In this episode we are climbing up through the upper 9 levels of the battleship. Please consider supporting the museum with a donation by going to: www.battleship...
Bless both ur father and grandfather for having the ballz and nerve.... this present generation knows NOTHING...whether to stomp... punch...or limp wristed smack ANTHING!!!
@@barriewright2857 my oldest bro. has it and he rarely brings anything out to share but i did see it about 10yrs. ago. lot of signatures and signing of pictures and personal B&W photos of his friends in it
@@eugenescoj You should get it valued because it covers a tumultuous period at the first half of the twentieth century, and insur it. Historically it's a important part that records a moment in that period ww2, Orsome.
My father served on the New Jersey in Vietnam. He passed away back in 94 from brain cancer, I miss him very much. Your tours of the ship captured my imagination. I’m constantly thinking how many times my dad walked through the areas you show us. Thank you very much for the videos.
It is amazing to realize that the Super Battleships that were built back in the days when she was built, Bismark, Tirpitz, Yamato, Musashi, Roma, are all now just wrecks underwater. We get to tour this gem whenever we want to.
Only musashi and Yamato could be "super" battleships but Tirpitz was scrapped so you may even have a piece of her. Don't forget about the gems bb-55 NC, bb-35 Texas, and bb-36 Nevada, along with many other cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers. Great Britain may have had more naval history but we saved our ships while they scrapped most.
As someone who is terminally landlocked, I can't express how important and wonderful these videos are to me. Were it not for your team, I'd never have gotten to see the fall-spotter's position, or find out it was probably a hangout for E-4 types like me. Really humanizes the experience. Thank you again.
Great to see things I never thought I would see again. I was an FTG 3 in 1969, secondary battery (5"38s) just before we found it was being mothballed. As a lowly E-4, one of the lowest rates in Gunfire control, I have memories of working on the 011 level. They relied on me to be the one to carry coffee from the lower decks to our work up there, probably chipping paint. I also recall needing to get more paint. That meant going from 011 down to the Supply Room on the below decks 6th level, where I needed a chit to get a cardboard box and paint brushes, Then to the bow on the main deck to the paint locker, then back up to 011 -- by then the day was about done. I was suprised when assigned to DD870 that when we needed paint, someone would just give me the keys to the paint locker. If I get up to Camden some day, I'd seriously look into a guided tour with family..... if I still have the energy to climb up to 011, even without coffee!
You should really make an effort to get out there. My sister in law recently went out to one of the ships her dad served on, and it was a great experience for everyone involved. It is tough for families to truly get a sense of what it is like when we hear the stories, and it is hard for the old guys to remember all of them, being in the physical space is incredible at bringing the two together.
Big-truck drivers in the area, if you want to see something awesome on your layover, you can leave the rig at the truckstop and use public transportation to get to within a couple blocks of the ship. It's been a few years since I did that, so I can't remember all the details, but I think I was at a T/A just off the big road when I did it to kill an afternoon. It was awesome.
@@kevinm.n.5158He’s my wife. I see him every day when he gets home from work, and he packs a nice lunch for me every morning after he gets the kids out the door. He’s a lovely woman and I’m a very happy husband.
Coming back to these old videos, Mr Szimanski has definitely become more comfortable being in front of the camera. Everything behind the camera has markedly improved in quality as well. I live the fact that y'all go around the country and showcase what other folks are doing.
4:30 Former SPS-49 Technician here, if you want the antenna to spin for display purposes only the simpler (and cheaper) option would be to make the Antenna independent of the rest of the system and power its motor separately. A lot of the stuff that was gutted out of that Transmitter cabinet has nothing to do with "Making it spin" mostly its for RF generation.
also the second SPS-49 equipment room you showed was indeed a pump room to provide cooling for the SPS-49, most of the cabinets were air cooled however the transmitter cabinet and major components within it were water cooled with Distilled water, which was then circulated back through the Heat exchanger in that room and cooled with seawater
Seems odd that there would be manned spaces above the funnel. That can't be very healthy with the stack gas and all, but I guess 1941-1945 were pretty unhealthy years all around.
@@lyndonpn Early British dreadnoughts (including _Dreadnought_ herself, as originally built) had a lookout platform immediately above _and abaft_ the funnel. That worked out about as well as you would expect.
Hey Ryan, thanks for the video. I really enjoy the historical aspects of the ship. For example, I enjoyed the story of Admiral Halsey waiting in line for snacks when some sneaky old rascal came up and used his rank to cut in line. Those are the stories I love hearing.
I can still remember the day when New Jersey pulled into Long Beach Naval Station that foggy December morning in 1968. I was a young GMM3 standing watch as safety observer on the foc'sle while the forward Terrier missile launcher was put thru it's daily checks and workout. I kept glancing in the direction of the harbor entrance expecting the Jersey to appear at anytime. Finally I heard the loud deep sound of a ship's whistle. A minute or so later she began to materialize out of the fog, her main battery elevated at about 40°. I had never seen a BB in my life, and this experience will stay with me as long as I live. At some point New Jersey was moored at the vacant quay wall, and the Queen Mary was right either forward or aft of the battleship. I never saw such a vivid contrast between ships. The Queen looked fat and tall with a very high freeboard, while the Jersey sat long, low and sleek, the way a warship should.
