The Battleship New Jersey is a historic warship in America that offers self-guided tours from 10am to 4pm and guided tours daily at 12pm. School groups, summer camps, and veteran groups can enjoy discounted group tours. Upon arrival, guests are advised to stop at the Visitors Center, which provides amenities such as a souvenir shop, café, lockers, educational videos, and restrooms.
The Iowa-class battleship earned an unprecedented 19 Battle and Campaign Stars for outstanding service during World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. There are four interactive tours available, including the Fire Power Self-Guided Tour, where visitors can explore five levels above ground and two decks below. Guides guide visitors through the journey, guiding them through the forecastle, ladders, bridge, and beyond.
The Battleship New Jersey is currently in the dry dock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for two months of maintenance, allowing the public to tour underneath the iconic vessel. Self-guided tour tickets can be used at any date and time, and visitors can board the ship daily from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. The museum also offers brief guided tours of the turret and engine room for free with self-guided tour tickets.
There are two options for guided tours: a guided tour ($225) or a guided tour with curator Ryan Szimanski ($1,000). Veteran discount tickets are available for $170. Guided tours run daily at noon and cost $40 for adults and $35 for seniors, children 12 and under, and veterans. Tours run 1.5 hours and can be purchased through the museum’s website for $225.
📹 A Walking Tour of Battleship NJ in Drydock
In this episode we’re taking the full drydock tour. To get your drydock merchandise: https://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/shop/ For …
Can the Battleship New Jersey be reactivated?
The decommissioned Iowa class battleships, which were previously considered for reactivation in the 1990s, were estimated to cost approximately two billion dollars to be reactivated.
How long does it take to go through Battleship New Jersey?
The Battleship New Jersey offers a tour guided by knowledgeable guides, showcasing its impressive weapon systems, Admiral’s and Captain’s cabins, Combat Engagement Center, Navigational Bridge, Wardroom, Forward Berthing, and more. The tour teaches about the ship’s critical role in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East, and why it was the most feared ship ever to stalk the seas. The cost is $20 per adult, $15 per senior or veteran, $12 per student/child, and free for active military or former USS New Jersey crewmembers. For those with difficulty managing the ship’s ladders, the Main Deck Tour is available, using pier elevators. The Fire Power guided tour is recommended for ages 18+.
How long will Battleship New Jersey be in dry dock?
Battleship New Jersey, the nation’s most decorated and largest battleship, returned to the Camden Waterfront after 12 weeks in dry dock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and several days at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal. Self-guided tours will be available daily from 10am to 4pm, with guided tours at 12pm daily. The Battleship was celebrated on the Pier and Promenade by Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia, featuring the B Street Band and Bruce Springsteen’s music.
Mascots, including the Philly Phanatic, Gritty, Swoop, Franklin, and Phang, greeted guests and introduced the new mascot, the Black Dragon. Games and face painters were set up on the Pier, while Dietz and Watson and Mission BBQ offered complimentary hot dogs and BBQ sliders. Food trucks, Traveling Taco, Red’s Food Truck, and Mister Softee, were also present on the Promenade.
Why is the battleship NJ moving?
The Battleship New Jersey, the Navy’s largest, fastest, and most decorated battleship, will be on the move for the first time since 2001 next spring. The ship will leave its berth on the Camden Waterfront for a two-mile journey across the Delaware to Philadelphia, where it was launched in 1942. The plan is to detach the battleship from its moorings and propel it south by tugboat to North Atlantic Ship Repair at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The 45, 000-ton vessel will be dry-docked in the same berth where it was built in 1940.
Is the battleship, NJ air conditioned?
The vessel offers both indoor and outdoor tours, with the option of air conditioning and heating inside. Visitors have the option of exploring the interior of the vessel for a portion of the tour or the entirety of it. Restrooms, designated as “heads,” are available on board the vessel. Among the facilities provided are an accessible restroom and changing stations. Parking is available on the vessel, and further details can be found on the PARKING page.
