Getting the Battleship Ready for Her 5th Commissioning

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  • Опубликовано: 2 ноя 2024
  • This episode is a deep dive into the work done to get the battleship ready to open as a museum.
    For a scan of the document we read:
    drive.google.c...
    For our episode on the nuclear launch keys:
    • FOUND! The Battleship'...
    To send Ryan a message on Facebook: / ryanszimanski
    To support this channel and Battleship New Jersey, go to:
    www.battleship...

Комментарии • 418

  • @notme123123
    @notme123123 Год назад +248

    Checking calendar to see if it’s April 1st.

    • @rearspeaker6364
      @rearspeaker6364 Год назад +3

      I' was looking for Feb. 30th!!

    • @KenR1800
      @KenR1800 Год назад +3

      Same, except he already did that a couple of years ago!

    • @linkerthejedi2575
      @linkerthejedi2575 Год назад +3

      I fell for said joke several years ago and didn’t recognize it till two years later

    • @HKGSteven
      @HKGSteven Год назад

      Lol

    • @Hoosier_man01
      @Hoosier_man01 Год назад +3

      I remember last year, I got so happy

  • @joesnodgrass608
    @joesnodgrass608 Год назад +286

    A battleship shell as a bench.
    As an American, I've never been more proud. o7

    • @Icesniper-lm5or
      @Icesniper-lm5or Год назад +2

      That looks to be a 15 inch ap shell fired from the iowa class

    • @Icesniper-lm5or
      @Icesniper-lm5or Год назад +3

      My bad I thought they were 15 inch thanks for letting me know my error

    • @AdmiralDevil
      @AdmiralDevil Год назад +6

      ​​​@@Icesniper-lm5or I think you mean 16 inch since Iowas don't use 15s at all

    • @AdmiralDevil
      @AdmiralDevil Год назад

      @@Icesniper-lm5or no problem

    • @totalnerd5674
      @totalnerd5674 Год назад

      PFP checks out

  • @Masada1911
    @Masada1911 Год назад +339

    The theme of bringing back the battleship will never go away as a video subject I think lol

    • @comradedog4075
      @comradedog4075 Год назад +20

      As long as she sails no matter how much technology progresses and how obsolete it might be. I still would switch military branches just to be a crew mate aboard her.

    • @isaacmatthews1966
      @isaacmatthews1966 Год назад +16

      Ryan at 67 years old in his 22nd bringing back the battleship video: no the navy will not bring back the battleship, the boilers are scuffed, the turrets are welded, and it’s hard to train the robots on the boilers

    • @10_points
      @10_points Год назад +4

      @@isaacmatthews1966 The turrets and billers are still ok. But yes, training new people would be extremely difficult

    • @steveaird9347
      @steveaird9347 Год назад +2

      You cannot shoot down a projection battleship round I believe in battleships should have made USS Montana and her sister ships but making this fast as a New Jersey Big J Iowa mighty Mo whiskey Wisconsin

    • @rearspeaker6364
      @rearspeaker6364 Год назад

      @@isaacmatthews1966 the robots might think the boilers are their enslaved brothers and may try to free them!!

  • @HMSVanguard46
    @HMSVanguard46 Год назад +220

    The Des moines class should have been preserved as a whole. Smaller units but good shelling platforms

    • @erichammond9308
      @erichammond9308 Год назад +50

      Or the Alaska class ships. Pity that they didn't save at least one for a museum.

    • @frankbodenschatz173
      @frankbodenschatz173 Год назад +34

      Or one of the two ships of those classes as an active platform for shore bombardment as the Alaska//Guam were very low mileage! And far less costly than any of the many fiasco classes of littoral of Zumwalt things. Hell, even the Fletcher's should, could be brought back to replace some of the new crap.

    • @kman-mi7su
      @kman-mi7su Год назад +13

      I grew up 15 minutes from where New Jersey is docked. I remember also seeing the Des Moines sitting in mothballs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for years. You could drive past it on I-95 and see it from the bridge sitting there looking like a mini New Jersey.

    • @J.A-CA139
      @J.A-CA139 Год назад +6

      I wish they were, There were efforts to Save CA-148 and CA-134 but Newport News was not in the best material condition to begin with and Des Moines I believe they were not able to raise enough funds to take her. Salem's crew got to see Des Moines before she was scrapped in 2006. I'm really glad CA-139 USS Salem is still around!

    • @garywayne6083
      @garywayne6083 Год назад +5

      The Salem fights its hardest to scrape up the funds they can to try and keep her as bets they can. There's only so much money out there for these ship's preservation's unfortunately

  • @peterosmanski7466
    @peterosmanski7466 Год назад +152

    You may be the third curator, but you have to be the best. Your daily videos bring the ship to life, and really make it accessible.

    • @martypalmiere7672
      @martypalmiere7672 Год назад

      It wouldn't hurt if he knew what the hell he was talking about in the first place, Ryan needs to do a little more research on his topics instead of pulling his info out of his ass.

  • @PhilipFear
    @PhilipFear Год назад +126

    My Mother was part of the team that made sure all gun emplacements received ammunition that was up to speck (She ran the statistical surveys for gun ammunition out of WQEC West Concord Naval Weapons Station) and I so remember BB62 combat tour of Vietnam....
    I literally grew up with (Big "J") my Father loaded her shells from WWII and Korea at Port Chicago and my Mom helped make sure they hit with a bang when it counted....
    All 4 of the Iowa's were the grandest ladies of the Pacific Ocean.....

    • @Vile-Flesh
      @Vile-Flesh Год назад +4

      That's pretty amazing. I agree on the Iowa's being the grandest.

    • @millerdp
      @millerdp Год назад +8

      @PhilipFear Bravo Zulu to your Mom and Dad! They’re are unsung heroes for the New Jersey and our nation!

    • @warrenholmes3311
      @warrenholmes3311 Год назад +1

      OK, I will say it...'spec' is NOT 'speck'. 'Spec' stands for: Specification. 'Spec' is just to give standardization(s).

    • @PhilipFear
      @PhilipFear Год назад +4

      @@millerdp
      Thanks, they both retired from NAVY Civil Service although I was the Black Sheep of the family, I went into the ARMY Military Police Corps🤔😄😉
      🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
      But yes, I am dammed proud of both of them....

    • @kennethhamilton5633
      @kennethhamilton5633 Год назад +1

      ​@@warrenholmes3311we know whut he means don't really need an Ellen Woodhead's Speed reading course lesson but thankee ennyhow😏

  • @sgregg5257
    @sgregg5257 Год назад +36

    I remember, as a kid, New Jersey and Missouri were both tied up in Bremerton. It was a couple bucks to go onto Missouri. Even at ten years of age, I marveled that two such important ships were just sitting at an old dock along the highway. My uncle had been on Missouri in Tokyo bay when the Japanese surrendered so I grew up with that story. He was really happy to end up on a battleship since he had spent most of the war on destroyers and had several sunk out from under him. The last time I saw BB-62 was in 1990 when it visited Portland Oregon.

    • @kimmer6
      @kimmer6 Год назад +3

      The Turret #2 right hand barrel that was on the Missouri for the surrender was sidelined from the scrapper and is now on display near the North end of the Golden Gate Bridge. When the Iowa was stored at the Suisun Bay mothball fleet, I took an old sailor on my boat over to view the ship. The security boat chased us off twice. On the third time, he came close and warned us to stay away or be cited. I told him that the 94 year old feller with me served on the Fanshaw Bay and wanted to see the Iowa. He stood at attention, saluted the old guy, and left us alone.
      Here's that barrel #386 that your uncle was near. ruclips.net/video/sgjCYDIZiDU/видео.html

    • @dave928
      @dave928 Год назад

      yep back in the 80's we'd sail over to Bremerton and stare at them for hours.

  • @pedenharley6266
    @pedenharley6266 Год назад +37

    In January I got to go on the “Hidden Battleship” tour offered by BB55. In a compartment well off the main tour route I saw a “boom-box” radio that looked like it was from roughly 1990 that looked like it had been placed their while volunteers worked in the space some time ago (months? Years? Decades?). I smiled as I wondered how long items from the museum era had to remain in place before they became an artifact themselves!

    • @Melody_Raventress
      @Melody_Raventress Год назад +1

      It's a neat idea isn't it? A sort of Meta-history where the incidental work of historians becomes part of the historical record when they were working on creating that record. You're getting your fingerprints are all over my history, Ryan! Stop!

  • @GreenBlueWalkthrough
    @GreenBlueWalkthrough Год назад +60

    For an museum ship the very first thing I would open is the navigational bridge(The big one that looks over the deck) Because honestly it's my favorite place to visit on museum ships as you get a great view of the ship and the scale of her.

    • @manhunter433
      @manhunter433 Год назад +10

      I'd personally say the Command Bridge, you get to stand in the spot where the ship's Captain and possibly Admiral once stood.

  • @ngcolby
    @ngcolby Год назад +25

    I was unaware that cub scouts are a curator's kryptonite. Good to know.

  • @kimsmith6974
    @kimsmith6974 Год назад +43

    I would like to hear stories about tour incidents, like boy scout over nighter mishaps, people getting lost on the ship
    ect. Accidents in restoring the ship to a museum. Unusual things that perhaps involved unexpected circumstances . Thanks

    • @lindycorgey2743
      @lindycorgey2743 Год назад +6

      That would be neat. Because I got turned around on the USS Texas and had to figure out how I got on that particular outside deck. I finally found the exit. 🤣

    • @glennac
      @glennac Год назад +1

      Excellent idea! 👍🏼👏🏼

    • @Vigilante-k4q
      @Vigilante-k4q Год назад +1

      Ghost stories please

  • @baronpen
    @baronpen Год назад +36

    If I were opening a museum ship, my first priorities would be (in no particular order): 1) the ship's guns & other weapons; 2) the bridge; 3) crew accommodations & officer staterooms; 4) some of the engineering spaces.

