I was Turret 1 Officer Dec. 1988-1989. Last time I toured the New Jersey, for the life of me I couldn’t remember how to get into our penthouse. I asked a couple of docents and they had no idea what I was talking about. GMG1 Brown spent a lot of time up there, probably did most of the painting and the yoga art.
About the tompions, we had 2 sets, the black ones were the "dress" ones and there were a second set that were painted all grey for day to day use. In fowl weather we put a heavy duty weather proof bag over the muzzles for additional water proofing. The bag could also be used during condition 3 watches instead of the tompions as, in an emergency, the could be blown off using the guns gas ejection air when loading. We never blew them off in reality but it was a known procedure. Fun fact, if you go through the catacombs to the bottom of the the turret where the wires come into the central column of the Turret you will see some names written there from the gunners back in WWII.
@@pville_piper5125 Do you remember launching a basketball or two during unrep, using gas eject air? Before my time. I never knew for sure which stories were true.
I did get to experience tasting the glucose...recoil system fluid? My poor brain. Wish I still had the turret manual. I loaned it to someone in good faith. Oops.
@@georgeganahl5874 no, never heard of doing that but I can see someone doing that on a lark. Supposedly you could shoot a golf ball out of a 40mm saluting gun... However, a golfball is 42mm in diameter.
Hey! Thank for posting. 2 questions about Alabama. Why is Broadway inaccessible on the Alabama? Why are there no hard hat tours or some equivalent way to see the parts of the ship that are not on the tour routes.
When I did Temporary Assigned Duty TAD on our carrier I was an MAA. One of my duties was to explore hidden spaces for unauthorized bedding and food stashes and contraband. That might have been one of those at one time.
@@jarvisfamily3837 fun fact, during a captains inspection of the Turret a condom was found in the left sight setters station in Turret 1. The captain had a good laugh over it. The sight setters stations were much more accessible...
@@pville_piper5125I know *exactly* how that conversation went, at least when it got down to the division officer level. Department Head: "Mr. Xxx - you will secure the turret and all entrances at knockoff every day, without fail, and you will report accomplishment of same when you deliver the keys to me. Do I make myself clear?". Div O: "Yessir". I had a similar conversation with my department head when he found the OS's were using Combat to entertain their girlfriends.
My great grandfather would sleep in the gun turret of the USS HOLT a destroyer escort during his time of the Pacific theater. The story I've been told the reason he did this was due to how hot it was below deck.
Ryan, I was an electrician for 5 years 00-05 in the Navy. All equipment cables should have a metal cable tag the has a tac number on it of where it gets its power. The tac number is usually the designation of where the fuse box is and what fuse bank is associated with the equipment.
@Henry Boyter well I would love to help Ryan with these ships. I offered my skills to the Battleship Texas, but from what i suggested to replace the power cables and such to the turrets, so they can move on their own, the people in the foundation said, they didn't want to take any historical components from the ship. I have no idea how electrical cables can be historic, but whatever
@@Tomcatntbird wiring can most certainly be historic, and if it’s original to construction then there’s a good argument to be made that leaving it is the correct decision. These ships should be conserved and modified only out of necessity, particularly the older they are. I suspect that they gave you that excuse because operating the turrets is not as simple as replacing wires, and as Ryan has said in countless videos, is not something that’s really practical or worth investing in considering how many other projects all museum ships have.
@@HE-162 There is also questions of what those wires might be wrapped in beyond what we might expect for insulation. Pulling off wires in an old warship could possibly mutate into an asbestos mitigation project.
Wow, tampions are what those are called, huh? Former Army guy here . . We just called the ones we used on our tanks "muzzle plugs". Pretty cool stuff . . . And honestly, no, I'm not too surprised that you're still finding "new" spaces every now and then. She's a very BIG ship!
Might be nice if you can share the dimensions. I'm sure someone would volunteer to make new ones. I know I would if i have the woodworking equipment. And also not suprised about the discoveries. I remember an earlier video talking about the number of compartments in New Jersey, which I guess is approximate from the as-builts to now after all the refits and remodelling.
I was curious, and I checked. Apparently it can be spelled either way; "tompion" is the Royal Navy way, but you can find it in various dictionaries online spelled both ways. But they'll always be "muzzle plugs" to me. The first trainings you've had is always the one that sticks with you, and the one you use to compare everything else to
@@Supersean0001 You have to remember our Navy's heritage. While the Colonies were British, our allied partner that gave us our first Naval ships were French. So both spellings of 'Tampion' and 'Tampon' are correct for this object, since both words mean the same thing and the English 'Tampion' crossed the channel from France during that time period when Brittany was English... history is interesting.
Last time I saw the New Jersey was in Subic Bay Phillipines in 1980s. Compared to our Carrier it was barely out of the water. It was like seeing history sail by me. I still have the picture in my mind to this day.
While I won't disclose my exact job, I maintained a lot of large electrical equipment in the Air Force. I had a nice hidey hole behind one of our UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). This UPS had 40 car batteries in it for scale, and we kept a big roll of make your own air filter mesh behind it, which made a great pillow for the night shift maintenance guys to take a nap after the work had been done.
I've been on ships where spaces have been adapted like that , when most of the class just have a grey void compartment , a handy hideaway or storage off the beaten track . I expect there are a few more yet on a ship like New Jersey .
My brother, on the Midway class FDR in the med in the sixties, said some guys got a freezer and wired it up in one of these secret unused compartments, and started selling ice. He said ice was hard to come by and people would pay for it, on that 1940s ship cruising the Med in the late 60s.
