CAMDEN — BB-62. USS New Jersey. The Battleship. After over two decades at its pier here, this historic ship and waterfront museum is preparing to move. And soon.
The Battleship New Jersey will be towed to Philadelphia and dry docked for maintenance sometime in March, said Marshall Spevak, the museum’s Interim CEO.
The departure date depends on the availability of the shipyard, the same one where the USS New Jersey was built in the early 1940s.
Workers recently removed the ship’s mast and radar array, granting just enough space – about five to 10 feet of clearance – to squeeze the vessel under the Walt Whitman Bridge on its way down the Delaware.
What is dry docking and why is it necessary?
Dry docking involves exposing typically submerged parts of a ship, like the hull, in a shipyard for cleaning, inspection and repair.
Navy regulations require decommissioned vessels to be dry docked for maintenance every 20 years.
For the USS New Jersey, it’s been over 30.
“The longer we kick the can down the road, the more expensive the project becomes, so we’ve been pushing to do it now,” Spevak said.