How much does it cost to go to the Battleship New Jersey?
The Battleship New Jersey offers a Fire Power tour, which takes guests five levels up and two decks below. The main deck features exhibits showcasing the 48 years in and out of service. Guides are available for questions and conversations throughout the tour. The tour also includes two guided experiences: an Engineering experience, allowing visitors to walk through engineering spaces, and a Turret II experience, allowing access to the lower portions of the gun turret and the plotting room. Tickets are available at the Battleship’s Ticket Office from 10am to 4pm, and can be purchased securely on the Blackbaud site.
Was the Battleship New Jersey recalled for service?
USS New Jersey was the only battleship recalled during the Vietnam War, recommissioned in 1968 and conducting frequent bombardments along the South Vietnamese coast. In 1969, she was ordered inactivated and decommissioned. The early 1980s defense buildup led to a fourth active period, with New Jersey firing big guns in combat during the Lebanon crisis and deployed to the western Pacific in 1986 and 1989-90. Decommissioned again in 1991, she was towed from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1999 and is now a museum in Camden, New Jersey.
Is the Battleship New Jersey back in Camden?
The battleship’s return to Camden represents a noteworthy deviation from its typical trajectory, as it had not previously relocated from the city.
What is happening to Battleship New Jersey?
New Jersey is scheduled to resume its permanent location on the Camden waterfront in June 2024, according to Brian J. Dickerson, a naval historian, author, and twice-deployed Navy veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
How much does it cost to get on the USS Constitution?
The USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship and a symbol of the United States, offers free tours of its historic facilities. Situated within Boston National Historical Park, the vessel serves to advance the United States Navy and America’s naval heritage through the implementation of educational outreach and historic demonstrations. In order to gain access to the vessel, visitors are required to present a valid federal or state-issued photo identification document, or passport. The ship is open to the public throughout the year.
Could Battleship New Jersey be reactivated?
The government’s decision to adopt a World War II-era museum approach has set a precedent, prompting inquiries into its future plans.
📹 Self Guided Tour Of The USS New Jersey
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Ryan, first let me say thank you. Thank you for your work to preserve the memory of the Navy I remember. I am a tin can sailor from the 70’s. I served aboard a Gearing class can home ported out of Philadelphia. My ship was dry docked in Philly in 75. To see the below water artistry of the design of a ship is always exhilarating to me. I love what you do to preserve the memory of our efforts to preserve this nation. I love perusal the articles you make and look forward to visiting the New Jersey someday. Again thank you! It helps me feel what I did has value.
I’m so glad my brother and I were able to make the drydock tour. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this great ship out of the water. Thank you to my beautiful wife for purchasing the tickets for us for my 60th birthday. Ryan looks like a proud father walking the New Jersey, and he should be. The contractors did excellent work on this project. Here’s to another 30 years Ryan and company! Long live BB62 the namesake of my home state, New Jersey !
this is an amazing article and I hope more things like it come after it. It may come as a shock to some people, but an overwhelming majority of people wont be able to go see a museum ship, in or out of the water. articles like this give more people than could ever come see the ship in person a chance at the experience.
I have not cried so much in the last 20 years as the last 30 days. I lost my beloved dog Layla of 17 years. She was a beautiful brown/red dachshund. I remember bringing her home so small and weak. She was my every day routine for 17 years. Every sad article sets me crying. Don’t be sad it’s over, smile because you have a lifetime of memories to cherish. RiP Layla, but long live BB-62 and long live her sister ships.
I too am super excited to see this. I worked on crab boats in Alaska and have worked on the very boats I fished on in drydock so I can relate with the feeling of scale and excitement to see it in person. Now I have kids, and work on the land full time and couldnt make it out to see the New Jersey as much as I wanted to. Thank you all for documenting this proccess in such detail. Nothing beats the sounds and smells of a shipyard. Needle guns, oxyacetelene torches and absolutely the strongest smelling paint imaginable.