Because they are unofficial many of these little hideyholes aren't cleared out when ships are destored prior to refit or decommissioning so there may yet be more interesting things to find .
My time on a ship I was assigned to after steering during drills. This was a small compartment above the rudder that was manned in case somehow the bridge couldn't control the rudders, they could be controlled manually by us, a two man crew. It got very stale down there during drills, and if it was an extended time, a bed would have been a great luxury. I have no doubt that on that battleship, many boring hours were spent locked up and on "standby". So yes, beds where you could snooze until needed was a thing.
What's cool about seeing spaces on this ship is that sailors actually lived, breathed, and saw combat in these spaces. The conversations that must have happened there. Mer personally, I used to be assigned to aftersteering during GQ. It was a cramped space I shared with one other person. We usually just played a lot of card games waiting for an order...
I think that it is both wonderful that your curiosity and training lead you to be able to interpret such a space, and also how wonderful that someone managed to make a space on a battle ship 'their own' - what a wonderful discovery. Bravo.
For a guy who claims to not speak American very well, you sure do communicate in a very clear manner. Way to overcome a shortcoming (lol). Keep the videos coming, they are educational in the best way.
Was an electrician for 50 enjoyable years and had two drawn out treasure hunts attempting to locate a blown fuse. Had 12 two hundred feet long production lines starting at a hot room then thru two more rooms to an cool room that had switches at each line to signal people at discharge room to ring a bell & signal light to tell them it was break, lunch or a problem. Everything was feed from a 480 to 120 volt transformer Had well over a thousand foot of conduit that ran thru large junction boxes. Took over 35 man hours to find the blown fuse. Corner cutting lazy electrician installed two 600 volt fuses inside of a 4 & 11/16" junction box 25' in the air then put cardboard over them to prevent shorts. Of course it was the last of over 75 boxes that electric shop opened up. Another time boss asked us to locate where two 277 volt lightning circuit breakers originated from. We shut off every 277 & 480 volt circuit breaker within 500 ' of switches on a Saturday night and never located source. 5 years later when we removed a cover from a 800 amp 480 volt panel that only had three pole ( 3 phase ) circuit breakers found same lazy corner cutting electrician installed a two fuse holder inside of panel with two 20 amp fuses. Was an older building where down the road they installed 6 by 6' duct work over several 3' by 3' junction boxes that had up to 40 1/2 &3/4" conduits going everywhere. When boss told me to hurry up then asked me how long before a problem was troubleshoot and repaired would tell him point blank that I'm Tom the electrician not Tom the magician.
The room was white when I was on board from 84-89. It can be reached from the gun room by climbing across the powder door using the hand hold above it. The artwork may have been painted by GMG2 Cleveland. If you're feeling lazy and the gun is at bristle (32 degrees) you can extend the cradle like a bridge and walk across. The penthouse at one time had a section of the red carpet that was laid down for President Regan during commissioning. The penthouse was often used as a kick back place on duty day in port or a occasionally place to bring your girlfriend/wife...
Ryan, it is really great that you really like your job. I had not heard the word "skate" for a long time. A place to skate: inaccessible, out of the way, and what was missing the most: "personalized space." Thank you for a fascinating episode.
I don't know if you had to learn a dead language, but sailors have their own vernacular, their own technical terminology, and their own colorful language. I think you nailed it from an educational perspective.
Worth a look at "Jackspeak": A guide to British Naval slang & usage by Rick Jolly. Yes I know it is British, but a lot of the terms are the same, or at least derived from the same source.
That Sailor art looks like symbolized Chakras to me, so it most likely was a Yogi sailor! The big ball in the middle represents the solar plexus. ;) Namasté from Germany! ;)
look at the massive riveting on that deckhead lap joint!!!!! really nice work!! - great finding all that gun stuff too!!😊😊😊 thats a great nest for a card school!! and a great scivving parlour to avoid work - jst stagger out dirty an tired at chow time.....
There are several WWII battlefields in the Pacific theater that are still yet undocumented. I remember reading a few years back that they had finally found one of the battlefields in the PNG campaign and there are still more to be located on that island as well as quite a few dealing with the Marauders and other units in the Burma region. Closer to home there are hundreds of battles between the army and native populations that are undocumented, or unlocated.
Reading Patrick O'Brian - the first command before commencing a firing exercise was "Out Tompions", before running out the guns. They kept the cannon loaded, and plugged, so they didn't have to load them if they needed them quickly. Interesting that there still are Gunner's Mates.
I don't give two HOOTS about Naval ships or sailing or military or anything aquatic, but damn you keep me riveted to the channel with such interesting topics.
"We can't use the guns anyway". That would make for one heck of a re-enactment display for a museum ship, to fire off 16-inch 'blanks 😮😅 Has any thought ever been given to the idea of creating a virtual reality experience, or even "Augmented Reality" in turret spaces, with animation of a full gun turret crew in action? Where the POV can travel through the various decks, and the gun houses. There are of course historical training films, and various Navy "PR" films, but they lack the visceral quality of being "in the action"... It would probably need to be done so that it would be viewed in a separate "theater space" for safety, but it would be fascinating I think...
The Jersey pulled into Hawaii one memorial day weekend. I left the ship that Monday morning for a bit of liberty call and was shock because there were a hundred or so people sitting around staring at the ship. I asked a group of them what they were doing and they said that they were there to see the Jersey firing her guns in a salute... They were a little disappointed when I told them that they were going to fire the 40mm saluting battery. 😂 Besides, the admiral would get pissed at having to replace the bases windows, not to mention the damage it would do the pier when we fired over it!
