Overnight enlistment
If you've ever wanted to bunk down on a real World War II battleship, you can round up a group and commandeer a spot on the USS New Jersey.
By JERRY V. HAINES
Published October 26, 2003
[Photos: courtesy Nina G. Zucker Associates]
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| For $45 per person, groups can spend the night aboard the New Jersey, sleeping in the original crew's berths. |
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| The principal attraction of a battleship is its 16-inch guns. The New Jersey had nine of them. |
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With all the attention given this year to an "embedded" press, some folks might want to try living as the military does. I decided to start gradually. Like, with World War II.
The USS New Jersey, the nation's largest battleship, was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on Dec. 7, 1942, a year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The end of that war might have been the end of the New Jersey, as new forms of warfare obviated the classic ship-vs.-ship mission of battleships.
But the Navy kept finding new uses for the New Jersey; first in the Korean war, then Vietnam, then various operations of the 1980s. All told, it was decommissioned, then recommissioned, three times.
And now it is tied up at a specially built pier in the Delaware River at Camden, N.J., within sight of its birthplace. The vessel has a new mission: to educate and inspire. And to tickle the heck out of someone like me, a Navy vet from a more high-tech time, who always wondered about life in that "real Navy" the old guys would talk about.
1530 hours (3:30 p.m. for civilians): Commence Firepower tour
Although I had come to the New Jersey to experience its "encampment" program, the kids who participate in this night aboard ship wouldn't arrive for a while. I filled the intervening hours on one of the ship's "Firepower" tours.
The principal attraction of a battleship is its guns. In the recent Gulf Wars, press coverage was dominated by more modern weaponry - laser-guided, satellite-directed, computer-equipped stuff. But for sheer muscle, few weapons are as impressive as a 16-inch gun. The New Jersey has nine of them, their 66-foot-long barrels looking ominously elegant above the ship's battered teakwood deck.
The gunner's mates who once tended the three separate triple 16-inch gun mounts are gone now, of course. The ship is staffed by docents, most of them retired military. The guide for our tour was Charles Vaughan - retired Army, not Navy. But he was an old artillery man, with a working knowledge of things that go BOOM.
Vaughan took us inside one of the gun turrets, which from the outside are about the size of a suburban rambler. The interiors of the turrets are packed with equipment to aim, load and fire the guns. Each turret had a crew of 77, many of them in the spaces below decks where they wrestled with the rounds and bags of powder.
Rounds weighed as much as 2,700 pounds, about the weight of a Honda Civic. Some 660 pounds of smokeless powder propelled each round up to 23 miles, with incredible accuracy for the era.
As one of the guides later explained, "From here I could take out the Willow Grove toll booth on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, plus or minus 10 yards."
As the world changed and warfare evolved, the New Jersey's weaponry changed, too. The massive 16-inch guns were still the main show, but they were used mostly for shore bombardment. The ship's many antiaircraft guns, effective mainly against propeller-driven aircraft, gave way to missile launchers. And while the battleship was originally equipped to carry and launch seaplanes, it was modified to carry a helicopter instead.
But even the helicopter pad is covered up now. In its place is a dance floor - a retired battleship is a dandy venue for a party, and the New Jersey now is often rented out for fundraisers, wine tastings and other gatherings.
This might make purists wince, but it helps pay the bills. Small groups can entertain themselves in the officers' wardroom or even the cabin once occupied by Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, a Garden State native.
In addition to the impressive ship itself, guests can enjoy the view of the Philadelphia skyline, or make a side trip to New Jersey's state aquarium, just up the waterfront, or the new Tweeter Center amphitheater, filling the night with sounds of live music.
1830 hours: Commence encampment
The Navy still holds the New Jersey's title, but the current custodian is the nonprofit Home Port Alliance. One of the Alliance's outreach efforts is the encampment program for kids: For $45 per person, Scout groups and other organizations can spend the night aboard the ship, touring its bridge and combat centers, eating on the mess decks and sleeping in the original crew's berthing compartments.
There are required adult-to-child ratios: for example, one-to-one for kids ages 7-9, a lesser ratio for older kids.
I watched the youngsters arrive, each carrying a sleeping bag (the ship's bunks have mattresses but no linens). I observed the "dinosaur effect" - the fascination of kids for gigantic things. And the ship is huge: 887 feet long, and so wide it can barely pass through the Panama Canal. It once was crewed by as many as 3,120 sailors.
For Tom Jaskel, a former Navy operations officer and the New Jersey's watch officer for the evening I was onboard, observing the kids arrive is one of the joys of the job: "I love to see them coming up the pier. They look up and their eyes get round, because they've never seen anything so big. And frankly, neither have most of the parents."
The kids got a safety lecture (there are more than a few ways a kid might get into trouble on a battleship) and then participated in a fire drill. There was a lot of kid-counting going on, because the idea is to leave with as many as you brought aboard.