Ryan! I had the pleasure of seeing New Jersey on 4/27! Flew in from Wisconsin and met up with a friend of mine who went on the tour with me. Now… a guy from Wisconsin would probably be more loyal to the USS Wisconsin, wouldn’t you think? Well I’m originally from Chicago – and though I have called Wisconsin home for over 20 years – the New Jersey is My Battleship. The reason is simple! Over the years I feel I have gotten to know New Jersey and her history better than any book or article could ever tell me. And that is all thanks to you Ryan! You have put the ship out there for all to see and the way you do it is kin to a good friend talking about a classic car he loves and has been taking care of for his whole life. Thank you for all you have done to document the history of this national treasure. You have done the State of New Jersey, its residents, and all those who have served aboard her – a great honor! Tom S.
My tour was on the last weekend so no banging or paint smell, and the dock was mostly dry, but the jet noise every 2 minutes and being out of breath by the time you get to the top of the caisson were part of the experience. The sound of the water coming in around the caisson was also pretty loud. I thought the propellers would be the most impressive things to stand under but it was the rudders and the bow that made me feel small. Went over to take pictures of the JFK and the carrier just didn’t seem as big as it usually does after standing under the battleship, and speaking of jets half my pictures have them in the background, they really are a constant presence. When are the T-shirts that say “Two part cold bonded polysulfide sealant” going on sale? 😁 Someone needs to donate a steadicam for Libby.
Following from waaaay down here in New Zealand. Came close to coming up for a tour but dates coincded with ankle surgery so not mobile. It has been a pleasure to follow this process on line. As I am 66 years old, for sure I will not be around for another dry docking of the New Jersey. Thanks to Ryan and the crew for enabling this experience. I fully aim to make a trip in the next year or two for a tour of this amazing warship. It would be great to meet you in person Ryan.
Nice article tour Ryan. 2 of my daughters and myself took the tour on Saturday May 18th complete with mud. It was pretty quiet and most, if not all the hull painting was completed. Our tour guide said how noisy it was during pressure washing. The only area we couldn’t go into was the Holland Tunnel, there were lifts in there and welding going on. Pretty cool being able to see her in the drydock !!! Adding ….. I saw a pallet of aluminum anodes by the tour orientation building and noted one that had a bunch of signatures on it.
Excellent showing of the proper way to grip a stair rail when descending. HS&E must love you. Now that things are all over, it would have been interesting if someone had “rung” the hull while she was dry. Basically take a 5# hammer and smite the hull at diffeent places so we could here the difference in sound between the various thickness and types of steel. Maybe someone recorded such sounds when they were checking rust depth or something. Finally, perhaps for a future look at the bottom of the ship you might have someone do a rendering of just that the water chests would have looked like before being blocked over. I saw one in a article but there are many more.
Thanks for the tour. It added a lot yo the physical size of the ship and the huge scope of the work done. Now that said, I wish to point out that it was never the plan to use battleships and cruisers to as mine sweeper. The paravane gear was a defensive system that was deployed in areas that there was a suspicion of mines that had not been swept. The Idea was that the mines mooring cables would be caught by the paravane lines which would pull the mine down and push out away from the hull and may also drag it out to a cable cutter on the paravane line. A ship running without the gear deployed may miss a direct bow on mine strike to have a near missed mine sucked against the hull further down the side where it would do much more damage. I can’t give chapter and verse on this, but I have read statements to the effect that, “Our orders would be taking use through an area that may have been mined, and we were to deploy the paravanes while cruising.”
What struck me first and foremost was the propeller work. You’d talked so much about the paint and through hull openings, (granted, a VERY valid concern) but the only thing I recalled about the propellers themselves were seeing them rather grayish (I worried it was corrosion) at the start, a look at a nick in one prop when you and Drachinfel were talking vibration concerns, and then once you’d raised enough money to box the shafts. We sort of SAW the progression, but I don’t recall you ever actually TALKING about that work (other than seeing if there was a problem with them striking bottom and maybe having to be removed)
As someone that couldn’t make it all the way there for the tour in person, thanks for sharing this! Listening to some of the issues you had and trouble figuring out some things I’m sure you’re going to be leaving better documentation ( and article even! ) for those that take care of the ship in the future.