Glad you made your childhood dream become reality. But regarding the contemporary archeologie statement, I'm not sure about WW2 but there is a lot of archeologie for WW1, not just on the was places like the eastern front or Arabia, but especially in flanders and France, and I mean we sure know where those battles happened, so I think, if you can still dig up tons of stuff from fix trenchlines, I'm kinda sure you'd be able to find a lot of stuff in the sand of tiny remote islands across the vastes space on the planet. It's just harder to find and maybe less interesting, since there is so much mint condition stuff around, and still people around. But there may still be much to find and learn, not about the battles, but the lives of the soliders, and when no one is around to tell the stories anymore, people will start to dig up the history, to get closer. Like it happend with WW1.
@inyobill very true unfortunately, were live in Tuscany it is about 45 km to reach the Gothic Line, I visited some of those places roughly 25 years ago but 2 years ago I visited those same places but now it is almost devoid of 2nd WW German artifacts compered to 25 years ago. Sad indeed...
I served for a year on Angaur island in the early 70s. Seven miles away was the island of Peleliu. The Japanese on these two islands holed up in caves and refused to come out. In order to move forward, the Marines just sealed up the caves with concrete. No doubt to this day there are plenty of war souvenirs. I actually found one of those caves and excavated various things, like boot soles (the upper leather had long ago rotted), toothbrushes, buttons, and I found human bones. And this was in a cave that had not been sealed.
The tampions were easily identified. What other things were in there that could be identified without opening packages? Looking at the black rings, I am guessing they were tampion gaskets.
I was a Navy Recruiter in New Jersey and part of a celebration where two local candy makers presented a huge heart filled with individual chocolate boxes for each crew member of the Battleship New Jersey for Valentines Day.
Back in the late 70's the new jersey was in dock in Bremington, WA at dock, I was hired to remove the parts from the ship for inventory control. I was amaze that a bearing casing was at the very top of the ship in a small room the casing I'm guessing was a round a ton in weight and I do mean it was on top of the ship, we got it out of there not easy, but I still can't figure how the hell they would of gotten it out at sea for repair!!!!!!!
Ryan do not ever give up your job that you have on the USS New Jersey. You have the dream job that 10's of millions of young men would love to have over the many decades of the New Jersey & her history. I am looking forward to visiting the USS Orleck soon that just opened here in my hometown Jacksonville. PJ
Fascinating that soldiers (sailors) could find anywhere that they could personalize, these are the best videos, as you said hereto unexplored and somewhat unexplained spaces 👍
Yes, mixing two different paint types is a no no and will cause this. Happened to me in the 70's when I had to repaint some doors in our hanger. Didn't know anything about paints (just used what they gave me) and all the new paint just peeled up after awhile.
@@johnknapp952 Normally that is not a problem. Oil based paint was used exclusively on metal for many years. You can paint latex over oil but not vice a versa, oil base is very rigid but latex is in effect a form of rubber, it can expand and contract and oil base can't take that. Also peeling can come from not cleaning before painting, everybody likes painting, every body hates preparation and clean up. Also flat paint is easy to paint over and it looks good, but gloss finish paint you have to sand or scuff up so it will adhere, also unless your really careful gloss will show up every brush stroke and mistake as it drys.
I was at Schofield Barracks. in Hawai'i in 1984-1985. The navy was doing a Pacific exercise, Pearl Harbor had 120-130 ships in it. The most since WW2, the Navy brought out three hotels. I know the New Jersey was there that year, though I did not have a chance to go on board. I wish I could have, still she was very impressive looking at her from the dock. Hopefully sometime in the future I can. It's on my bucket list.
A great place to scratch the archeology itch is the old Endicott forts that can be found around the country. Invariably the major structures are maintained on the tour route while other minor, but still interesting features remain hidden in the weeds.
That the two 'tone grey and bolt holes wall' has 2 visible light fixtures & a switchbox would suggest there was a deliberate intent for someone to use that space.
It would be pretty cool to have you go to an island that NJ visited during a battle and give a curators perspective and synopsis on the battle she was in from the actual location.
Ryan, I met an Iowa gunner last weekend who works at the Chenault Air Museum in Monroe Louisiana. He confirmed a lot of your information about this little area.
I was just thinking about the plugs the other day after watching a video. I grew up near Bremerton and im 99% sure I remember a round steel cap being welded over the muzzle. I do remember them having a star too (on Missouri)
Videos with sailor art are always highlights. If you do future collaboration videos with other museum ships it would be cool to see what other crews made.
The spaces your showing appear to have been intentionally painted those colors. During my service (different ship) we could have used two different 'whites', one was called 30 and I'm not sure if the other was 28. One of these was so glaringly white that some lights could be turned off. The other would appear white until it was compaired to something else, usually a sheet of paper. Additionally it would age quickly to a yellow that would require repainting. But a way of improving the 'white' perception was to add a splash of blue paint to a 5 gallon can of white. Like bluing agents in laundry soaps? The anecdote given to us was that instead of a splash of blue , the entire pint (less than a half liter) of blue was added to the 5 gallon bucket of paint. The result was a baby-blue engine room, which they were reported to have been made to paint over. So besides the color coding of water piping it's in keeping with the availability of blue paint aboard ship.
Amazing tour of the Engine Room yesterday. Ryan thanks for being an awsome host and great guide. Let us know if you ever figure out what the tubes next to the Sperry Gyro compass are for. My buddy and I debated that though dinner. Interested what you came up with!
I was told the crews of each turret rotated to man each turret like one week, the crew of turret one would man turret 2, than the crew of 2 manned 3 and 3 did 1 than the following week it was a different turret. I heard it's Incase someone had to fill in they knew every turret layout. Is that true?
If you're interested in WW2 archaeology, Ryan, have you ever been to War In the Pacific National Monument, in Guam? I highly recommend it, both the museum and the sites around the island! One fascinating artifact they have is a kohyoteki, fairly well-preserved, that washed ashore after its inevitable failure to remain seaworthy and subsequent abandonment!
Aboard the California Cgn 36 we made sleeping areas in the missile house during condition 2 cruising. Made gearing the launcher up a matter of seconds.
Still want to know if the guns have their names painted above the breaches they had "Pete " Repeat " and " Ditto" when I did a tour in 1985 right after she came out of dry dock in long Beach.
@@elricmoorcock I was referring to an incident where the bags had broken open and the conventional wisdom that the powder would get soaked when immersed in water. Getting salt water in the barrels was more of a corrosion issue than anything thing else. The guns were loaded at 5 degrees elevation, when you opened the breach, any fluid such as CLP would pour into the gunpits. Besides the fact that we checked the bores in preparation for shooting.
I understand. On a side note, Hodgdon powder company used to keep their original formula in a jug full of water. Taking it out every so often for QC comparisons.@@pville_piper5125
"We can't use the guns anyways" well not with that attitude you can't. Remember, YOU'RE the one with the battleship. I doubt the noise ordinance people have one 🤣🤣 All you need is a feisty privateer crew of errant historians and archeologists.
You, and smaller people, should make it a thing to go bow to stern, into every, room, hatch, nook and overhead, and see who can find the most places or "stuff".
Indiana Ryan and The Temple of Boom.
No camels!
@@davidschick6951 That's what happens after the booom.
Maybe Iowa Ryan or New Jersey Ryan to get one more reference in there!
More like Jersey Szimanski and the Ship of Surprises.
That belongs in a museum!
… oh wait!!
I was Turret 1 Officer Dec. 1988-1989. Last time I toured the New Jersey, for the life of me I couldn’t remember how to get into our penthouse. I asked a couple of docents and they had no idea what I was talking about.
GMG1 Brown spent a lot of time up there, probably did most of the painting and the yoga art.
Now this is a really nice comment. This is "meat" for us. lol
Now if we could only find GMG1.
That was a terrific and useful post. Thanks for contributing that.👍👍👍👌👌👌
If my memory is correct (I won’t count on it) there might be a Yin/Yang symbol under the blue paint on the overhead.
Should have done a bit more surface prep before slapping on that blue paint, by the looks of it!
@@charlestoast4051 These are Gunner’s Mates doing paint, not Boatswain’s Mates :-)
About the tompions, we had 2 sets, the black ones were the "dress" ones and there were a second set that were painted all grey for day to day use. In fowl weather we put a heavy duty weather proof bag over the muzzles for additional water proofing.
The bag could also be used during condition 3 watches instead of the tompions as, in an emergency, the could be blown off using the guns gas ejection air when loading.
We never blew them off in reality but it was a known procedure.
Fun fact, if you go through the catacombs to the bottom of the the turret where the wires come into the central column of the Turret you will see some names written there from the gunners back in WWII.
*foul as in bad or poor. Fowl refers to birds.
@@Riceball01 it was raining ducks and gulls...
@@pville_piper5125 Do you remember launching a basketball or two during unrep, using gas eject air? Before my time. I never knew for sure which stories were true.
I did get to experience tasting the glucose...recoil system fluid? My poor brain. Wish I still had the turret manual. I loaned it to someone in good faith. Oops.
@@georgeganahl5874 no, never heard of doing that but I can see someone doing that on a lark. Supposedly you could shoot a golf ball out of a 40mm saluting gun... However, a golfball is 42mm in diameter.
Fun fact, the penthouse in the turrets of the USS Alabama still have their bunks or at least they did when I was volunteering on board in 2016
Hey! Thank for posting. 2 questions about Alabama. Why is Broadway inaccessible on the Alabama? Why are there no hard hat tours or some equivalent way to see the parts of the ship that are not on the tour routes.
What's so "fun" about that?
@@mejservices4112 insurance liability and lack of knowledgeable volunteers to run such tours would be the main reasons.
Hey I live in Mobile how do I go into turns to the penthouse
When I did Temporary Assigned Duty TAD on our carrier I was an MAA. One of my duties was to explore hidden spaces for unauthorized bedding and food stashes and contraband. That might have been one of those at one time.
War. War never changes
I was thinking that might have been used in-port as a "grinder". An enterprising sailor can always find a place to entertain a girlfriend...
@@jarvisfamily3837 fun fact, during a captains inspection of the Turret a condom was found in the left sight setters station in Turret 1. The captain had a good laugh over it.
The sight setters stations were much more accessible...
@@pville_piper5125I know *exactly* how that conversation went, at least when it got down to the division officer level. Department Head: "Mr. Xxx - you will secure the turret and all entrances at knockoff every day, without fail, and you will report accomplishment of same when you deliver the keys to me. Do I make myself clear?". Div O: "Yessir". I had a similar conversation with my department head when he found the OS's were using Combat to entertain their girlfriends.
@@jarvisfamily3837 Or, in some cases, a boyfriend.
My great grandfather would sleep in the gun turret of the USS HOLT a destroyer escort during his time of the Pacific theater. The story I've been told the reason he did this was due to how hot it was below deck.
