USS NJ 1945 Yard Period: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 

I'm a professional photographer and have always appreciated the craftsmanship of the men who documented the war. I have carried large 8x10 inch sheet film cameras to the tops of buildings etc. (not an easy task) You have to respect the photographers of this era. I look forward to visiting the New Jersey very soon.

FYI. That little boat in the water at the aft end, is probably going around to record the drafts. Forward, Aft, and Port and Starboard. As you mention, the reason for the deck tracks. Taking draft marks at the start of the inclining, is typical.

Bought some teak from her recently.

Great information. One correction, the directors for the quad 40mm mounts were MK57's (instead of MK63's as mentioned in the video). The MK63 GFCS system was developed in the early 1950's for use with the 3"/50 caliber mounts which replaced the 40mm mounts. Other than that, really spot-on in detail. CDR Matt Wisniewski, USN (ret) - Prior Master Chief Fire Controlman

As someone who has not only never set foot on a vessel of this era but is also a crazy aviation nerd, it's amazing how "pointy" these ships are. Sure, aerodynamics are of minimal concern but seeing the utilitarian design approach of "we need it here, so here it goes" up close and is still damn cool. Even the videos covering the internal spaces, like the shell chute that comes out in the shower kind of blows my mind. Reminds me of the Nostromo and Firefly (maybe they took their design cues from WW2 naval vessels?)

USN life raft were alwasy struck down when pier side for a full maintenance check by the divisions in the Deck Department. The construction was a mix of balsa, balsam, cork and Kapok. Nested together they were a veritable sponge and would stay wet. Underway was no good time to try and unstack the stacks and pull maintenance, or to DX the waterlogged examples. Also, all the stores and water per raft could be replenished/refreshed. Pier-side was usually the only time The OppO and Deck DivO could ensure all the passed rafts were properly painted before being put back aboard.

This series is a great idea; I get a little of the same excitement from listening to these picture tours as I do from actually exploring a ship.

On the bow gun tub, It may have something to do with sea keeping. When the Forrestals were constructed, they had a pair of sponsons forward of the angled deck. But because the North Atlantic was so rough the sea was tearing them apart. So the Navy had them removed from the ships in the class except for Ranger. Since she was serving in the Pacific she didn't have the same damage as her sisters. So she retained them until her scrapping. Hope this helps.

About wood .vs. brass for bore protectors... Copper was a strategic metal, hence Brass and Bronze were only used where necessary and substitutes were used everywhere else!

It would really be great if all these pictures were available on the New Jersey’s web page.

Amazing photos. I really like the rare depiction of how much technology and professionalism was used back then. Very impressive.

I really dig the picture’s worth a thousand words idea. Great vid, as always

Ryan, the twin 20mm mounts have handle bars that stick out to each side to aid in swinging the heavier mount. In the first bow on shot, all the 20s forward of turret 1 are twin mounts. There are 2 more in the double mount area on the main deck next to turret 3.

Really loving this channel. Ryan's passion and enthusiasm is contagious and makes any topic no matter how mundane interesting. New Jersey is lucky to have him. When I get the chance to visit the states (live in Australia) will definitely have to come to Camden. The curator tour (If money allows) sounds like a must do!

From the inclination test, those actually look like standard railroad car trucks (basically two axels and a frame that pivot under the car) with enough wood blocking to make a stable platform for the weights.

Great work as always!

I really enjoyed the video! Please keep on with the series!

This is a great idea for a video series. Keep em coming! 👍

Great video with great photos...thanks and this would be an excellent series.

Of the many videos I have watched from your channel, I think this is my favorite.......Bravo

Another great video from the battleship. Thanks

I don't understand why your squinting as a tiny laptop screen, when you have a perfectly operational large screen on the same desk

This will be a great series Ryan, thank you for doing it.

love this Ryan....best wishes from Florida,Paul

Awesome video, thanks for sharing !!

Anxious to see the series continue...fascinating 😬

Wonderful pictures. Thank You 😊

I love this kind of stuff. I'd appreciate more before/after and then/now comparison photos.

Great idea!!! A series looking at photos and what they show us would be fantastic!!! Def gets my upvote!!! Whenever I see shipyard photos, I always spend time looking at all the details- cant wait for more!!!

Regardless of the particular content, what transpires out of your videos is your deep love and care for what you do and the ship. That's what I find most compelling about them, cause they reassure me that the ship is in the best of hands. Thank you for your work and I really hope they pay you enough.

Mercy me.... Please Please Continue this series of deep diving in old photos!!!!

Some additional items Ryan did not mention. The foremast was modified and the air search radar changed from the rectangular SK to the parabolic SK 1. The surface search set SG was moved from the pole mainmast on the aft stack to a topmast on the foremast. The pole mainmast on the aft stack was replaced by a tripod mast anchored to the aft edge of the aft stack. Signal halyards were fitted due to New Jersey's flagship role. A parabolic SP radar ( a height finder) was added to the tripod aft mast. Also, the inclination test was used to measure displacement along with stability.