1900 hours: Chow call
Ordinarily the children would have participated on deck in Evening Colors, the ceremonial lowering of the flag, but it was raining heavily during my visit. So all of us visitors went directly to dinner on the mess deck (dining room, for civilians).
The original galley, with its huge ovens and Paul Bunyanesque soup kettles, can be seen, but it is not active. Instead, a caterer provides the meals - in this case chicken and rice, and a cupcake. I sampled this entree and it tasted fine, but I decided to eat at the ship's "geedunk." This is one of those Navy words whose origins are forever lost, but it means the snack bar. The New Jersey's serves up sodas, pretzels, hot dogs and a really fine barbecue sandwich.
2000 hours: Commence ship Tour
Jaskel broke us up into small groups, and we began our exploration of the ship. Again, we saw the gun mounts and other weapons systems, but also the massive anchoring equipment. Each link in the anchor chain weighs 110 pounds.
We listened to the beeping and tweeting of the radio room. Finally we climbed up to the navigation bridge, with its captain's-eye view of the bow and forward gun turrets. On the bridge we noted another defining characteristic of battleships - lots of armor. Seventeen inches of steel surrounded the helmsmen of the New Jersey. The bridge's door looks like a bank's vault.
We went up ladders, down ladders, squeezed through hatches, peered through periscopes and fought the temptation to twiddle with knobs. Kids being kids, occasionally their exuberance would push someone's envelope, and a parent or Scout leader would bark a stern command.
Once Jaskel himself reprimanded a bunch of boys who were running across a wet deck. One of the other kids said that Jaskel reminded her of her grandfather, a Navy veteran. "That's not my Navy voice," Jaskel responded, "that's my dad voice."
2300 hours: Taps
Actually, Taps woke me up. Exhausted from all that climbing and scrambling, I fell asleep a few minutes before the recorded bugler played his "lights out" signal. I had pulled rank and, instead of sleeping in the crew quarters with the kids, I slept alone in "CPO country." (CPOs - chief petty officers - are the senior enlisted personnel who, truth be told, really run the Navy.)
On deck it was still raining. But one nice thing about ships is that they are watertight.
In the red glow of the night lights (red light has less effect on night vision), I inhaled the pervasive "ship smell." I don't know its source - paint or floor wax, perhaps - but every Navy ship I have served on has it. And I heard the "ship sound," the constant, reassuring whine of the ventilation fans. The New Jersey's own electrical generators are inactive, but the ship operates on shore power, essentially via a big extension cord.
I slept in the bottom bunk of a rack of three, which gave me just a few inches of head room. It was like bunking in a filing cabinet.
0630 hours: Reveille
With the sound of the morning bugle, the ship awakened. I had slept amazingly well. I'm not sure about the parents and Scout leaders, though, many of whom shortly appeared on the mess deck, croaking, "Coffee, coffee. . . . "
0700 hours: Chow call
Breakfast was an egg and bacon sandwich, cold cereal and juice. I have to admit disappointment at not finding that notorious military staple, creamed chipped beef on toast. The kids seemed to have enjoyed their night aboard; their morning chatter was at school bus level.
0800 hours: Depart USS "New Jersey"
Continued rain prevented the Morning Colors ceremony, too. Scout leaders made one last count of their troops and then shepherded them back to the pier. Soon the ship was quiet again.
Technically, the New Jersey could return to service. The Navy would have to modernize its equipment and do a lot of testing. And that dance floor would have to go. But I believe the New Jersey could do it.
And I'll think about that the next time I travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Willow Grove.
- Jerry V. Haines is a freelance writer living in Arlington, Va.
If you go
GETTING THERE: The New Jersey's current home port is at Camden, N.J.'s redeveloped waterfront, directly opposite Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. There is nonstop air service between Tampa and Philadelphia.
TOURING THE NEW JERSEY: Tour hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., April-September; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., October-March, seven days a week. Admission is $12.50 for adults; $8 for children, ages 6-11, and for seniors and veterans (with ID). There is no charge for children under 6, active military in uniform or former crewmembers with I.D. Special Firepower tours cost $16 adults; $10 for others.
SLEEPING OVER: Overnight encampments for Scout and other youth organizations must be arranged by reservation. The organization can be small; there is no minimum number. Family groups also can be accommodated. The cost is $45 per person, which includes dinner and a light breakfast. Participants must bring their own bedding, etc. Call toll-free 1-866-877-6262 ext. 203. The encampment program is conducted all year long.
TIPS: Wear sensible, waterproof, nonskid shoes, as rainwater tends to collect on exposed deck surfaces. In selecting your clothing for the visit, remember that you will be ascending and descending many ladders and squeezing through some narrow openings. Handicapped access is possible only on the main deck, and even that may be limited. Videos are available for those unable to go below decks or onto the upper levels. Encampment participants should bring flashlights; it gets really dark below decks if the power goes out.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Phone toll free 1-866-877-6262 or visit http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org
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