Remember following BB62 online on its voyage home from Bremerton Wa. There was someone on the tug, think the tug was called Sea Victory, who was giving daily updates, giving daily location, speed etc. Even told what was for dinner some days, if one of the tug crew members was fortunate to catch some fish during the tow. lol. Then was able to get a ride on a whale watching boat out of Cape May on the day BB62 reached the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Spent about 3 hours circling the ship. Great day!
Escorted the New Jersey sometime around 82-83 and got to see those 16 inch guns fire. Produced fireballs almost as big as the ship herself. Also knocked the dust out of our overhead and we were 500 yards astern. Was on a Spruance class destroyer (USS Ingersoll) and my buddy said he even tracked the flight of one of her shells on the radar.
RIV DIV 553 I picked Up this ship in 1968 went through the canal and on to Vietnam. Was assigned to the 1st division deck crew, then went to the radar gang. Worked the #1 shell deck turret #1 loading shells. Had a LOT of photos especially when Ann Margrett and Bob Hope came aboard. Few left. now. When we went back state side, got assigned to PBR's. Will always remember the time on the Jersey. Got to visit a while back when in NJ. Enjoy all the video's.
Memories... worked on 16" turret sprinkler systems during the Nam reactivation 1968. Went alone the piping that holes drilled in it and cleaned them out with welding wire sticks. boring, boring, boring.
@@thegeneralissimo470 there was one time it got exciting. There was a test on the fire sprinkler mains to the hydraulic hand cranked valves to the sprinkler heads. I did not know the lines were under test pressure and messing around I cranked the valve. Needless to say alot of passed off yardbirds that got wet. I never told a soul it was me.
My one First Class in A-School was an EW on New Jersey in the late '80s. Now I see why he said they 'owned' the O-10 and O-11 Levels, OZ Div. Equipment Room on the O-10 and SLQ-32 Antenna Arrays on the O-11. His stories make more sense now. Thanks for showing this.
Looking forward to seeing you when it opens again, hopefully this spring. I’d love to walk the passageways of my ship, even though I couldn’t wait to be freed of it at the time! It’s long been scrapped
As a former shipbuilder of modern navy ships, I can't imagine the difficulties in building a WW2 battleship. Completely different construction techniques because of the weight of the amor and the capacity of the cranes.
The best way to learn your way around a ship is to redraw the deck plans yourself. I did so for the 20,000 ton cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, and that enabled me to dive inside the wreck of the ship, on its side, and know exactly where I was and where the doors and rooms should be. I guess it all depends how your brain is wired, but for me, actually producing my own drawing stenciled it in my brain, and then I was carrying that drawing with me in my mind, and able to make sense of what I was seeing. Same would probably work for the NJ, although admittedly somewhat bigger.
Very cool seeing the Weather office. I went to Weather Observer school in 1983 (I was Air Force) with a sailor who got his dream job on the New Jersey.
Sometime around the 80's I was First Assistant Engineer on a Chevron VLCC heading up to load in Saudi. Iran & Iraq were shooting at each and anyone who got close and both Royal Navy and US Navy had warships in the Gulf. I was doing some work on something on the Bridge and the Old Man called me over and pointed out a huge mountain of dark grey on the horizon. "That's the New Jersey" he told me. Binoculars only showed a few smaller grey lumps around a larger grey lump. As I was watching, I saw white water at the stern and they all started moving. The old man put the group up on the radar to show speed and course - our radar lost the group accelerating through 30knots and they vanished over the horizon. The ship I was on burned 270 tons of HFO a day at full sea speed of 18knots - I wondered how much fuel that big lady burned at full speed? All our steamships have been scrapped now and I finished my career on large slow speed diesels - these were great engines, but none had the class or panache of the steam turbines.
Personally if I was a worker/ volunteer on one of these ships I don't care about the pay. These ships are just that magnificent and worth seeing and learning about.
SLQ-32 is a box of black magic. That looks like the V3. Carrier have V4, if Iowa battle wagons had remained commissioned they probably would have upgrade to CVN EW standards. EWs do it with frequency!
Just found your channel. The complexity of all these large ships just absolutely astounds me. Been through the USS Alabama . Thanks for doing these and yes even though I'm Canadian I will contribute. Wish us Canadians were as proud of saving our military history as you guys are.
14:05 - Thank you for your terminology - Halsey did indeed supervise over the mis-spotting of a typhoon which he then drove all of 3rd Fleet through, and it was indeed infamous. You'll run into many modern Halsey apologists (many of them Annapolis graduates... take from that what you will) who'd blow a gasket hearing you talk about a 5-star Admiral that way.
Excellent. Thank you. Very informative. Makes you appreciate the complexity of the ship and the incredible effort to design, build, crew, operate and maintain a true battleship. And to crew members...a unique class of patriots. S/Lee
Thank you for your help in keeping this incredible piece of US Navel History alive...future generations need to see just how the freedom of the seas was won and maintained! Freedom is not and was never free!
Thanks for the tour. One day during the museum restoration in 2001 I decided to climb as far as I could and found myself in Spot 1. Thanks for the memory
This is an amazing set of videos touring the inner sanctum of the New Jersey. I am happy to make my contribution in support of your teams efforts. Keep up the good work.
I hauled some electronic stuff that was removed from the Battleship when it was sitting where Holtec International is now (Morgan Blvd & Broadway) in Camden (I'm a truck driver). I don't remember the year, but a guy gave me in informal tour of the ship. I've got to go for an official tour when things open up.
Thank you for this tour. This was really interesting. Never had a real idea what that individual departments will look like. Btw... I love the way you are filming this tours. This felt like being with you!! Being very sad that we have not such nice big ships back here in Germany....
Keep up the good work lads its brilliant to see these old Warships still going strong. Im a brit we dont have almost any of our grand fleet preserved just a few gems like HMS Belfast, HMS Victory, HMS Cavalier And a few more modern vessels such as HMS Alliance and HMS ocelot one of which my grandfather served aboard (HMS Ocelot) so i have great respect for anyone who volunteers to keep these Steel beasts open to the public. Have you considered a patreon so members can sponsor monthly to keep this youtube alive and bring tales of the New Jersey and the Iowas to the world?
It's great that there are so many volounteers keeping all those ships afloat! The USA did a magnificent job in retaining so many fine ships instead of simply scrapping them like England or France did. I wish the German government would pay a little more interest in doing so with Graf Spee and Prinz Eugen. Thanks for sharing all these insights! Nice video.
Hello Ryan. My question is: what is the point of having watertight doors that high up on the ship? wouldn't a regular door be fine? and probably lighter?
@@blendy19 actually no, they were designed and built *before* they added the "N" to NBC. And chemical warfare at sea is not really all that effective anyway :P Outer doors keep water (and shrapnel...) out, inner doors keep the water (and explosions) from spreading.
I appreciate all the time and energy you given to the knowledge of this vessel. Its interesting to hear you talk about the the very many details of the several compartments in this battleship. I sailed past this vessel about a year ago on the Army LCU2000 - 31 on our way to sight see westpoint and for helm time for warrants.
If you have not done so in detail, you might want a video on the changeover from direct current power used in heavy machinery power and the limited fire-control systems introduced early in the 20th Century to alternating current power for most of the later ships designed in the 1930s and thereafter that NEEDED AC power for the Synchro/Selsyn data transmission systems (extremely accurate and capable of being amplified to directly run the controls of precision motion controllers for gun mounts and directors/radars), which were still in use in the late 20th Century and are only now being replaced by direct digital transmission systems.(though sound-powered old-fashioned headset/microphone telephones still seem to be in use). This is one of the reasons for the US superiority in WWII for fire control, most especially anti-aircraft fire control. Extremely important topic!
I got to wander the main deck area on a Sat. afternoon in '68 when she stopped at Norfolk on her way to Viet Nam. I wasn't a crew member so I didn't go below decks, this is a treat to see those spaces. I was an Electricians Mate for my 4 year hitch on 3 different ships, and if there's one rating in the Navy that has the "run of the ship", it's the "sparkies", I can only imagine the electrical complexity of a major warship like this and as an electrician, how many of those spaces you would have visited during a tour of duty. I always volunteered to climb the mast at sea to repair the aircraft warning lights (which only happened a couple times), and would take my camera with me, I would have loved to do that on the Jersey, what a view that would have been. Thanks for the video.
Thanks so much for these videos. They are fantastic. You do a great job honoring the generations that built this great ship and those that sailed on her in peace time and during war
When I was watching this video, I was under impression that this is what a spaceship designed for thousands of years would look like. Heavily built, durable, rarely visited rooms, highly compartmentalized, with lots of old equipment, everything labeled for others in the future, power lines and pipes, no windows, everywhere doors to cut off a compartment, with many systems like AC supporting locally but also ship-wide connected. And a labirynth for a layman.
The con position on level 8, was that commonly used? Also does the South Dakota class battleships have a similar position? Another great video, what a great job you both do going through these tight spaces on the ship!!
The sheer amount of infrastructure (pipes, conduit, wires, steel, etc) is mind boggling. Is truly a testament to America's might and power at the time.
When I was in the Boy Scouts back In the early 80’s each year we had a two night stay on the USS Yorktown. we spent most of our time exploring the deep dark areas of the ship that was completely off limits. Good times, bet they don’t get away with that anymore.
I was a scout in the 2000s and we stayed abroad the uss Alabama. If the museum didn't lock, weld or put so much paint on a door that we couldn't open it then we would get in there. We also got on top of the main gun turrets.
@@jasonirwin4631 the part I found so funny was that the hatch we used to access the entire closed part of the ship was in the bathroom connected to the bunk room that was used to house the Boy Scouts. If any hatch on the ship needed to be welded it was that one.
I toured the Iowa and the kitchens still smelled like food and the machine shop still smelled like cutting fluid. Much respect for the sailors that served on them.
I don't recall that much of Wisconson being open to the public when I went. What was open was in very good and in some cases like new condition. While I love how NJ bow faces the harbor, there is something to be said about how Wisky is parked at the end of street, giving perspective to the size.
New Jersey was too long and too thin, and her stern did not match the length if her bow. I heard when Iowa was touring Europe with HMS Vanguard, her forward main guns were disabled from how badly she rocked in the water dying especially bad weather.
Very nice and I enjoyed it a lot. The only suggestion I would have is I would love to see the insides of the rangefinder and the optics there. Also when I view the video, I had on the side a photo of NJ with a detailed view of here forebridge, that really help me understand the external parts on the top such as the closed fall-of-shot viewports, ECM gear etc.
Speaking of the ship's mast, I remember a time when the Enterprise was docked at Cubi Point, Subic Bay, Philippines. Myself and another RDSN (E-3 Radarman Seaman) were "voluntold" to go up on the Big E's mast and repaint it. I think we got more gray paint on ourselves than on the mast, and a bucket full or so may have "accidentally" wound up on the warf!
as a sps-49 tech currently I hope you get it spinning, the pump room may be the cooling skid as the 49 is water cooled. The space at 12:00 is URN-25 TACAN (tactical air navigaton) beacon equipment. Used to provide bearing and range to aircraft out at sea.
Update on the sps-49, we've got it spinning! We are still working on the electrics to get it to spin from a control box that isn't the radar deck at the top of the ship so we aren't doing it regularly but it does spin!
I can imagine that a ton of cool little cubbie spaces like the tower spotter watch room exist all over. Those sailors who found them got to have some nice peace and quiet time that no one else got.
my father served on the new jersey in WW2. he was a gunners mate. we have his ships log/yearbook from 1944.
That's reality cool my Grandpa's was in the OSA then CIA so we have very little. Just the documents that haven't been declassified on the internet.
Bless both ur father and grandfather for having the ballz and nerve.... this present generation knows NOTHING...whether to stomp... punch...or limp wristed smack ANTHING!!!
Orsome, are you going to give it to a museum so the rest of us can see or are you going to keep it as a family inheritance.
@@barriewright2857 my oldest bro. has it and he rarely brings anything out to share but i did see it about 10yrs. ago. lot of signatures and signing of pictures and personal B&W photos of his friends in it
@@eugenescoj You should get it valued because it covers a tumultuous period at the first half of the twentieth century, and insur it. Historically it's a important part that records a moment in that period ww2, Orsome.
I love these tours. And the spider hanging in front of the lens at 5:00 is priceless.
seaspider first class web slinger mate.
@@spankyharland9845 welcome aboard! report to the quartermaster for your gear and step lively!
@@slateslavens I'll make sure to get my web gear first....and then that can for when the Chief tells me to get some steam !
The spiders must be the souls of crewmen who’ve passed because the spiders 🕷 own that ship lol
9:50 My keyring has the keys to my cars. Ryan reaches into his pocket and pulls out the keys to his battleship!
So awesome. I couldn't imagine the cost of repairs.
Let's ride!!!
My father served on the New Jersey in Vietnam. He passed away back in 94 from brain cancer, I miss him very much. Your tours of the ship captured my imagination. I’m constantly thinking how many times my dad walked through the areas you show us. Thank you very much for the videos.
Sorry for your loss. Lost my mom to the same.
@@joshblubaugh6050 cancer sucks.
It is amazing to realize that the Super Battleships that were built back in the days when she was built, Bismark, Tirpitz, Yamato, Musashi, Roma, are all now just wrecks underwater. We get to tour this gem whenever we want to.
The Roma interior in photos looks amazing, a travesty we can't go through it.
@@DouglasEdward84 that it is and to think she may have survived the war if not for the Fritz bomb she took on her way to an allied port
Only musashi and Yamato could be "super" battleships but Tirpitz was scrapped so you may even have a piece of her. Don't forget about the gems bb-55 NC, bb-35 Texas, and bb-36 Nevada, along with many other cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers. Great Britain may have had more naval history but we saved our ships while they scrapped most.
@@robertandrews6915 they scrapped most because Britain was basically bankrupt by that point
@@KRDecade2009 it was a shame they didnt save a single battleship or carrier
As someone who is terminally landlocked, I can't express how important and wonderful these videos are to me. Were it not for your team, I'd never have gotten to see the fall-spotter's position, or find out it was probably a hangout for E-4 types like me. Really humanizes the experience. Thank you again.
Great to see things I never thought I would see again. I was an FTG 3 in 1969, secondary battery (5"38s) just before we found it was being mothballed. As a lowly E-4, one of the lowest rates in Gunfire control, I have memories of working on the 011 level. They relied on me to be the one to carry coffee from the lower decks to our work up there, probably chipping paint.
I also recall needing to get more paint. That meant going from 011 down to the Supply Room on the below decks 6th level, where I needed a chit to get a cardboard box and paint brushes, Then to the bow on the main deck to the paint locker, then back up to 011 -- by then the day was about done.
I was suprised when assigned to DD870 that when we needed paint, someone would just give me the keys to the paint locker.
If I get up to Camden some day, I'd seriously look into a guided tour with family..... if I still have the energy to climb up to 011, even without coffee!
You should really make an effort to get out there. My sister in law recently went out to one of the ships her dad served on, and it was a great experience for everyone involved.
It is tough for families to truly get a sense of what it is like when we hear the stories, and it is hard for the old guys to remember all of them, being in the physical space is incredible at bringing the two together.
Big-truck drivers in the area, if you want to see something awesome on your layover, you can leave the rig at the truckstop and use public transportation to get to within a couple blocks of the ship. It's been a few years since I did that, so I can't remember all the details, but I think I was at a T/A just off the big road when I did it to kill an afternoon. It was awesome.
Did you get to meet the man, the myth, the legend Ryan Szymanski?
@@kevinm.n.5158He’s my wife. I see him every day when he gets home from work, and he packs a nice lunch for me every morning after he gets the kids out the door. He’s a lovely woman and I’m a very happy husband.
During Vietnam I spent most of my time on the 07 level. It was home to the SPS-10, SPS-53, Dash and IFF
Coming back to these old videos, Mr Szimanski has definitely become more comfortable being in front of the camera. Everything behind the camera has markedly improved in quality as well. I live the fact that y'all go around the country and showcase what other folks are doing.
she must have been a sight to see in her hayday.
thank you for the tour
She still is!
Preserving history is of the utmost importance especially now. Keep up the great work.
4:30 Former SPS-49 Technician here, if you want the antenna to spin for display purposes only the simpler (and cheaper) option would be to make the Antenna independent of the rest of the system and power its motor separately. A lot of the stuff that was gutted out of that Transmitter cabinet has nothing to do with "Making it spin" mostly its for RF generation.
also the second SPS-49 equipment room you showed was indeed a pump room to provide cooling for the SPS-49, most of the cabinets were air cooled however the transmitter cabinet and major components within it were water cooled with Distilled water, which was then circulated back through the Heat exchanger in that room and cooled with seawater
We got it spinning, actually! We're still working on an easy on/off switch but we got it to rotate with the motor.
Thanks for this Ryan, the 09 /10 was where we hung out in the Vietnam era when we were not on watch. Not healthy to go up much higher when radiating.
Seems odd that there would be manned spaces above the funnel. That can't be very healthy with the stack gas and all, but I guess 1941-1945 were pretty unhealthy years all around.
@@lyndonpn I believe they are forward of the funnel, and with ship movement would not expose the occupants to exhaust gasses.
@@lyndonpn
"Smoke! Smoke! Smoke that cigarette!"
@@lyndonpn Early British dreadnoughts (including _Dreadnought_ herself, as originally built) had a lookout platform immediately above _and abaft_ the funnel. That worked out about as well as you would expect.
I love this tour. Previously I coul only imagine what spaces on the ship looked like. Thank you.
Hey Ryan, thanks for the video. I really enjoy the historical aspects of the ship. For example, I enjoyed the story of Admiral Halsey waiting in line for snacks when some sneaky old rascal came up and used his rank to cut in line. Those are the stories I love hearing.
You're a wonderful person, be proud.
"in God we trust, the others we track" :D
ONI :)
Actually, it's "In God we trust, all others we track".
I can still remember the day when New Jersey pulled into Long Beach Naval Station that foggy December morning in 1968.
I was a young GMM3 standing watch as safety observer on the foc'sle while the forward Terrier missile launcher was put thru it's daily checks and workout.
I kept glancing in the direction of the harbor entrance expecting the Jersey to appear at anytime.
Finally I heard the loud deep sound of a ship's whistle.
A minute or so later she began to materialize out of the fog, her main battery elevated at about 40°.
I had never seen a BB in my life, and this experience will stay with me as long as I live.
At some point New Jersey was moored at the vacant quay wall, and the Queen Mary was right either forward or aft of the battleship.
I never saw such a vivid contrast between ships. The Queen looked fat and tall with a very high freeboard, while the Jersey sat long, low and sleek, the way a warship should.
Remember following BB62 online on its voyage home from Bremerton Wa. There was someone on the tug, think the tug was called Sea Victory, who was giving daily updates, giving daily location, speed etc. Even told what was for dinner some days, if one of the tug crew members was fortunate to catch some fish during the tow. lol. Then was able to get a ride on a whale watching boat out of Cape May on the day BB62 reached the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Spent about 3 hours circling the ship. Great day!
Escorted the New Jersey sometime around 82-83 and got to see those 16 inch guns fire. Produced fireballs almost as big as the ship herself. Also knocked the dust out of our overhead and we were 500 yards astern. Was on a Spruance class destroyer (USS Ingersoll) and my buddy said he even tracked the flight of one of her shells on the radar.
RIV DIV 553
I picked Up this ship in 1968 went through the canal and on to Vietnam. Was assigned to the 1st division deck crew, then went to the radar gang. Worked the #1 shell deck turret #1 loading shells. Had a LOT of photos especially when Ann Margrett and Bob Hope came aboard. Few left. now. When we went back state side, got assigned to PBR's. Will always remember the time on the Jersey. Got to visit a while back when in NJ. Enjoy all the video's.
Memories... worked on 16" turret sprinkler systems during the Nam reactivation 1968. Went alone the piping that holes drilled in it and cleaned them out with welding wire sticks. boring, boring, boring.
Boring, but someone had to do it. And you just happened to be that someone.
@@thegeneralissimo470 there was one time it got exciting. There was a test on the fire sprinkler mains to the hydraulic hand cranked valves to the sprinkler heads. I did not know the lines were under test pressure and messing around I cranked the valve. Needless to say alot of passed off yardbirds that got wet. I never told a soul it was me.
@@us-unclesam6566 legend what was the aftermath of that story
@@austin62halo I never touch anything, I am not suppose to.
I wish I could see a battleship fire it’s main guns in person. I would specifically want to see Yamato’s guns firing
My one First Class in A-School was an EW on New Jersey in the late '80s. Now I see why he said they 'owned' the O-10 and O-11 Levels, OZ Div. Equipment Room on the O-10 and SLQ-32 Antenna Arrays on the O-11. His stories make more sense now.
Thanks for showing this.
Thanks for the tour. Your knowledge of the New Jersey and other Iowa Class Battleships and their history is impressive.
I liked the door on the radar compartment on O4 level: In God we trust. All others we track. :D
Looking forward to seeing you when it opens again, hopefully this spring. I’d love to walk the passageways of my ship, even though I couldn’t wait to be freed of it at the time! It’s long been scrapped
We're open on the weekends right now, by the way. We received some support from the NJ Dept of State to allow for that.
As a former shipbuilder of modern navy ships, I can't imagine the difficulties in building a WW2 battleship. Completely different construction techniques because of the weight of the amor and the capacity of the cranes.
The best way to learn your way around a ship is to redraw the deck plans yourself. I did so for the 20,000 ton cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, and that enabled me to dive inside the wreck of the ship, on its side, and know exactly where I was and where the doors and rooms should be. I guess it all depends how your brain is wired, but for me, actually producing my own drawing stenciled it in my brain, and then I was carrying that drawing with me in my mind, and able to make sense of what I was seeing. Same would probably work for the NJ, although admittedly somewhat bigger.
Thank you for this. Really enjoyed seeing a detailed interior view of the superstructure.
Very cool seeing the Weather office. I went to Weather Observer school in 1983 (I was Air Force) with a sailor who got his dream job on the New Jersey.
Sometime around the 80's I was First Assistant Engineer on a Chevron VLCC heading up to load in Saudi. Iran & Iraq were shooting at each and anyone who got close and both Royal Navy and US Navy had warships in the Gulf. I was doing some work on something on the Bridge and the Old Man called me over and pointed out a huge mountain of dark grey on the horizon. "That's the New Jersey" he told me. Binoculars only showed a few smaller grey lumps around a larger grey lump. As I was watching, I saw white water at the stern and they all started moving. The old man put the group up on the radar to show speed and course - our radar lost the group accelerating through 30knots and they vanished over the horizon. The ship I was on burned 270 tons of HFO a day at full sea speed of 18knots - I wondered how much fuel that big lady burned at full speed? All our steamships have been scrapped now and I finished my career on large slow speed diesels - these were great engines, but none had the class or panache of the steam turbines.
Personally if I was a worker/ volunteer on one of these ships I don't care about the pay. These ships are just that magnificent and worth seeing and learning about.
I would love to see some photos of the original New Jersey configuration and interior prior to the Navy stripping it down for moth balling.
Absolutely top class video by the Curator, and special thumbs up to the video operator. Thank you very much, God Bless America.
SLQ-32 is a box of black magic. That looks like the V3. Carrier have V4, if Iowa battle wagons had remained commissioned they probably would have upgrade to CVN EW standards.
EWs do it with frequency!
Can't wait to see this! My uncle's ship in WW2. Still have his deck jacket.
Just found your channel. The complexity of all these large ships just absolutely astounds me. Been through the USS Alabama . Thanks for doing these and yes even though I'm Canadian I will contribute. Wish us Canadians were as proud of saving our military history as you guys are.
Ryan, you have an awesome job. Thank you all the amazing videos.
Great and informative tour - as always! Thanks a lot! 😃
14:05 - Thank you for your terminology - Halsey did indeed supervise over the mis-spotting of a typhoon which he then drove all of 3rd Fleet through, and it was indeed infamous. You'll run into many modern Halsey apologists (many of them Annapolis graduates... take from that what you will) who'd blow a gasket hearing you talk about a 5-star Admiral that way.
Excellent. Thank you. Very informative. Makes you appreciate the complexity of the ship and the incredible effort to design, build, crew, operate and maintain a true battleship. And to crew members...a unique class of patriots. S/Lee
Thank you for your help in keeping this incredible piece of US Navel History alive...future generations need to see just how the freedom of the seas was won and maintained! Freedom is not and was never free!
Nice guy. Hope you can get fully funded. You love your work.
Thanks for the tour.
One day during the museum restoration in 2001 I decided to climb as far as I could and found myself in Spot 1. Thanks for the memory
This is an amazing set of videos touring the inner sanctum of the New Jersey. I am happy to make my contribution in support of your teams efforts.
Keep up the good work.
I hauled some electronic stuff that was removed from the Battleship when it was sitting where Holtec International is now (Morgan Blvd & Broadway) in Camden (I'm a truck driver). I don't remember the year, but a guy gave me in informal tour of the ship. I've got to go for an official tour when things open up.
Why is nobody commenting on the spider at 5:00.
You do a fantastic job young man. Everyone watching needs to support your work.
Great video I can't believe how well you are taking care of this machine and all the knowledge on it.
So many ways to get injured or killed before you ever got into battle. I admire people who served in such conditions.
Thank you for this tour. This was really interesting. Never had a real idea what that individual departments will look like.
Btw... I love the way you are filming this tours. This felt like being with you!!
Being very sad that we have not such nice big ships back here in Germany....
When I can still see ladders, the tour isn't over yet...
Keep up the good work lads its brilliant to see these old Warships still going strong. Im a brit we dont have almost any of our grand fleet preserved just a few gems like HMS Belfast, HMS Victory, HMS Cavalier And a few more modern vessels such as HMS Alliance and HMS ocelot one of which my grandfather served aboard (HMS Ocelot) so i have great respect for anyone who volunteers to keep these Steel beasts open to the public. Have you considered a patreon so members can sponsor monthly to keep this youtube alive and bring tales of the New Jersey and the Iowas to the world?
It's great that there are so many volounteers keeping all those ships afloat! The USA did a magnificent job in retaining so many fine ships instead of simply scrapping them like England or France did. I wish the German government would pay a little more interest in doing so with Graf Spee and Prinz Eugen.
Thanks for sharing all these insights! Nice video.
Apparently Sweden also has a good number of museum ships including ironclads and pre-dreadnoughts
@@micfail2 Good to know.
Thanks for a fascinating tour!
Thanks so much for your vids! Anyone who loves battleships that can't make the trip so see the NJ would be thrilled to see this.
Looking forward to visiting some day. We do road trips up to NY on occasion and visited Slater last time we were up there
You're one lucky guy. You get to explore and show off this grand war ship.
Hello Ryan. My question is: what is the point of having watertight doors that high up on the ship? wouldn't a regular door be fine? and probably lighter?
Rain. Storms can be pretty fierce out on the ocean.
@@AKAtheA Also 'air tight' to protect from NBC attack.
@@blendy19 actually no, they were designed and built *before* they added the "N" to NBC. And chemical warfare at sea is not really all that effective anyway :P
Outer doors keep water (and shrapnel...) out, inner doors keep the water (and explosions) from spreading.
I appreciate all the time and energy you given to the knowledge of this vessel. Its interesting to hear you talk about the the very many details of the several compartments in this battleship. I sailed past this vessel about a year ago on the Army LCU2000 - 31 on our way to sight see westpoint and for helm time for warrants.
Great tour! Thank you.
Thank you too!
If you have not done so in detail, you might want a video on the changeover from direct current power used in heavy machinery power and the limited fire-control systems introduced early in the 20th Century to alternating current power for most of the later ships designed in the 1930s and thereafter that NEEDED AC power for the Synchro/Selsyn data transmission systems (extremely accurate and capable of being amplified to directly run the controls of precision motion controllers for gun mounts and directors/radars), which were still in use in the late 20th Century and are only now being replaced by direct digital transmission systems.(though sound-powered old-fashioned headset/microphone telephones still seem to be in use). This is one of the reasons for the US superiority in WWII for fire control, most especially anti-aircraft fire control. Extremely important topic!
I got to wander the main deck area on a Sat. afternoon in '68 when she stopped at Norfolk on her way to Viet Nam. I wasn't a crew member so I didn't go below decks, this is a treat to see those spaces. I was an Electricians Mate for my 4 year hitch on 3 different ships, and if there's one rating in the Navy that has the "run of the ship", it's the "sparkies", I can only imagine the electrical complexity of a major warship like this and as an electrician, how many of those spaces you would have visited during a tour of duty. I always volunteered to climb the mast at sea to repair the aircraft warning lights (which only happened a couple times), and would take my camera with me, I would have loved to do that on the Jersey, what a view that would have been. Thanks for the video.
Thanks so much for these videos. They are fantastic. You do a great job honoring the generations that built this great ship and those that sailed on her in peace time and during war
Why are these spaces high in the superstructure, when they'd be safer down in the hull with more armour?
Excellent walk about .. very interesting
I like this tour . Mary Babiec Pawtucket , Rhode Island
Great tour. Thank you for the video !
this was fun watching with a picture of the exterior handy to give some perspective on where you were roughly
Excellent tour of areas I didn’t see on my last visit. I hope to be able to come again next year (as part of the 20th 9:11 commemoration).
Thanks for a great tour. All those rooms,and doors you passed through are really compartments,and hatches .Stairs are ladders.
We prefer using language that is accessible to everyone and find that insisting on naval terms keeps people away because people keep correcting them.
When I was watching this video, I was under impression that this is what a spaceship designed for thousands of years would look like. Heavily built, durable, rarely visited rooms, highly compartmentalized, with lots of old equipment, everything labeled for others in the future, power lines and pipes, no windows, everywhere doors to cut off a compartment, with many systems like AC supporting locally but also ship-wide connected. And a labirynth for a layman.
Dude watch Starblazers!
The con position on level 8, was that commonly used? Also does the South Dakota class battleships have a similar position? Another great video, what a great job you both do going through these tight spaces on the ship!!
Anyone else see the spider at 5:00 hahah
He is not just a spider, he is a trained mini computer operator who is taking a break. Ah, the times before silicon ...
he just wanted to say hi uwu
He keeps "bugs" out of the systems.
Great tour, keep up the good work.
ryan i have question are the firefighting systems still useable
The sheer amount of infrastructure (pipes, conduit, wires, steel, etc) is mind boggling. Is truly a testament to America's might and power at the time.
Love that spider just hanging out in frame :)
This makes me respect the detail in Battlestar Galactica so much more.
When I was in the Boy Scouts back In the early 80’s each year we had a two night stay on the USS Yorktown. we spent most of our time exploring the deep dark areas of the ship that was completely off limits.
Good times, bet they don’t get away with that anymore.
I was a scout in the 2000s and we stayed abroad the uss Alabama. If the museum didn't lock, weld or put so much paint on a door that we couldn't open it then we would get in there. We also got on top of the main gun turrets.
@@jasonirwin4631 the part I found so funny was that the hatch we used to access the entire closed part of the ship was in the bathroom connected to the bunk room that was used to house the Boy Scouts. If any hatch on the ship needed to be welded it was that one.
that day must have been so much fun, getting the compressor for the horn all the way up there..
Love to see how they got that air compressor up there!
I'd wager that it involved a lot of grunting and cursing.
Oh it did.
Great video. Much respect for you. It's frustrating when there's much to do and little to do it with. I see you fighting the good fight.
I toured the Iowa and the kitchens still smelled like food and the machine shop still smelled like cutting fluid. Much respect for the sailors that served on them.
I was a bit surprised at the WTDs way up there.
Great video tour. Thank you.
I don't recall that much of Wisconson being open to the public when I went. What was open was in very good and in some cases like new condition. While I love how NJ bow faces the harbor, there is something to be said about how Wisky is parked at the end of street, giving perspective to the size.
Wow what a privilege it is to get such access, nice!
It truly must have been awful at wartime in very heavy seas for the crew.
Kinda like bouncing off the walls of a tank.
Being topside when those 16-inch guns were doing their thing woulda been a bit jarring too.
New Jersey was too long and too thin, and her stern did not match the length if her bow. I heard when Iowa was touring Europe with HMS Vanguard, her forward main guns were disabled from how badly she rocked in the water dying especially bad weather.
Very nice and I enjoyed it a lot. The only suggestion I would have is I would love to see the insides of the rangefinder and the optics there. Also when I view the video, I had on the side a photo of NJ with a detailed view of here forebridge, that really help me understand the external parts on the top such as the closed fall-of-shot viewports, ECM gear etc.
I may be prejudiced but she was and still is a beautiful ship
Speaking of the ship's mast, I remember a time when the Enterprise was docked at Cubi Point, Subic Bay, Philippines. Myself and another RDSN (E-3 Radarman Seaman) were "voluntold" to go up on the Big E's mast and repaint it.
I think we got more gray paint on ourselves than on the mast, and a bucket full or so may have "accidentally" wound up on the warf!
p.s. the Enterprise had many "hidey holes" to chill in too!
as a sps-49 tech currently I hope you get it spinning, the pump room may be the cooling skid as the 49 is water cooled. The space at 12:00 is URN-25 TACAN (tactical air navigaton) beacon equipment. Used to provide bearing and range to aircraft out at sea.
Update on the sps-49, we've got it spinning! We are still working on the electrics to get it to spin from a control box that isn't the radar deck at the top of the ship so we aren't doing it regularly but it does spin!
Thanks for the tour 👍
Way beyond cool. This is epic. Berthing up there in heavy seas would be quite the buggy ride. :)
Super cool - thank you!
3:33 which Iowas had the cut-through to the bridge and which didn't?
I can imagine that a ton of cool little cubbie spaces like the tower spotter watch room exist all over. Those sailors who found them got to have some nice peace and quiet time that no one else got.
Peeling paint, ripped out equipment, tools and parts laying around, spider webs everywhere. This looks like the best job ever.
Really informative and interesting!👍