Ryan, I was an electrician for 5 years 00-05 in the Navy. All equipment cables should have a metal cable tag the has a tac number on it of where it gets its power. The tac number is usually the designation of where the fuse box is and what fuse bank is associated with the equipment.
They should call you.
@Henry Boyter well I would love to help Ryan with these ships. I offered my skills to the Battleship Texas, but from what i suggested to replace the power cables and such to the turrets, so they can move on their own, the people in the foundation said, they didn't want to take any historical components from the ship. I have no idea how electrical cables can be historic, but whatever
@@Tomcatntbird 🤔 Ship of Theseus 🤷♂️
@@Tomcatntbird wiring can most certainly be historic, and if it’s original to construction then there’s a good argument to be made that leaving it is the correct decision. These ships should be conserved and modified only out of necessity, particularly the older they are. I suspect that they gave you that excuse because operating the turrets is not as simple as replacing wires, and as Ryan has said in countless videos, is not something that’s really practical or worth investing in considering how many other projects all museum ships have.
@@HE-162 There is also questions of what those wires might be wrapped in beyond what we might expect for insulation. Pulling off wires in an old warship could possibly mutate into an asbestos mitigation project.
Sounds like a trip to the penthouses in turret 2 and 3 are up next. You might be in possession of a complete set of tampions and not know it!
Wow, tampions are what those are called, huh? Former Army guy here . . We just called the ones we used on our tanks "muzzle plugs".
Pretty cool stuff . . . And honestly, no, I'm not too surprised that you're still finding "new" spaces every now and then. She's a very BIG ship!
"Tompion" with an "O".
Might be nice if you can share the dimensions. I'm sure someone would volunteer to make new ones. I know I would if i have the woodworking equipment. And also not suprised about the discoveries. I remember an earlier video talking about the number of compartments in New Jersey, which I guess is approximate from the as-builts to now after all the refits and remodelling.
I was curious, and I checked. Apparently it can be spelled either way; "tompion" is the Royal Navy way, but you can find it in various dictionaries online spelled both ways.
But they'll always be "muzzle plugs" to me. The first trainings you've had is always the one that sticks with you, and the one you use to compare everything else to
@@Supersean0001 You have to remember our Navy's heritage. While the Colonies were British, our allied partner that gave us our first Naval ships were French. So both spellings of 'Tampion' and 'Tampon' are correct for this object, since both words mean the same thing and the English 'Tampion' crossed the channel from France during that time period when Brittany was English... history is interesting.
@@geneard639 Brittany was never English though. It was a territorial holding for some time, but being ruled by the English doesn't make you English.
Last time I saw the New Jersey was in Subic Bay Phillipines in 1980s. Compared to our Carrier it was barely out of the water. It was like seeing history sail by me. I still have the picture in my mind to this day.
@mike94570 I remember we pulled into San Diego one time and were moored on the carrier pier with carrier fore and aft of us, they towered over us!
For the same reason you are just now discovering it after all this time is why this is the perfect place for a personal space.
While I won't disclose my exact job, I maintained a lot of large electrical equipment in the Air Force. I had a nice hidey hole behind one of our UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). This UPS had 40 car batteries in it for scale, and we kept a big roll of make your own air filter mesh behind it, which made a great pillow for the night shift maintenance guys to take a nap after the work had been done.
I've been on ships where spaces have been adapted like that , when most of the class just have a grey void compartment , a handy hideaway or storage off the beaten track . I expect there are a few more yet on a ship like New Jersey .
My brother, on the Midway class FDR in the med in the sixties, said some guys got a freezer and wired it up in one of these secret unused compartments, and started selling ice. He said ice was hard to come by and people would pay for it, on that 1940s ship cruising the Med in the late 60s.
Because they are unofficial many of these little hideyholes aren't cleared out when ships are destored prior to refit or decommissioning so there may yet be more interesting things to find .
My time on a ship I was assigned to after steering during drills. This was a small compartment above the rudder that was manned in case somehow the bridge couldn't control the rudders, they could be controlled manually by us, a two man crew. It got very stale down there during drills, and if it was an extended time, a bed would have been a great luxury. I have no doubt that on that battleship, many boring hours were spent locked up and on "standby". So yes, beds where you could snooze until needed was a thing.
What's cool about seeing spaces on this ship is that sailors actually lived, breathed, and saw combat in these spaces. The conversations that must have happened there. Mer personally, I used to be assigned to aftersteering during GQ. It was a cramped space I shared with one other person. We usually just played a lot of card games waiting for an order...
I think that it is both wonderful that your curiosity and training lead you to be able to interpret such a space, and also how wonderful that someone managed to make a space on a battle ship 'their own' - what a wonderful discovery. Bravo.
But but... did you fix the bad fuse? Did you trace it out successfully? I must know, don't leave me hanging? lol
And....we'll save THAT for a FUTURE video!
@@JLange642 😂
@@JLange642 lol 😂
I was wondering the exact same thing.
Same here
To boldly go where no Curator has gone before!
For a guy who claims to not speak American very well, you sure do communicate in a very clear manner. Way to overcome a shortcoming (lol). Keep the videos coming, they are educational in the best way.
