Battleship New Jersey to return to Philly Navy Yard for long-overdue maintenance January 3, 2024

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Battleship New Jersey is long overdue for a paint job and it’ll soon be dry-docked at the Navy Yard in South Philly for the work to begin.

Moving is usually an ordeal for anyone, but moving a battleship seems like a colossal pain in the stern.

Crews first have to disconnect utilities at the dock and take down the mast so it fits under the Walt Whitman Bridge. Then it takes 10 to 14 hours for the 887-foot ship to make the trip from Camden to its birthplace at the Navy Yard.

CEO Marshall Spevak says the ship is 12 years past due for this scheduled maintenance.

“So basically the ship will go into a berth at the naval shipyard and she’ll be taken out of the water completely and work will be done to her hull,” he explained.

He says four tug boats will very slowly tow the ship 6 miles down river in late February or early March. “There are two other ships that are ahead of us in the berth, which is why we’re also waiting for an exact date of when we’re going to move.”

Crews also have to replace thousands of parts, says Spevak. They’ll be using some original blueprints to find them all.

He says there will be a very limited number of people aboard when it’s being towed because there’s no telling what might go wrong. Still, Spevak says he’s excited to spearhead the effort to preserve this piece of history.

“The ship is a museum and memorial for future generations. We do that in mind of honoring the sailors who served on her,” he said.

Spevak estimates it will take about 60 days to finish the work. The cost for all of it is about $10 million and he says they could use donations to help cover the costs. He asks anyone who can donate to visit their website.