Moving Big J | Scene Through the Lens

Journalists, unlike those who work in filmmaking, animation or video game design, don’t pre-visualize as much. We don’t create story boards as photographers did for classic photo essays in magazines like Life. However, planning is still a critical part of newspaper coverage, especially for scheduled news events.

Before the Battleship New Jersey was moved from its berth on the Camden Waterfront this week, I visited the current dock, consulted with officials from the World War II-era battleship-turned-museum, and reviewed Google Earth and Street Maps. Then I drove down along the Delaware River to see first hand.

My photo colleagues Jose F. Moreno and Tyger Williams covered the move from a ship in the Delaware River and from the shore in South Philadelphia, while Lauren Schneiderman handled the video. My assignment was Jersey side, and there were three views I knew I needed to capture: the departure ceremonies, the battleship passing under the Walt Whitman Bridge, and its arrival at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal.

I have photographed the New Jersey many times since it became a museum ship in 2001, but still I wanted to capture the excitement of veterans, naval history enthusiasts, and big ship aficionados expected at the event. After driving along the ship’s route, I realized the public viewing areas did not offer what I was looking for — since the best shots were from restricted, security-tight ports. So it took some phone calls and letter-writing to get permission.

On the day of the move, after covering the ceremonies and capturing the anticipated moment of the battleship turning in the river with spectators in view, I had to adapt when people moved past barriers onto the dock after the governor’s departure. No matter how much planning goes into making pictures — with or without storyboards — when things are developing and changing your proximity or premeditation doesn’t matter, you must adjust. So I moved back to the dock.

I decided I did not need the entire 887-foot long ship in my frame. But I did want to include other elements in what I anticipated would be the newspaper’s main news image for the story. I needed the spectators, the BB-62 number on the bow, the Philadelphia skyline, a tugboat, and, if I could, the waterfront’s other battleship, the Cruiser Olympia from the 1898 Spanish-American War docked across the river at Penn’s Landing. That last one didn’t work out. The tugs moved the New Jersey’s 45,000 tons faster than you’d think, and everything did not line up.

By the time I got through traffic leaving the dock in Camden and my escort at the Gloucester City Port got me under the bridge, the ship, moving faster than anticipated, was nearly at its destination. Abandoning the initial plan to capture it directly underneath due to the cluttered background of huge cranes on the Philadelphia Ports side, I ran further downstream, past dock workers pausing to admire the “Big J” as it passed.

The atmosphere at the Paulsboro Terminal was markedly tranquil compared to the bustling Camden and Philadelphia Waterfronts, as tugboats maneuvered the battleship against the dock, where it will be balanced over the coming week.

Then, back across the river to the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Expect more photos then, and again when the battleship is in dry dock for routine maintenance, repairs, and repainting, the first such work in 32 years. The entire project is expected to cost about $10 million, with the restoration work anticipated to last at least two months.

The goal is to get the battleship back to Camden for Memorial Day and summer tourism traffic.

Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: