Navy Battleship USS New Jersey Is on the Verge of the Ultimate Comeback

Summary and Key Points: The USS New Jersey (BB-62), an Iowa-class battleship turned floating museum, has undergone significant restoration, including its first dry docking since 1991.

-The historic warship, which served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, received hull repairs and new decking at a Philadelphia shipyard.

-After 78 days of restoration, the ship was escorted to Paulsboro by the United States Coast Guard, with final preparations underway before its return to Camden. The $10 million restoration highlights the challenges of maintaining such a vessel. The USS New Jersey will be ready for Fourth of July celebrations.

USS New Jersey Returns Home After Major $10 Million Restoration

The USS New Jersey (BB-62), an Iowa-class battleship turned floating museum, has recently undergone significant restoration, including its first dry docking since 1991.

The historic warship, which served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, received hull repairs and new decking at a Philadelphia shipyard. After 78 days of restoration, the ship was escorted to Paulsboro by the United States Coast Guard, with final preparations underway before its return to Camden. The repairs, costing over $10 million, underscore the challenges of maintaining such a vessel. The USS New Jersey will reopen later than planned but will be ready for Fourth of July celebrations.

The United States Navy's Iowa-class battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) returned home to the Garden State and is getting closer to making a final return on the Camden waterfront across from Philadelphia. The historic warship, which has been preserved as a floating museum for nearly two and a half decades, recently completed a major restoration – which included the first dry docking since 1991. Since March, the hull has been painted, patched, and sealed, while new decking was partially installed.

On Friday after 78 days at the Philadelphia shipyard – where the ship was built and launched in December 1942 –BB-62 began her journey home, escorted by the United State Coast Guard as tugboats guided the battlewagon to Paulsboro. The Black Dragon, one of several nicknames for the warship, made the brief journey and is now in port where final preparations will be made before the ship is back in Camden later this month.

Among the distinguished guests on board the 887-foot-long ship during its trek from the naval yard to Paulsboro was Vice Admiral Douglas J. Katz (USN, Ret.), who commanded the battleship from August 1987 to May 1989.

"You want the honest truth? I'm emotional as hell," he told the Courier Post newspaper. "This ship and the crew that we had in that time period was special."

Katz was the battleship's commanding officer when it sailed to South Korea in advance of the 1988 Olympic Games, the paper of record reported.

Big Ship Meant Big Repairs

There have continued to be calls by some lawmakers and armchair admirals for the Iowa-class battleships to be returned to service again as China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has overtaken the United States Navy in number of vessels. The argument is that the World War II battleships could once again be employed in force projection around the globe.

However, the recent repairs that USS New Jersey undertook are a reminder that even keeping her afloat as a museum was a costly affair, one that reportedly had a price tag of more than $10 million – and that was just for some paint and patching, mostly cosmetic upgrades.

Moreover, the restoration was still larger in scale than even the head of the Battleship New Jersey Museum Memorial expected.

"We came in thinking we were going to do three major projects, and we ended up doing five," Marshall Spevak, the museum and memorial's CEO, told the Courier Post. "We are just incredibly elated and frankly lucky that the hull was in such great condition."

An American Legend!

Later this week, USS New Jersey will complete her journal – later than a planned Memorial Day 2024 reopening, but in time for the nation's Fourth of July celebrations.

Known as the "Big J," "Black Dragon," and other names, USS New Jersey was the second Iowa-class battleship to be constructed for the U.S. Navy. Launched on December 7, 1942­a year after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor­New Jersey was commissioned in May 1943 and began her career as the flagship of the 5th Fleet under Adm. Raymond A. Spruance.

BB-62 saw service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War – becoming the most decorated American warship in the process.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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