    • @bill45colt
      @bill45colt Год назад +5

      id open up the boiler rooms, engine rooms, transmission, and fuel bunkers,,,,,let me see the prop shaft,,,,and how do you reverse a turbine engine prop??

    • @scarling9367
      @scarling9367 Год назад +2

      ​@@bill45colt As a guy, I'm most interested in the engine room. Lol. I visited the Yorktown in Charlestown, SC and we only got to see ERUL. Cool, but mildly disappointing.

  • @LeCharles07
    @LeCharles07 Год назад +35

    The history of the museum is often overlooked by visitors but it's fascinating in it's own right.

  • @Blackdog1941
    @Blackdog1941 Год назад +3

    My wife, daughter and I just today went aboard the Big J we had a good time. Hope to come board in the future.

  • @ddotson45
    @ddotson45 Год назад +8

    I was able to attend the anniversary of the commisioning ceremony on the 23rd. It is awesome what all of you do to help preserve this part of history. Thank you.

  • @Arbiter099
    @Arbiter099 Год назад +27

    The way this was written I had to go check the news to see if I missed something lol

    • @rearspeaker6364
      @rearspeaker6364 Год назад

      I'd bet it could be done, but that's a ton of money, then the govt. would stop you from doing sea trials.

  • @talis84
    @talis84 Год назад +8

    I think I was in high school or college when NJ got the ship. I remember reading newspaper articles (remember news papers?) about the local volunteerism to get the ship open. Veterans and boy and girl scouts, family members of vets, or just people who thought it was cool to work on a battleship.

  • @jameskinglion
    @jameskinglion Год назад +28

    I agree that the Museum needs to document its own history. In my volunteer work, I have two jobs. One is as a trained train crew. Put in the time to help work the train as a brakeman and sometimes fill in as a diesel fireman. My other job is content creation. I take many pictures to help the Museum advertise and, in a way, document the history as it happens. When this Museum first started, there was little documentation of the early years so. Now there is little to look back on.

  • @danielcoburn8635
    @danielcoburn8635 Год назад +24

    If I had a new museum ship, I'd hire Ryan! A curator is not for the faint of heart.....

  • @happyhome41
    @happyhome41 Год назад +19

    Extraordinary episode. And people (little boys really, the ones where the only difference with men is the price of our toys) like to see things work. Just look at the groups around the country in the last sixty years or so that have rescued "park" steam locomotives and put them back on the rails, complete in many cases retrofitted to meet current regulation for Positive Train Control. I remember when I was in the Air Force, working with the folks at the plant in Ft Worth ramping up to produce the F-16 - in one side of the plant were depot level repairs on F-111s (also made in that plant) and talking to some of the older engineers who where at the plant when B-36 was rolling off the line (and that plant also produced the B-58 and started life producing B-24s). At the time, there was a "park" B-36 outside the gate of Carswell AFB, and the engineers related how they "conspired" with some of the old crew to restore the plane to flight. They had gotten as far as getting all the engines flight-worthy, and checking out the landing gear so the plane could be moved, and the official story was, it was still considered a nuclear-capable platform and the Pentagon denied permission to let it fly. So ask me what I would do with New Jersey ? You know I would take it out of mothballs, attract an all volunteer crew, obtain powder and "blue" shells for target practice, have the best food afloat, and go sailing, giving the passengers the views of the high seas only available previously to oath-taking uniformed sailors.

    • @Pentium100MHz
      @Pentium100MHz Год назад +2

      The problem is that restoring a big ship like this to working order is orders of magnitude more expensive than restoring or building a new steam locomotive.
      However, I also think that seeing the machines operate is much better than them being on static display presumably to never run again. Even better is being allowed to operate some part of it (for example, shovel coal into the firebox of a locomotive).

    • @Melody_Raventress
      @Melody_Raventress Год назад

      If only bro. I wish Elon Musk or one of those eccentric billionares would buy an old battleship and restore it to mil-spec as some crazy passon project. It could happen.

  • @camrontabler7543
    @camrontabler7543 Год назад +4

    I enjoy an unguided tour so that I can take my time and look at everything, but seeing how some other guests behave... I can definitely see the advantages of keeping people on guided tours. With my own museum ship, priority 1 is water/humidity management, but for the tour route, guns and superstructure. Lots of good spaces and "easy" access.

  • @kenhaze5230
    @kenhaze5230 Год назад +25

    As magnificent as she is, glad it's just about the history of conversion to a museum ship.
    Here I was worried Grenada might be pulling some funny business I missed and we had to build up the fleet.

  • @snaffoo4068
    @snaffoo4068 Год назад

    Outstanding theme for this video!
    I'm a 1980-84 Navy Vet and have made a friend in a (90 something year old) Shipmate named "Art". He and I meet almost weekly for dinner to share our love (sea stories) for our time in the Navy.
    He told me early on that he was part of an early team of Volunteers aboard BB-62. I had toured the ship in 2004 and took the "Fire Power Tour". Art said that he used to give this tour and it was possible that he was my guide.
    Although there was never any doubt in my mind about his time aboard as a Volunteer, today I saw images of him in this video that I'm sure will make him happy to see for himself. Thanks for this channel and video!
    Cheers, here's to you RM2 Art, my Friend and Shipmate!!

  • @commonnerfer
    @commonnerfer Год назад +1

    As a volunteer at USS Orleck I can say that we are making progress. With any luck we will have the forward after birthing and the rear gun mount open and available for guests to go into unguided.

  • @alexdeglavina1412
    @alexdeglavina1412 Год назад +18

    I came as a volunteer in April 2002. The ship still had the smell of a commissioned ship.

  • @0Sirk0
    @0Sirk0 Год назад +4

    FUN FACT!;
    The tug boats that maneuvered NJ are the same style being used to move Submarines in New London, CT. Big Reds lay up right at the ferry terminal in downtown.
    They seem so tiny compared to a Battleship, but when you get along side one, the sense of scale really hits home. And they are tuff chuggahs.

    • @ryano.5149
      @ryano.5149 Год назад

      The Grace Moran (pictured 2:43) was in service as late as 2017, but sadly scrapped in 2022. We've been losing a lot of single screw tugs lately.

  • @richardanderson2742
    @richardanderson2742 Год назад +5

    Thinking of a museum ship as a self guided display, step one is getting an inventory of what you have or can readily get, it’s condition and maintenance/restoration requirements. Since the goal is to get the ship open (and generating revenue) as soon as possible, you would focus on your assets at hand that are ready for display or can be made so reasonably quickly…. And then trying to tie together a coherent tour focused on those assets. Obviously on a battle ship the guns are key….as with a submarine the torpedoes are key, or the aircraft for an aircraft carrier. Simultaneously you would have to coordinate with those charged with overall maintenance to make sure tours and ongoing maintenance are deconflicted. Once a tentative tour route is proposed, one needs to go over it for worst case scenario safety considerations which need to be mitigated prior to the general public use. After all, nothing begs for more mishaps than humans wandering around unfamiliar with the setting.

  • @mykofreder1682
    @mykofreder1682 Год назад +5

    I like a guided tour for the information, but wandering a level is memorable. A level of Missouri was open when I was there, wandered through mess area, some engineering, some bunk areas. You are amazed by the size which is amplified by the tight spaces spread over a football field, don't even remember if I got to the turrets and the big round area or I only walked around under the super structure.

    • @lelandgaunt9985
      @lelandgaunt9985 Год назад

      I could get lost on a sherm-can destroyer.😊

  • @timsnider2556
    @timsnider2556 Год назад +1

    I enjoy the self guided tours, but I had a somewhat guided tour on the North Carolina. My dad was on the Nevada when we visited BB55 in the mid 1970s. He was telling me how life was in different areas for him. After a bit, about 30 people was following us listening to Dad telling about his experiences. To be able to do that again.

  • @stevenkarnisky411
    @stevenkarnisky411 Год назад +3

    I knew that there is an enoirmous burden to establish any museum. Seeing those chores in black and white, and knowing they hardly scratch the surface really puts things into perspective!

  • @vixenraider1307
    @vixenraider1307 Год назад +14

    Oh boy Ryan is trying to get all are hopes up again.......still it's got my attention.......let's go Big J~

  • @michaelsommers2356
    @michaelsommers2356 Год назад +7

    I hope those sixteen-inch shells have been secured. You don't want some visitor with sticky fingers to pocket a few and walk off with them.

    • @geofffikar3417
      @geofffikar3417 Год назад +3

      Imagine seeing that happen!

    • @rearspeaker6364
      @rearspeaker6364 Год назад +2

      @@geofffikar3417 and someone trying to scrap one!!

    • @ronanvave560
      @ronanvave560 Год назад

      They'll have to have the arms of WWE wrestlers, because if they try to pick up a real one, which weighs over 1,000 pounds, they'll soon find out it won't be an easy task.

  • @lilfattcatt7758
    @lilfattcatt7758 Год назад

    I remember visiting the New Jersey for a JROTC field trip it was awesome, we also toured the Submarine and Older Cruiser on the Philly side of the Delaware

  • @marianaldenhoevel7240
    @marianaldenhoevel7240 Год назад +2

    My answer to the final question: I would delay actually opening in regular museum service and keep exploring by myself. Being given a battleship, what a marvellous thing.

  • @JustinHoboEyeblue
    @JustinHoboEyeblue Год назад +19

    If they ever bring the battleships Back shine me up.

  • @manhunter433
    @manhunter433 Год назад +2

    Depends on the ship class and type. Destroyers and Cruisers, it'd be any and all guns that the ship has with corresponding dummy replicas of the ammo. Torpedoes if they had any would also be on my top 10 to do list. Battleships, you said it yourself in this video and I won't be adding anything to it. Aircraft Carriers, it'd be complicated but it'd be what's happening on and just below the flight deck.

  • @PercivalFakeman
    @PercivalFakeman Год назад +4

    Very cool! You get to do a video sitting on a shell. Who needs an office when a shell is around.

    • @kiphenry4684
      @kiphenry4684 Год назад

      I got a chuckle seeing the steel rods running between those posts around that shell. We sure wouldn’t want a 2,200 pound shell to get stolen. 😅

  • @rrbee
    @rrbee Год назад +6

    I think one really interesting thing to attempt would be to split the ship... at least the upper parts... in half based on era.
    I suspect it would be all but in impossible to do now, but I'd find it fascinating if you could have, for example, the port side configured as it was in WWII while the Starboard side configured as it was when last in active service in the late 80s.

  • @tankman7711
    @tankman7711 Год назад +5

    Cub Scouts on board... completely deadly to curators!" This made me laugh out loud!

  • @zxggwrt
    @zxggwrt Год назад +2

    This is an awesome sales pitch and your ship is definitely on my shortlist and soonlist.

  • @rogerb3654
    @rogerb3654 Год назад +2

    If I was opening a museum ship, here's what I would do:
    1) Hire a great Curator. (Do you know where I can find one)
    - I've heard of a guy, R. ?Zamanski?
    2) Guns painted...to look good from a distance & up-close
    3) Mess Deck, or other large space, for general purpose
    - Also allows displays of smaller artifacts/items
    4) Bridge
    5) For or Aft plot (Where they pull the trigger)
    6) Crew berthing
    7) Any spaces along the paths to those locations that guests can look at along the way

  • @ronswinford4952
    @ronswinford4952 Год назад +1

    Ryan you and your staff do a great jobs with these videos, for those of us too far away to come see the ship it gives us a reason to make a special trip. Thanks for all the work you do in the videos and in keeping the ship in good shape.

  • @stevevaughn2040
    @stevevaughn2040 Год назад

    I appreciate the work you and others do to maintain the USS New Jersey. I served on her in early 80s and while living conditions were not nearly as good as a new tin can but no ship is as beautiful

  • @ryano.5149
    @ryano.5149 Год назад +1

    Number 1 priority - make as much of the vessel safe and stable as possible. Now, that could mean a number of things, but if people can't board or walk around the areas you want to open first, you don't have a museum. Areas which I would first open would depend on the ship. I think the days of battleships or cruisers being given to just anybody are long over. So, lets say I were to get a modest coast guard cutter of some sort...say an Island-class or maybe an 87' Marine Protector class patrol boat. I think I'd focus on the exterior decks, the flybridge, and the wheelhouse first, and then work my way down. I think those are probably the most interesting and easiest spaces to physically get to...follow that up with the accommodations, and then save the engine room for last, potentially for guided tours only...those vessels aren't that big. Of course, that plan subject to change based on the condition of the boat and whatever pertinent circumstances exist upon taking ownership of the vessel.

  • @sleuer66
    @sleuer66 Год назад

    I got the full tour of this ship, when it was still n service. I was a Marine at the time stationed in Subic Bay,PI, about 1986.

  • @ericvitelli7113
    @ericvitelli7113 Год назад

    Awesome to see this,
    I did my part trying to get her sent here by purchasing 2 prints from Acme markets.
    I gifted one to a former shipmate of hers.
    You are. Doing great work.
    I would have had guns accessable first.

  • @eekedout
    @eekedout Год назад +6

    Iowa may not be as complete but she does have some of her projectile handling equipment working again.

  • @Electronzap
    @Electronzap Год назад +7

    That would be awesome to be handed a giant ship to explore before turning it into a museum.

  • @pondjumper
    @pondjumper Год назад

    I am a visitor to Missouri and Iowa. New Jersey and Wisconsin yet to come. Top 5 on my bucket list.

  • @troyalexander9484
    @troyalexander9484 Год назад

    Did a world cruise with this beauty in 1987. She was the lead ship my CG had her six.

  • @jonathanbair523
    @jonathanbair523 Год назад

    I think getting the main deck open for folks to come and see solo or guided tour is the key first step. Can work inside the ship like crew birth, mess hall/ kitchen, engine room.. All the main places to let folks see what it was like to live on one of the ships... Humanize the history as much as possible would be the key for me.... I know as a kid back in 91 I got to meet one of the gunners from the USS Ward, and him taken time to tell me about Pearl Harbor and the ships actions on sinking the IJN mini sub that was trying to sneak into the harbor. He then taken time to show me what each crew member job was on the 3 or 4 inch gun.... Getting to hear from him made the gun that was sitting next to the Minnesota capital more impactful then just looking at the gun as a monument....

  • @jobejobe9835
    @jobejobe9835 Год назад

    I was in philly . tied up across the pier from bb62's refit in 1982-83, she was such a beautiful ship

  • @billtracht6535
    @billtracht6535 Год назад

    Well Ryan, ...Iowa figured out how to rotate turret 3 on shore power. Very cool. You Battleship Museum ship curators are doing a great, great work doing Semi Re commissioning almost every day, doing what you do. Keep up the good work

  • @jrainey44
    @jrainey44 Год назад

    I heard you mention Upper Handling room. In 1987, I got my middle finger and part of my thumb snatched off in the projectile hoist of Mt.52, 5/38. Balboa naval hospital did a great job putting my hand back together. The projectile hoist was a very dangerous piece of equipment, especially if the safety devices were slightly out of adjustment.

  • @DavidSmith-cx8dg
    @DavidSmith-cx8dg Год назад +1

    An interesting subject , to satisfy the efforts of acquiring and everything the ship you need as many visitors as possible but they need interesting things to look at and to be safe . It's a big job and one that carries on to this day . From Ryan's videos on this channel it looks like some good choices have been made over the years .I was once involved in thevery early stages of a project with two ships laid up for a few years and it was an unforgettable experience .

  • @ryancaughill5662
    @ryancaughill5662 Год назад

    I have been here once as a Sea Cadet in 2012 for 7 days. Much bigger than my ships here in Buffalo! I can happily report I should be back in October!

  • @ronanvave560
    @ronanvave560 Год назад

    You guys have done an excellent job of keeping the Big J/Black Dragon looking as big and proud since she was launched. Sure the others who take care of the rest of the Iowas do as well, but I think you've done the best job yet.

  • @cdburner5911
    @cdburner5911 Год назад

    From the perspective of someone who has seen a few museum ships, looking at what would excite me most about seeing a new ship would be focusing on things that aren't on, or aren't open, on other ships. Unique spaces. I imagine this would be much easier on a battleship because there is just so many things on it. Or possibly reactivating (in a limited capacity) things on the ship. Not sure the feasibility, but being able to hand crank or electronically lay a gun, even within a very small amount, would be very cool. Or seeing a demonstration of loading. Seeing a powder or shell hoist working. On smaller, simpler ships having periodic events of starting the engines/boilers.
    Also, I think having a scale cutaway model commissioned would be awesome. A model that's 4-8 feet long, each deck laid out so you can look in, labeled and model decorated. Id find that neat.

  • @jdrhc63we67
    @jdrhc63we67 Год назад +4

    The engineering spaces particularly the electrical systems are the most interesting to me but I'm currently serving as a electrician so that could have something to do with that

  • @SteamboatWilley
    @SteamboatWilley Год назад +1

    As an engineer, I always want to see the engine room, but I understand why some ships have difficulty providing access. HMS Belfast has access to most of the machinery spaces, but by contrast HMY Britannia has nothing open at all and you can only glimpse the engine room through a window. The difference there is most normies who visit her will be more interested in the owner's accommodation. The Kyles at the Scottish Maritime Museum also had a bulkhead cut away so you could see into the engine room. When I first visited Maid of the Loch many years ago, the engine room was blocked off, but it has been opened up, so you can see the engine as her passengers would have, but you can't get in about it. Same goes for Wingfield Castle in Hartlepool.

  • @chuckm6592
    @chuckm6592 Год назад

    I will start by saying that I think it is great that warships like the New Jersey have been saved and are now museums. I remember when it was first announced that BB62 was coming home. There was an actual website from someone on the tug bringing BB62 from Bremerton to Philly/Camden, giving daily updates on the voyage. Was fortunate to get on a tour boat out of Cape May, the day BB62 entered the Delaware Bay. Was an amazing site to see even in the state she was in at that time. There were a couple of men who served on BB62 at different times, and it was interesting hearing them talking about the changes made from when they served on her. My first visit to BB62 as a museum, I took my gf since we were seeing a concert venue next door later that evening. Took a guided tour and was surprised when our names were called and we were the only ones. I even asked, if anyone else was coming on on the tour. Was like a personal guided tour, and even though a lot was not open yet, it was so informative that I had an even bigger respect for the men that served on the ship. And seeing all of the changes that were made through the years. I have tried to tour BB62 a few times every year since I live near Cape May NJ, as more parts of the ship have been opened. Unfortunately, haven't visited since the pandemic, so I am over due. Will definitely be back, this summer. Keep up the good work!

  • @mikem5043
    @mikem5043 Год назад +2

    I would think the bridge would be a highly sought after destination for tourists. It would be for me

  • @albertkinney8021
    @albertkinney8021 Год назад

    I got out of the Navy in 1980 because I couldn't get orders to the mighty Mo I wanted to experience a battleship before she was decommissioned for the last time. Love me a dredknot oh well did 2 tours halfway around the world on a cool old Korean class Destroyer. Nice to know this ship is still cared about.

  • @jilldesruisseau
    @jilldesruisseau Год назад

    Living in the northeast, I grew up with Nautilus and Massachusetts and Constitution and was fortunate enough to visit a lot of historic stuff as a kid that started my interest in history. (Thanks, Dad.) While I admit the guns are super cool, and there's really not much as big brass ... as at the guns of an American battleship, seeing how the crew lived, the engineering spaces, the soda fountain on board Massachusetts, stuff like that is really neat to me. People are a decided afterthought on a warship, they get crammed wherever there's space.

  • @kman-mi7su
    @kman-mi7su Год назад +2

    The guns bring the crowds no doubt. Everybody loves a big gunslinger and that's what New Jersey and her sisters were. I remember when Wisconsin was brought to Norfolk. I visited it when it opened for tours and the only thing you could do was walk the deck.

  • @EclipseWarlord
    @EclipseWarlord Год назад

    I was sent here by the Sacred Cow Shipyards RUclips channel.
    If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have known there are battleship museums.

  • @samsmith2635
    @samsmith2635 6 месяцев назад

    The "Museum Fleet" is probably the best perspective to take in regards to learning and preservation.

  • @18robsmith
    @18robsmith Год назад +1

    Fascinating to hear some of the history of New Jersey as a museum, including the "errors" in the "must do" list.
    Ryan asks what would my priority be if I were given a "new" museum ship.... The ice-cream machine, followed by the galley and heads. This is on the basis that having travelled a few hours to get to a museum (ship or otherwise) the first thing I want is some form of refreshment, then to make space for the forthcoming tour, and the last thing is some refreshment and to to make space for the journey home.

  • @jerryd492
    @jerryd492 Год назад

    Had a chance years ago to visit the museum, and I enjoyed it very much - keep up the good work!

  • @coreyb4073
    @coreyb4073 Год назад +2

    The thing that struck me most about my local iowa (actually, iowa) was the conning tower door. I don't know how deep they are into the ship now, I remember it being mostly top deck and up. Thinking about going back soon

  • @rayvaul3539
    @rayvaul3539 Год назад

    My dad works for an aircraft simulator making company for air force pilots. I think it would be so fun for him to find out if the New Jersey gets recommissioned as a warship again but with some advanced modifications or recommissioned to sail and demonstrate fire once in a while! But for a second I thought the title was serious but quickly realized that it was for hypothesis. 😄
    And I find it so American to make a battleship shell into a bench! Absolutely nice! 😂

  • @Tomcatntbird
    @Tomcatntbird Год назад

    Since I was in the US Navy for 8 years, 3 deployments, 4 ships, and 2 decommissioning, a couple things. When a ship is peirside, the reduction gears that transfer power/torque to the props is disengaged and and electric motor known to sailors as a turning gear, keeps the shafts of the ship rotate slowly so they don't sag under their own weight. This was the USS Texas main major vibration problem. Second, theirs documentation of what and where all items and equipment went during the decom. I think it might be beneficial to know what equipment specifically was off loaded. That way you know what to seek out to replace. Third, I think the US Navy should consider taking these marvels out to sea once every couple or so years. To maintain material conditions an operational efficiency and effectiveness. Unless they aren't ever going to reactivate any of them. Even sell tickets to go underway on a battleship. I'm sure there would be an immediate waiting list.

  • @stephenallen4374
    @stephenallen4374 Год назад +1

    Thanks man for your dedication and you excellent detailed work 👍

  • @kylebitting8218
    @kylebitting8218 Год назад

    Stayed on the New Jersey when I was in scouts

  • @johnmoran8805
    @johnmoran8805 Год назад

    Pretty cool video. Thank you. Missouri could still light up Pearl. She was decommissioned 3 months before I toured her.

  • @Jaykilyourbrain
    @Jaykilyourbrain Год назад +2

    My left ear enjoyed this!

  • @schwenke069
    @schwenke069 Год назад +2

    Hoping for us that you'll never leave your curator job. Hoping for you that you advance ... whatever that may mean.

  • @TheProdigalCat
    @TheProdigalCat Год назад +1

    My left ear loved this.

  • @truthsayers8725
    @truthsayers8725 Год назад

    while i doubt ill ever be able to visit all of the Iowas i will say that USS Massachusetts BB59 absolutely blew me away when i was 8yr old, which was incidentally the 8th year it was a museum. im sure opening as soon as it did after WWII and Korea helped to 'keep' stuff on board but i dont know.
    i love your videos and i love the work you all have been doing on her. maybe one day ill make it back out east to visit

  • @robertgutheridge9672
    @robertgutheridge9672 Год назад +2

    That you keep and show the ship in her final configuration I would assume helps make the ship more complete as more equipment would be available compared to trying to find 1940's era equipment.

  • @patriotic80
    @patriotic80 Год назад +1

    If they brought back an Iowa I would volunteer in a sec.🤘🇺🇸🤘

  • @TheHylianBatman
    @TheHylianBatman Год назад +2

    In the study of history, we call that historiography.
    My first priorities would simply be making sure that we have plenty of the stuff we need. Making sure, on a surface level, we'll be ready to go. And knowledge; I'd want somebody who knows what they're doing.
    I wonder how often Ryan meets up with his fellow curators? That seems like there should be an annual conference or something.

    • @jimmiles33
      @jimmiles33 Год назад +1

      Yeah it’s called HNSA. This year USS Slater is hosting.
      And the ships are in very frequent contact with each other on several different levels.

    • @TheHylianBatman
      @TheHylianBatman Год назад

      @@jimmiles33 Thanks!

  • @robertphillips6296
    @robertphillips6296 Год назад +1

    The New Jersey is fast approaching it's 100th Birthday!

  • @MySafetyisntHere
    @MySafetyisntHere Год назад +1

    my left ear really enjoyed this video

  • @PixelmechanicYYZ
    @PixelmechanicYYZ Год назад +2

    Iowa seems to be getting a lot of their turret systems working (ie rotating shell ring, gypsy head capstans, gun director rotation, etc..) is that just a factor of her condition when she was brought to LA, does she have more shore power capacity, etc..?

  • @Yeltrah
    @Yeltrah Год назад +12

    I am only getting audio in my left speaker. Anyone else having this problem?

    • @Ser_Redshirt
      @Ser_Redshirt Год назад +3

      Yeah, it's very distracting.

    • @chrisp2096
      @chrisp2096 Год назад

      yeah, i thought that my headphones were broken

  • @aldolajak1267
    @aldolajak1267 Год назад

    Daaaang !!!!! When we visited in September 2022, I did not see that 16 inch projectile (shell), on the grass just behind the south end of the visitor center, that Ryan is sitting on. I would have loved to have my photo taken sitting on it. It's a great shot with turrets #1 and #2, and the BB-62 superstructure in the background.
    Nice mention of USS North Carolina (BB-55), (thank you James Craig), the only other sacred freedom preserving battleship, (and Iowa Class predecessor), that we have visited. (At my age, on my bucket list, are the USS Constitution, and maybe the next dry-docking of New Jersey.)
    Advice: US Naval Museum Ship Curator boot camp, week two: Dealing with Cub Scout tours.

  • @Ralph-yn3gr
    @Ralph-yn3gr Год назад +3

    The first thing I'd do if I inherited a ship to be turned into a museum is focus on is hiring people who know what they are doing. I don't know anything about preserving historical artefacts or ships and wouldn't know where to start.

  • @denniscahill9683
    @denniscahill9683 Год назад

    A WONDERFUL video..."behind the scenes" is always welcome -- and Ryan is a national treasure

  • @romanace3432
    @romanace3432 Год назад

    My dad when I was very young seen the New Jersey as a truck driver when it was going to Camden we moved out of nj when I was 7

  • @brianwilson3458
    @brianwilson3458 Год назад +5

    Ryan deserves a captains hat

  • @Normandy1944
    @Normandy1944 Год назад +1

    I was no fan of the guided tours as someone who had been on a number of free lance self guided ships prior (Alabama, Yorktown & N Carolina for ex.). The stated reasons you say Ryan are the ones I got when I questioned it. I wasn't happy, but I told them they needed to go to other ships, to include the Olympia just across the river, to see how its done. I read a lot and look at the details of stuff, I don't want a fluff tour...it didn't give you the time to catch the details.
    The Wisconsin was a self guide, even though it took the Navy years to decommission the CSC. I did a couple of the original back of house tours on Missouri, you got this neat little Passport stamped with all the areas you privately toured...now its wide open. I've also been down in the Texas to its manual 4 wheel steering gear, hard hat and all, you could smell the rust, thank goodness she's in dry dock getting that rectified. I've been in or on about another 15 or so ships to include U-505 and I have more I want to visit.

  • @christopherrasmussen8718
    @christopherrasmussen8718 Год назад

    I’ve been in Navy chats saying all the money in the Littorals that had been wasted ought to go into these hulls, I wish I still lived up there. I was in the fleet when they came back. Knew plenty of young sailors who had a turn on them. I took wish I had a chance. Tin can sailor 😊

  • @bradyeverett9225
    @bradyeverett9225 Год назад

    Having been aboard New Jersey Ryan, I agree it is far and away the most complete! Not even close! Missouri is good as well, Iowa is decent but a lot (barbettes, gunhouses, engineering) is not public-access frustratingly, and Wisconsin has a LONG way to go. Also totally agree on self-guided being my preferred way of exploring the ship. Docents are great, but I've seen so many of y'all's videos I already know so much of what they're talking about.

  • @Cheesy_Garlic_Bread
    @Cheesy_Garlic_Bread Год назад

    First thing I’d worry about is hill integrity and water intrusion, then I’d focus on what makes that ship unique. For the BB I agree with the guns. For a DD maybe the bridge and engine room. The guns I would slap some paint on it, grease what you can and come back. Same with the torp launchers. Maybe make a mock torp out of a dock pilling until you can get something better? Fix the walkway for your future tour as well. Can’t have a tour of the stairs have rotted away. From there I’d just clean up what I can. Paint what needed, grease what you can (door hinges, etc), and start putting things together as the budget permits.

  • @kapenacummings9925
    @kapenacummings9925 Год назад

    That’s true about the Missouri it’s here in Hawaii I’ve been on the ship couple times wish more was open but it’s like you said hard for things to come here by boat I mean look how long it took them to get a blue Angel here to the aviation museum

  • @SovietDictator
    @SovietDictator Год назад +1

    First thing I'd do to physically prepare the ship is make sure we were solidly moored and had a way to board/disembark.

  • @EM-hb6sl
    @EM-hb6sl Год назад

    Recommend getting the galley, fridges, freezers and main mess hall up and working with staff. To feed said visitors for cost ( employees as well for nominal fee.)

  • @barrywilkinson3420
    @barrywilkinson3420 Год назад

    My son was an OS2 on this ship in the mid 80s.

  • @Ehrandil
    @Ehrandil Год назад

    This was an extremely interesting topic! Thanks for covering it.