Thank you for this virtual tour, I truly appreciated it. And a nice historic record to add to your collection of a pretty rare event. One thing I’d like to know: disregarding the practical implications of pancaking versus corrosion, and of course cost, would Ryan prefer New Jersey permanently displayed in a dry dock or floating? In a dry dock you get to see all of her and truly see her scale, but floating is her ‘natural’ state.
Thank you for this article. Sadly time & money prevented me from getting over to the USA to see New Jersey in dry dock. I know what you mean about seeing a ship in dry dock gives a real impression of the size of a proper big ship – I saw RMS Queen Elizabeth on the ways shortly before she was launched, mind blowing to say the least.
Question on the paint. If the Navy were to call NJ back to the colors, would they have to strip off the paint you guys applied and put on their own system of coatings? You mentioned that the paint the museum applied didn’t have an anti fouling additive, so if the ship were back in service, it would grow barnacles like crazy. However, the coatings you applied seem to be a better quality overall vs. what the Navy typically uses.
One movie idea for an Iowa would be part of a historical comedy based on the first part of another ship on escort duty firing on a new Iowa with FDR on her. Later the same ship fired on a lawn holding a party of Navy brass and finally sunk by a Zero she shot down that exploded under her. It would make a great Navy misfit film in a Mel Brooks style. The History is there so the script would write itself. Would love to see the battleship turn her guns in anger at a fellow Navy ship (a Fletcher BTW) while she orders her to leave the convoy. The guy playing FDR could even make his famous statement about it, “How could you miss, it is a Battleship” He was more upset with the miss than that he could have been killed by an unplanned live fire exercise as the third shot was live while one and two was disabled for the drill. Also the Navy’s famous response when she showed up on station any time later, “Don’t shoot we are all republicans”.
Around the beginning of the article, what was the thing at the top of the Holland Tunnel just before Ryan showed the center keel? 8:00 Was that the spot for the pitsword? I remember seeing a article about it and was trying to find it on this great article tour. Hate I couldn’t make it in person. I toured the ship back in the fall and it was an amazing experience!!
Thank you so much for the tour! I work at a navy yard PSNS and it is amazing to see that ship getting an overhaul and preservation. You asnd the crew have doen an absolutly fabulous job with the articles and work on the ship. I look fowards to being able to see the NJ some day and tell my kids about the articles as we walk about the museum. As we say “there is nothing dry in a dry dock”, My DD6 is 88 steps, and 7 years later I am still whipped out every climb out. youtube.com/watch?v=Umse02_XBg4.
I know this is sacrilege but why not remove the propellers and sell the bronze for as much as you can and use that for maintenance on the ship, let’s face it you can’t see them when she is back in the water and they will never spin again on beautiful New Jersey, I would think they are worth a lot of money
I LOVED MY BIRTHDAY DRYDOCK TOUR WITH YOU ON MAY 4TH! HOW MANY PAID TOURS DID YOU END UP GIVING, HOW MANY TOTAL TOURS, AND HOW MUCH TOTAL REVENUE WITH TOURS, MERCHANDISE SALES, AND SHIP RIDES BACK TO CAMDEN? GLAD YOU COULD ADD SOME MUCH NEEDED JOBS TO THE DRYDOCK AVAILABILITY DUE TO SO MUCH PUBLIC INTEREST! ❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤🇺🇸❤
I hate to say this but based on current global issues, New Jersey and Texas could possibly be reactivated. Due to the issues in the Middle East. I really hope the Navy doesn’t resort to that but in reality they really need battle ships to combat what is going on over there. And New Jersey and Texas are the closest geographically