months after Saratoga CVA-60) next to Iowa sitting on blocks side by side was a highlight of my 9 years on active duty.

as an aside Tarawa is destined to be used in a SINKEX this summer at the annual RIMPAC exercise,,,,

There was a video I saw a few months back where Ryan goes into the chain locker and a few other spots showing that stuff ✅️ It definitely would be very deadly tp have a chain made up of thousands of pounds of ⛓️🔗 flying past your brain container.

...Putting your hand on a propeller and looking up is also a viewpoint that you will not easily forget.. as is seeing a waterline 3 stories above you rather than 10 feet below you. Most people never realize when looking at a ship that 2/3 to 3/4 of the ship is actually below the waterline and thus not seen.

Yeah I’m never walking underneath a battleship in dry dock… Not for all the money in Texas

@@Whitpusmc There are dozens and dozens of keel blocks under the ship. Problem is you have to walk hunched over and it's really hard on the back since the average keel block with wood form on top is maybe five and a half feet tall

@@ytlas3 I’m not saying it’s a rational thought, I’m just saying there’s no way I’m walking under that thing! Uh, yes I have a bad back so that’s why… yeah, definitely the back thing… 😅

@@Whitpusmc When I was working under her in dry dock one in 1987 doing a hull accountability project, my boss pointed out the caisson. He mentioned that if the caisson gave way, millions of gallons would come rushing through and push the New Jersey through the back of the drydock and halfway into Long Beach. He didn't have to point out what would happen to us. 😄

He also referred to the sand holes as sea chests. There are only four sea chests and they're directly underneath the ship. I've been to all four. When I was under the New Jersey hull in 1987, the sea chest were the only place I could straighten up. Walking hunched over under the ship is rough on the back

To be fair, I think he said feedwater for the evaporators, not the boilers.

My friends dad built the nimiz it was built by only 5 men and he was one of them he made the nukla ractor and built the propellor and also some of the planes too

The USS Chicago CG11 was in that drydock in 1973 and that is where I departed the Navy. Also, this is the drydock Queen Mary used before going on display just around the bend.

@@chrisjeffries2322 interesting, so much to learn about. Thanks for sharing!

True. I was board the USS Newport News, CA148 (heavy cruiser) in late 1969-early 1070 when she was in dry dock at the Newport News (VA) shipyard for a overhaul post VN cruise. Being new on aboard it was great seeing the whole thing. And yes, there was all sorts of work being done at the same time: such as welding. Spent a lot of time on fire watch as the welders worked a little between breaks. They were in no hurry to finish their jobs. :)

It was indeed a strange unforgettable experience.

Back in the 5-Knot Bob days! Hola! Shipmate!!! OI Division!