Aloha to the USS New Jersey (Part 3)

From USS New Jersey's Twitter Feed (link)

My son's scout troop stayed aboard the Battleship New Jersey the night before the snow.   It was too windy to raise the flag on deck in the morning.  So they jumped right into breakfast!

Hubby took pictures throughout the overnight encampment, trying to find the perfect images for this blog.  

The ship's silver is locked up ... 

.... while the china set is more accessible.

Gotta love the art work!

Each hallway is labeled in this fashion ...

... and here's the translation!

Thank you, Battleship New Jersey, for your distinguished service!  I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about working aboard a ship - what would be your job?  I'd like to be Julie the cruise director from The Love Boat!

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 20, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 21.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Battleship New Jersey in the morning sun ...

Aloha to the Battleship New Jersey (Part 2)

Battleship New Jersey
Public Domain (link)

Continuing the scouts' overnight encampment aboard the Battleship New Jersey, from it website,

BB62 was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and launched December 7, 1942- just a year after the Pearl Harbor Attack brought America into WWII.  

The USS NEW JERSEY (BB62) was actually the second ship to be called “NEW JERSEY”, the first being BB16, a turn of the century (19th century) battleship. The first Battleship New Jersey (BB-16) was a Virginia class pre-dreadnought that served from 1906 until she was sunk as a bombing target in 1922. She sailed with the Great White Fleet and served her country in World War I as a training vessel.

NEW JERSEY was decommissioned on February 8, 1991 in Long Beach, California and later towed to Bremerton, Washington where she resided until heading home to New Jersey. She was officially stricken from the Navy list on February 12,1995 but was then ordered reinstated by an order of congress as a mobilization asset under Bill 1024 section 1011.

 

On January 4, 1999 NEW JERSEY was again stricken from the Navy list and IOWA replaced her as a mobilization asset. On September 12, 1999 NEW JERSEY began her Final Voyage home from Bremerton, where she had rested in mothballs for the last 8 years. On November 11th, she arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Since that time, she has been restored, opened and established as an educational museum and a tribute to the brave sailors who served on her during her long and distinguished career. The Battleship New Jersey opened as a Museum and Memorial in October 2001.

This is the panel which allows the crew to turn the ship around .... hands off!

The guide reminded the scouts to obey "no entry signs" ...

... lest the scouts fall several stories down the rabbit hole.  It has a long ladder to allow sailors in the lower levels of the ship to escape quickly to safety.

 Time for lights out ... but not in the officers' quarters!

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter from this week's posts.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about ships - have you visited any or cruised on any?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 20, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 21.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to the Battleship New Jersey - Part 1

My son's Scout Troop stayed overnight on the Battleship New Jersey.  From Wikipedia (link),

USS New Jersey (BB-62; "Big J" or "Black Dragon") is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the US state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships, and was the only US battleship providing gunfire support during the Vietnam War.

Black Dragons in the gift shop ... 

During World War II, New Jersey shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids in the Marshall Islands. During the Korean War, she was involved in raids up and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet". She was briefly reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam to support US troops before returning to the mothball fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned for service. In 1983, she participated in US operations during the Lebanese Civil War.

Battle ribbons

New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991 (after serving a total of 21 years in the active fleet), having earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam and 19 battle and campaign stars for combat operations during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the Persian Gulf. After a brief retention in the mothball fleet, she was donated to the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New Jersey, and began her career as a museum ship 15 October 2001.

 

The Scouts descend upon the floating museum.

The scouts learned to walk backwards down the stairs into the mess hall.

Anchors Aweigh!

Glad to see the ship hosted a library ...

... and a chapel!

The scouts ate dinner in the Enlisted Mess Hall ... all American chicken nuggets with mac and cheese.  

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter from this week's posts.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about New Jersey - what do you know about the Garden State?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, September 20, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, September 21, at SOS Aloha, sosaloha.blogspot.com.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City