The crane installed for working on Iowa's is still present at PSNS.

Thank you.

Love this idea. Some really great detail.

Ryan looking at photo "OOOH! OOOH!" I know the feeling well, when you discover something about what you're really interested in😄

Nice video! We saw the USS St. Paul in Bremerton, Washington in 1976 - she was tied up next to the USS Canberra, and the USS Missouri were all in the mothball fleet. We could not board the USS Missouri for they closed it to film part of the movie with Gregory Peck - MacArthur. We boarded Missouri a few years later but, you could only view the surrender and bow area. The Missouri still had all her 40 mm AA guns under the igloos. My dad who passed in 2017 at age 92 was on the USS Louisville CA 28 in WW2 from 1943-46. He was part of the (100) strong 20 A/A Division and the single mounts were changed out to the twin mounts. I often wondered why the Missouri and New Jersey had the modified upper bow area. Also, in the movie Officer and a Gentleman you can see Missouri and New Jersey in the background in Bremerton, WA.

The life rafts from under the catapult are on top of turret 3. Please keep up the picture review it is a awesome way to learn about the ship.

This is great! I would love to see these permanently posted on the museum website.

I believe some of the life rafts were in the next to last Pic toss stacked on top of turret #3 by the fold down wall gun director 👍😊..loved this vid, awesome trip to back in the day!

You really are a knife guy. I see that Opinel in the background. Lol!

great series!

I think a neat video/series would show the items you have found stashed on the ship. Be neat to see the oldest item you found or weirdest item you found on board the ship. I'm sure a ship like that there is all kinds of little places where sailors hid things or signed their names etc.

Nice video, with all the money this country has wasted, I would rather see it in having at least one Iowa class battleship still going. Like the Wisconsin that really had a lot of life left in it.

Liked the stacked carley floats on top of turret 3

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton performed an immense amount of work during the war. Battleships, destroyers, carriers, cruisers, if the Navy commissioned it, Bremerton worked on it.

I *love* this sort of research! Seeing the kit for the inclination test and realizing what it's for ... this would be heaven! I wish I could join in! BUT that being said ... I think the 20mm mounts on the port side (examined just after you went into the kill board) are singles at that point - the gap in the mount shield looks too narrow for a dual barrel mount. Although the angle isn't perfect, comparing it to the 20mms you looked at before you go into the intakes definitely seems to suggest this I think? Easiest way to tell is if you know the dimensions of that shield, you can then measure the distance of the gap for the gun elevation in the image, and compare that to the (known?) distance between the two for single and dual mount in Photoshop or similar.

I went to your FB page Ryan, submitted a picture, and FB made it disappear. This series will be great.

I like this new series. The various events & protrusions on the main deck were interesting to see.

When I was working on seismic retrofit of BART's Transbay Tube the fabrication photos (those that were saved) were a huge help to the engineering team. We would liked to have had more.

Have you ever made a video of all the celebrities or any other famous people that have been on battleship New Jersey?

This a Grrrrrrrrreaaaat Series! 🐯

excellent look at old photos and why I am a Patreon

18:18 A bussle of activity indeed. :) We see you Mr. leanin'-back-in-his-chair. We see you. :D

yes yes yes......we want more like this

I like analysis like this of the work on the ship over time. I notice that "A" turret still has its range finder when was this removed?

I live near Bremerton, and its raining, and the 20MMs are covered in the pictures. Figures

This guy has the BEST job ever.

Both Meas 22 and Meas 21 indicated all horizontal surfaces were to be in 20B Deck Blue. Earlier than was defined as any barrel of 1" bore or larger (which would include 40mm, naturally). BuOrd changed their rule and only required the top color on 3" or larger bore. Capital Ships played fast and loose with such regulations, as theses photos show.

As PSNS is now slated to have its "hammer head" crane torn down, are there any pics that you know of with that crane rendering services to the New Jersey while at PSNS? I have seen pics of the crane with the Arizona during that BB's last refit at Pier 6W, but don't know if it served anything more modern as it wasn't able to service any dry dock work.

3:16 Looks like a scary place to be of an anchor gets away from the crew.

In photo #3 at 11:55 there is visible yet another athwartships inclining weight track aft just forward of turret #3. Curiously in there are no such tracks on the main deck forward either ahead or astern of turret #1. I would think before they tried to incline the ship they would need tracks forward as well. But what do I know? GREAT IDEA FOR VIDEOS - Pictures worth a thousand words. I trust YOUR selections.

Curious as to why New Jersey initially got a curved bridge and why the squared bridge was then preferred?

Are there pictures on line of actual original construction of any or all of the 4 lowa class battle ship? It would be interesting to review from the keel lay down to christening float out.