Was an electrician for 50 enjoyable years and had two drawn out treasure hunts attempting to locate a blown fuse. Had 12 two hundred feet long production lines starting at a hot room then thru two more rooms to an cool room that had switches at each line to signal people at discharge room to ring a bell & signal light to tell them it was break, lunch or a problem. Everything was feed from a 480 to 120 volt transformer Had well over a thousand foot of conduit that ran thru large junction boxes. Took over 35 man hours to find the blown fuse. Corner cutting lazy electrician installed two 600 volt fuses inside of a 4 & 11/16" junction box 25' in the air then put cardboard over them to prevent shorts. Of course it was the last of over 75 boxes that electric shop opened up. Another time boss asked us to locate where two 277 volt lightning circuit breakers originated from. We shut off every 277 & 480 volt circuit breaker within 500 ' of switches on a Saturday night and never located source. 5 years later when we removed a cover from a 800 amp 480 volt panel that only had three pole ( 3 phase ) circuit breakers found same lazy corner cutting electrician installed a two fuse holder inside of panel with two 20 amp fuses. Was an older building where down the road they installed 6 by 6' duct work over several 3' by 3' junction boxes that had up to 40 1/2 &3/4" conduits going everywhere. When boss told me to hurry up then asked me how long before a problem was troubleshoot and repaired would tell him point blank that I'm Tom the electrician not Tom the magician.
Tom the magician causes more problems than he fixes...
*poof* - 💥 and the magic smoke appears!
Yup, the penthouse, that was my gun room.
The room was white when I was on board from 84-89. It can be reached from the gun room by climbing across the powder door using the hand hold above it. The artwork may have been painted by GMG2 Cleveland.
If you're feeling lazy and the gun is at bristle (32 degrees) you can extend the cradle like a bridge and walk across.
The penthouse at one time had a section of the red carpet that was laid down for President Regan during commissioning.
The penthouse was often used as a kick back place on duty day in port or a occasionally place to bring your girlfriend/wife...
@@pville_piper5125 "...girlfriend/wife" - CALLED IT!!!! (see above) 🙂
@@pville_piper5125 just not both at the same time...
@@phalcon23 I can tell you a funny story about that one...
Ryan, it is really great that you really like your job. I had not heard the word "skate" for a long time. A place to skate: inaccessible, out of the way, and what was missing the most: "personalized space." Thank you for a fascinating episode.
I was glad to hear the word "skate" a time honored Marine Corps/Navy term. The best Skates are admired by all, even the leadership (but not out loud).
I don't know if you had to learn a dead language, but sailors have their own vernacular, their own technical terminology, and their own colorful language. I think you nailed it from an educational perspective.
Worth a look at "Jackspeak": A guide to British Naval slang & usage
by Rick Jolly. Yes I know it is British, but a lot of the terms are the same, or at least derived from the same source.
That Sailor art looks like symbolized Chakras to me, so it most likely was a Yogi sailor! The big ball in the middle represents the solar plexus. ;)
Namasté from Germany! ;)
thanks for the info!...lol, i was _wondering_ what it actually meant, because clearly there was meaning behind it. 😎👍
look at the massive riveting on that deckhead lap joint!!!!! really nice work!! - great finding all that gun stuff too!!😊😊😊 thats a great nest for a card school!! and a great scivving parlour to avoid work - jst stagger out dirty an tired at chow time.....
Makes me feel good inside to know such an amazing piece of history is being cared for by someone who truly loves what they do. Good stuff!
There are several WWII battlefields in the Pacific theater that are still yet undocumented. I remember reading a few years back that they had finally found one of the battlefields in the PNG campaign and there are still more to be located on that island as well as quite a few dealing with the Marauders and other units in the Burma region. Closer to home there are hundreds of battles between the army and native populations that are undocumented, or unlocated.
Reading Patrick O'Brian - the first command before commencing a firing exercise was "Out Tompions", before running out the guns. They kept the cannon loaded, and plugged, so they didn't have to load them if they needed them quickly. Interesting that there still are Gunner's Mates.
Pretty cool that after all these years you are still finding stuff
Ryan , looks like you finally got a new Belt...cheers on a great video from the Yoga Penthouse......Paul in Orlando
I don't give two HOOTS about Naval ships or sailing or military or anything aquatic, but damn you keep me riveted to the channel with such interesting topics.
so many secrets on that ship, I'm not giving any up. I spent two years roaming around her from 81-83.
"We can't use the guns anyway". That would make for one heck of a re-enactment display for a museum ship, to fire off 16-inch 'blanks 😮😅
Has any thought ever been given to the idea of creating a virtual reality experience, or even "Augmented Reality" in turret spaces, with animation of a full gun turret crew in action? Where the POV can travel through the various decks, and the gun houses. There are of course historical training films, and various Navy "PR" films, but they lack the visceral quality of being "in the action"...
It would probably need to be done so that it would be viewed in a separate "theater space" for safety, but it would be fascinating I think...
great idea
Definitely
Ryan once said that if they fired a full broadside of the nine 16" guns at full charge, it would blow out every window in Philadelphia.
The Jersey pulled into Hawaii one memorial day weekend. I left the ship that Monday morning for a bit of liberty call and was shock because there were a hundred or so people sitting around staring at the ship.
I asked a group of them what they were doing and they said that they were there to see the Jersey firing her guns in a salute... They were a little disappointed when I told them that they were going to fire the 40mm saluting battery. 😂
Besides, the admiral would get pissed at having to replace the bases windows, not to mention the damage it would do the pier when we fired over it!
Glad you made your childhood dream become reality.
But regarding the contemporary archeologie statement, I'm not sure about WW2 but there is a lot of archeologie for WW1, not just on the was places like the eastern front or Arabia, but especially in flanders and France, and I mean we sure know where those battles happened, so I think, if you can still dig up tons of stuff from fix trenchlines, I'm kinda sure you'd be able to find a lot of stuff in the sand of tiny remote islands across the vastes space on the planet. It's just harder to find and maybe less interesting, since there is so much mint condition stuff around, and still people around. But there may still be much to find and learn, not about the battles, but the lives of the soliders, and when no one is around to tell the stories anymore, people will start to dig up the history, to get closer. Like it happend with WW1.
A lot of WW II sites are being rapidly destroyed by memento seekers with metal detectors.
@inyobill very true unfortunately, were live in Tuscany it is about 45 km to reach the Gothic Line, I visited some of those places roughly 25 years ago but 2 years ago I visited those same places but now it is almost devoid of 2nd WW German artifacts compered to 25 years ago. Sad indeed...
I served for a year on Angaur island in the early 70s. Seven miles away was the island of Peleliu. The Japanese on these two islands holed up in caves and refused to come out. In order to move forward, the Marines just sealed up the caves with concrete. No doubt to this day there are plenty of war souvenirs. I actually found one of those caves and excavated various things, like boot soles (the upper leather had long ago rotted), toothbrushes, buttons, and I found human bones. And this was in a cave that had not been sealed.
Another great video Ryan. You've got me thinking about confined space entry protocols. Might make for another video.
Now I'm imagining the ship almost sinking because it took too long to get a confined space entry permit.
@@user2C47 😂 if you _know_ , you *know!*
Waiting to hear from the guy who painted it blue and the whole story, in the comments. AND, did you find the bad fuse?
The tampions were easily identified. What other things were in there that could be identified without opening packages? Looking at the black rings, I am guessing they were tampion gaskets.
THey look more like coils of hydraulic hose.
@@chrismaverick9828 ~8 ga. electrical cable?
I was a Navy Recruiter in New Jersey and part of a celebration where two local candy makers presented a huge heart filled with individual chocolate boxes for each crew member of the Battleship New Jersey for Valentines Day.
That’s a very nice find and Ryan is a pretty cool guy. I liked his sharing of his childhood dream and the fact that he’s actually living it.
Back in the late 70's the new jersey was in dock in Bremington, WA at dock, I was hired to remove the parts from the ship for inventory control. I was amaze that a bearing casing was at the very top of the ship in a small room the casing I'm guessing was a round a ton in weight and I do mean it was on top of the ship, we got it out of there not easy, but I still can't figure how the hell they would of gotten it out at sea for repair!!!!!!!
You do an awesome job documenting an amazing piece of US naval history. Keep up the great work!
Those tampions,...they belong in a museum!!!!
Oh,...wait. Never mind.
;-)
Ryan do not ever give up your job that you have on the USS New Jersey. You have the dream job that 10's of millions of young men would love to have over the many decades of the New Jersey & her history. I am looking forward to visiting the USS Orleck soon that just opened here in my hometown Jacksonville. PJ
Fascinating that soldiers (sailors) could find anywhere that they could personalize, these are the best videos, as you said hereto unexplored and somewhat unexplained spaces 👍
Lots of time on your hands when you're at sea...
Looking forward to taking a tour of the Iowa this November. I never served, but I respect the hell out of those that did. Thank You!
I would guess that the primer and first paint coats are Lead Based Oil, and the newer peeling coats are latex paints.
Yes, mixing two different paint types is a no no and will cause this. Happened to me in the 70's when I had to repaint some doors in our hanger. Didn't know anything about paints (just used what they gave me) and all the new paint just peeled up after awhile.
@@johnknapp952 Normally that is not a problem. Oil based paint was used exclusively on metal for many years. You can paint latex over oil but not vice a versa, oil base is very rigid but latex is in effect a form of rubber, it can expand and contract and oil base can't take that. Also peeling can come from not cleaning before painting, everybody likes painting, every body hates preparation and clean up. Also flat paint is easy to paint over and it looks good, but gloss finish paint you have to sand or scuff up so it will adhere, also unless your really careful gloss will show up every brush stroke and mistake as it drys.
I was at Schofield Barracks. in Hawai'i in 1984-1985. The navy was doing a Pacific exercise, Pearl Harbor had 120-130 ships in it. The most since WW2, the Navy brought out three hotels. I know the New Jersey was there that year, though I did not have a chance to go on board. I wish I could have, still she was very impressive looking at her from the dock. Hopefully sometime in the future I can. It's on my bucket list.
The comments on these videos are priceless.
What a great man-cave for some sailor.
Ryan’s version of 50 Shades of Grey
A great place to scratch the archeology itch is the old Endicott forts that can be found around the country. Invariably the major structures are maintained on the tour route while other minor, but still interesting features remain hidden in the weeds.
That the two 'tone grey and bolt holes wall' has 2 visible light fixtures & a switchbox would suggest there was a deliberate intent for someone to use that space.
It would be helpful if you showed your location on the ship using the digital blue print of the ship and highlight your position is yellow. Thanks.
New Jersey is a massive vessel. I wonder how many more of these forgotten about places remain.
It would be pretty cool to have you go to an island that NJ visited during a battle and give a curators perspective and synopsis on the battle she was in from the actual location.
I just wanted to say you’re awesome Ryan and hope to make it out there to visit the New Jersey someday.
Ryan, I met an Iowa gunner last weekend who works at the Chenault Air Museum in Monroe Louisiana. He confirmed a lot of your information about this little area.
I was just thinking about the plugs the other day after watching a video. I grew up near Bremerton and im 99% sure I remember a round steel cap being welded over the muzzle. I do remember them having a star too (on Missouri)
Videos with sailor art are always highlights. If you do future collaboration videos with other museum ships it would be cool to see what other crews made.
