Battleship New Jersey moved from Camden to Paulsboro. It was a spectator sport.
For the first time in more than three decades, the Battleship New Jersey is on the move down the Delaware River.
Thursday was a big day for self-described naval history buffs and lovers of Big Ships.
At exactly 12:11 p.m., as the Delaware River reached a high tide exceeding six feet, four tugboats began to heave and ho the Battleship New Jersey, the famed World War II-era battleship-turned-museum.
“Dead tow, dead tow,” rang radio dispatch ushering in the feat of strength and calculus underway.
Four tractor tugs pulled the ship from silt deposits in its Camden dock, steered it in a U-turn, and towed “Big J” under the Walt Whitman Bridge to the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, where it will remain for about a week as it is prepared for dry docking.
The clear blue day marked the first time the battleship had been moved since 2001, and in a nod to its history, the 45,000-ton vessel is to be dry-docked in the same berth where it was built beginning in 1940 and launched on Dec. 7, 1942, one year after the Pearl Harbor attack thrust the United States into World War II.
“How cool is this?” asked Jim Crumlish, 71, in awe as the ship — the length of more than two football fields — was slowly turned and appeared to stretch the width of the river.
“[The Battleship New Jersey] nearly ties the entire river up.”
Crumlish was one of a handful of friends who took a small charter boat out on the windy day to get an up-close look of the move. He grew up sailing and his father was a naval officer who worked on New Jersey’s sister ship. His upbringing and love of history made him a de facto guide for his friends. He regaled them with stories of how the battleship was built in Philadelphia and mused how incredible it was that volunteers and history lovers had kept interest in the ship alive.
“Somebody in today’s generation can appreciate the architecture, the workmanship, and the complexity of something that is antique,” he said.
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The USS New Jersey entered service in 1942 and saw action during many conflicts, including World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It served in the Navy for about 50 years before being decommissioned in February 1991. It was turned into a floating museum in 2001.
After the Paulsboro stop, the decorated battleship will head across the river to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where it will undergo routine maintenance, repairs, and repainting for the first time in 32 years. The whole project is set to cost about $10 million with restoration work set to take at least two months.
The goal is to get the battleship back to Camden for Memorial Day and summer tourism traffic.
Tim Savage, 55, captain of Penn Yacht Charters, roped Crumlish and others into joining him to watch the move.
“It’s something else to do on the water,” he said jokingly, despite being very serious about finding the perfect vantage point so his wife could capture a photo of the tugboats flanking the ship.
Like Crumlish, Savage said he is passionate about sailing. He sold his home and moved onto a boat five years ago. No one had ever been so eager to get rid of their home, joked his wife.
Crumlish and his friends weren’t the only ones eager to watch the U.S. Coast Guard, Delaware State Police, Pennsylvania State Police and other agencies guide the battleship to its temporary berth.
Dozens of people gathered on the observation deck of Spirit of Philadelphia, a charter yacht, to take selfies and videos of the move. Attendees paid more than $100 for a two-hour cruise focused on the battleship.
The Camden waterfront invited a slew of military veterans with connections to the ship to watch. Freedom Pier in Gloucester City and Red Bank Battlefield Park were also open to the public for viewing, with hundreds of veterans and families with children braving the frigid air at the latter to snap a photo.
The Battleship New Jersey’s YouTube page also offered an alternative live stream for those at home.
The Walt Whitman Bridge closed to traffic around 1:30 p.m., as the battleship passed underneath. The ship’s move to Paulsboro was slated to take most of the day, wrapping at about 4 p.m.
Tyler Ward, 72, fondly known as the “marine boss” of Pier 3, but officially the owners’ representative, said taking a break from work to see the move on a charter was a no-brainer.
“There’s this epic event on the waterfront [and] I know someone with a boat,” she said, waving at another charter captain angling for a better view.
Ward and others said they plan on coming out again when the ship is moved to the Navy Yard.