Ryan the N.J. only had single 20mms on her in 1945 post overhaul at Bremerton ,check out ships drawings , in back of P.Stillwells N. J.book, also she was all in MS 21 as the Black Dragon called Navy Blue system MS 22 is Graded system 2 colors Navy Blue &Haze Gray on hull like her sisters post overhaul ,bow tubs by shields on the N.J. & Missouri were replaced ,in 1952 between their tours of Korea in 1951 &1953 ..

I'm really interested in the inclination test rig. It's an ingenuous set-up. I'm curious to hear what tests were carried out and if there is an offset applied for the test rig; it's additional weight on deck after all, or would an equal amount of equipment be removed before hand? Would having the turret rotated to 90 degrees be part of the test regime?

Ryan, I watch all your vids. Always interesting, informative and entertaining. BB-62's commission date (1943) is also mine. Q1. When did the New Jersey enter this 1945 yard work and how long did it take to complete? Q2. Did the NJ steam directly to the Philippines after this work or did it stop on the way for fuel/provisions? Regards from a SAC Cold War Vet.....

Should be a BuOrd drawing giving the shield dimensions for the single & twin 20s. The gap on the twin is wider than the single. It should be easy enough to scale on an overlay of the photo to see which shield is which.

Go back and look at the bow 20mm guns. If you look close at the mount on the left, or the starboard mount, even though the barrels aren't there you can see that it's a twin mount. So it looks like at least the 2 forward most 20mm mounts were twins.

The last time I was onboard the Wisconsin her bell that was under the antenna on the bow was made out of brass or bronze. I assume this was an after the war addition? Now that I think about it, that was the Kentucky I was on…

I could be wrong but, I’d assume that the weights are at a diagonal to serve as counter balance to keep the ship level while not conducting tests. This would seem to be the safest configuration to prevent catastrophic injury or damage if the locking mechanism were to break free and the weights were stored amidship.

Very busy deck & all business from those views.

I have heard that some crews of other ships having to abandon them had out of date or missing water and food containers. How often and who did the regular provisioning and checking of all emergency stores on lifeboats ?

One would hope that when they repainted these ships and the parts they stripped the old paint before applying the new color because, there's nothing worse and having the new paint chip and reveal old paint underneath and that looks bad.

do you have a video about the catapults on the fantail?

i would love......to see photos maybe from a drone side by side to these photos id love to see the comparison between what she looked like and what it looks like now....

Question. Last picture.. just before the aft 40mm gun tub and aft of the catapults, there's another set of tubs.. what is that? Director for the 40mils?

She is being painted in Measure 22 in these photos, she was painted in Measure 21.

Fasinating. Some of the 20mm are vissibly singles. Some of the 40mm appear to have no guns, perhaps an optical illusion. I think the missing life rafts in photo 5 are on top of turret 3 in photo 4.

The ships aircraft are not on board at this time in the photos, were they up graded at that time and if so, what aircraft were used after the up grade?

Ryan, where did you run across those photos? The National Archives?

I bet the kill board is still there. The hard part is bringing it to the surface!

At 10:20, there looks to be a traffic signal on the side of the tub. What is it, and what does it do? Thank you.

Should mention at some point that the white hats you see in the pictures are "swabbies", and the yard workers are "sand crabs".

Picture #2. What is the compartment with two levels of portholes, just under the gun director abreast the forward funnel?

Lots of Oxygen/Fuel cylinders shown, so some hot work was still being done.....

9:42 looks like m1 helmets in a rack on the exterior of the tub at the 8 oclock position.

What is the basket next to the 20mm mount for? It’s at 13:16 in the video.

I can only imagine what it would have been like to work on those ships during the yard period. If only they had taken pictures of what it would have liked when it was just brought into the yard for comparison.

did they sand that area down, because if they just painted over it you might be able to remove the upper layers of paint and reveal the old kill board

I hear him. "I want to see the picture of that one boat that was in a was and had sailors aboard"

You should do that one picture of the ship when its in the water!!!😬

Ryan- I am in total agreement with regard to pictures being a great way to see what got done!. I am sure you get tired of repeated questioons, my apologies…. The table that was used when Japan surrendered, do we know what became of it? Seems silly I suppose but what a thing that would be!

Any info on the number of tons painting the ship from blue to grey added? Sure some old paint is scraped off, but the ship must have painted 20 times over the years adding weight.

Isn't a ship of this size required to carry a bell forward and a gong aft for 'anchored in reduced visibility'?

Battleships keep the peace.

At 4:03 I heard, "It looks like a of poseurs out." Oh, hoses, both make sense.

I see Radar dishes ? Part of fire control I guess. I would like to know more about the different Radar systems.

👍👍

I notice in a lot of yard photos, whatever yard they are at, that it usually says " not for public view" or similar statement. I understand censoring during wartime so my question is... when would these photos been declassified?