Thursday, January 13, 2022

USS New Jersey BB-62, East River NY 1948

 


13 comments:

  1. 16 (maybe more) tugs to move her?

    At least 20 crew standing around on the bow deck! A towing line breaks, they could be in a world of hurt.

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  2. Postwar photo of her mothballed, with her propulsion system shut down. Hence the many tugs required to shepherd her.

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  3. Looks like she had to remove the upper parts to fit under the bridge. What are those umbrella looking things?

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    Replies
    1. A quick Al Gore's interweb search came up with, "The "igloo"-like domes on the ship were placed over her anti-aircraft guns as protection from the elements."

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    2. The "'igloo'-like domes" were named mothballs for their resemblance to mothballs and, as well, for mothballs' preservative qualities. A ship (and sometimes also an aircraft) thus clad is said to be mothballed.

      The photo likely shows USS New Jersey on her way to tie up at what was then the Bayonne Navy Base where scores of mothballed WWII warships lay in storage.

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    3. Always wondered where that term came from - thanks!

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  4. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

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  5. You can see 13 Tugboat funnels in the photo and there at least 2 out front on the other ends of those tow lines.

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  6. When she came down the Juan De Fuca strait in '69 on the way to Bremerton I flew out and took photos. Fast forward 46 years, turns out my barber was Quartermaster on that voyage back then. I was able to share the photos with him.

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  7. Beaucoup photos here of USS New Jersey, including one of tugs nudging her toward Bayonne . . . : http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/62a.htm

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  8. she was then mothballed in Puget Sound at Bremerton but was long years later after further service.

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  9. Sister of The Big Badger Boat, BB-64 USS WISCONSIN!

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  10. The first of multiple such mothballings for the fightingest battleships that ever sailed the seas.

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