The spaces your showing appear to have been intentionally painted those colors. During my service (different ship) we could have used two different 'whites', one was called 30 and I'm not sure if the other was 28. One of these was so glaringly white that some lights could be turned off. The other would appear white until it was compaired to something else, usually a sheet of paper. Additionally it would age quickly to a yellow that would require repainting.
But a way of improving the 'white' perception was to add a splash of blue paint to a 5 gallon can of white. Like bluing agents in laundry soaps? The anecdote given to us was that instead of a splash of blue , the entire pint (less than a half liter) of blue was added to the 5 gallon bucket of paint. The result was a baby-blue engine room, which they were reported to have been made to paint over.
So besides the color coding of water piping it's in keeping with the availability of blue paint aboard ship.
You are awesome! Thanks Ryan!
You have the best job in the world 🌎
Amazing tour of the Engine Room yesterday. Ryan thanks for being an awsome host and great guide. Let us know if you ever figure out what the tubes next to the Sperry Gyro compass are for. My buddy and I debated that though dinner. Interested what you came up with!
Nice to learn something about you, Ryan.
What's the electrical box on the left wall between the peeling paint? Seem odd for a unmanned space.
The light switch. Possibly with a covered 120v outlet. It's been a few decades since I was on Her.
Great find Ryan! Did you find the blown fuse?
I was told the crews of each turret rotated to man each turret like one week, the crew of turret one would man turret 2, than the crew of 2 manned 3 and 3 did 1 than the following week it was a different turret. I heard it's Incase someone had to fill in they knew every turret layout. Is that true?
"We can't use the guns anyway..."
The disappointment on Ryans' face at that moment....
Spent 20 years in the Army…if I know Soldier (and Sailors by extension) that was someone’s personnel hootch to sham out of work.
That’s awesome! Sweet find.
Add hot boiler-room yoga to the fundraising events calendar. People could bid on what pose Ryan should try.
Best video from this channel yet in my opinion!❤
I love it! "I don't even do American well"😂
I speak Delco I can relate! Love your videos keep them up
If you're interested in WW2 archaeology, Ryan, have you ever been to War In the Pacific National Monument, in Guam? I highly recommend it, both the museum and the sites around the island! One fascinating artifact they have is a kohyoteki, fairly well-preserved, that washed ashore after its inevitable failure to remain seaworthy and subsequent abandonment!
So wise , Thank you . Did you find the bad fuse? Another fine example a dedecated curator, and explorer
Aboard the California Cgn 36 we made sleeping areas in the missile house during condition 2 cruising. Made gearing the launcher up a matter of seconds.
“I h8e Illinois Nazis”- Blues Brothers. Thought of that quote from your intro. Got a laugh.
Good job Ryan !
Fantastic finds Ryan, cheers.
Very nicely done. I was curious about what was in that box in the background?
So what was is the little locker and the other things on the floor??
Finally, some info in Tampions!
I wonder if they had different tampions depending on if was a heavy or light flow.....
@@haywoodyoudome The "heavy" ones were installed differently. When in place, all you could see was a piece of rope hanging out of the muzzle...
Great video Ryan!
Man what find.
Curious what is the black box left of the sailor art (phone box)?
GOD Bless you and your family
It's just a small locker. Not really used for anything. A simular one is in each gun was used to keep extra primers and tools.
Still want to know if the guns have their names painted above the breaches they had "Pete " Repeat " and " Ditto" when I did a tour in 1985 right after she came out of dry dock in long Beach.
IIRC those are the names of the guns in Turret 3.
Was there anything in the black cabinet?
By the way, you can soak a powder bag in water and the powder doesn't desolve
I think the reason to keep water out of the barrel, is because, water doesn't compress. You could seriously over-pressure the barrel.
@@elricmoorcock I was referring to an incident where the bags had broken open and the conventional wisdom that the powder would get soaked when immersed in water.
Getting salt water in the barrels was more of a corrosion issue than anything thing else. The guns were loaded at 5 degrees elevation, when you opened the breach, any fluid such as CLP would pour into the gunpits. Besides the fact that we checked the bores in preparation for shooting.
I understand. On a side note, Hodgdon powder company used to keep their original formula in a jug full of water. Taking it out every so often for QC comparisons.@@pville_piper5125
Enjoy your show keep up the good work
I recently received my piece of Teak from the deck, I love it, but I was wondering where was the teak sourced from originally for the deck?
good job, as always!
Another great video!!!
Now you have to do a video on the other 2 gun penthouses for us...
03:48: The Yin/Yang symbol strongly supports speculation 1?
Do any of the other turrets have evedence if beds? Any other of the BBs.
What is inside the little black cabinet marked “MS”?
Super cool! Hope to see those on a display somewhere next time I'm aboard!
Also, YOGA is an acronym..... it stands for Yikes, Ouch, Gosh, AHH!
"We can't use the guns anyways" well not with that attitude you can't. Remember, YOU'RE the one with the battleship. I doubt the noise ordinance people have one 🤣🤣
All you need is a feisty privateer crew of errant historians and archeologists.
You, and smaller people, should make it a thing to go bow to stern, into every, room, hatch, nook and overhead, and see who can find the most places or "stuff".
Man you have a Dream Job.
I will push a broom if you will hire me.
WOOT PSNS! wish I was workin gwhen NJ was here.
I've worked at a museum and there are at least one or two people who work or volunteer there who have been in every space on the ship.