I enjoy the opportunity to visit ships, whether they be on the water, in port, going out on tours, acting as a local museum, etc. Although I have been on a number of ships, I had yet to go under a ship – until this month (May 2024), when I had the amazing and unique opportunity to don safety gear (a hard hat, steel-toed boots, and I already wear glasses) and tour the Battleship New Jersey (https://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/) while in dry dock (see WHYY article for details).

The USS New Jersey (BB-62) has a long and fascinating history (see the Naval History and Heritage Command website for text and photos, as well as the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial website). Originally commissioned in May 1943, this ship has served in battles from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and even in the Persian Gulf. This ship was decommissioned, recalled to duty, and then decommissioned several times – but for the fourth and final time in February 1991. This is when the ship became a museum and is docked in Camden, New Jersey, across the water from where the ship was originally built in the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Dry Dock Number 3.

The tour did an excellent job balancing the history of this ship with the actual work being done to restore and preserve the ship. In addition to a fresh coat of paint, there are 1,200 sacrificial anodes being replaced, repairs to hole covers, and more. The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial has been doing an excellent job on their YouTube page documenting the two+ month process – be sure to check out their YouTube playlist!

Here, I have a slideshow of images that can’t fully capture the scale of this 887-foot-long ship, or some of the fun facts (apparently, the ship was fixed at 108 feet wide when it was built, so that it could fit through the Panama Canal (which is 110 feet across)). It was amazing to see these features, to learn about the specific paint used, etc.

But this Battleship also has a special story that has nothing to do with its military history – it’s a story of when a boyfriend/girlfriend became engaged!

In 2003, I did a 3-day, 50-mile walk for MS in Philadelphia. On the last day (only 10 miles!), we went by ferry from Philadelphia across the river to Camden, NJ, where the ship was docked and open as a museum. Us walkers got to go on the ship, get a finishers t-shirt, then were led to the neighboring baseball stadium, Campbell’s Field, by a Mummers band to end the walk. My then-boyfriend was waiting in the stadium for me to finish the walk – and he proposed right when I finished the walk! Thank you USS New Jersey for being part of a very special day, and allowing us to now see this amazing restoration work!