New Jersey

Philly shipyard hopes battleship mostly in good condition, but ready if not

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2024

Philly shipyard hopes battleship mostly in good condition, but ready if not

PHILADELPHIA — “Small” is an adjective rarely used with the Battleship New Jersey, but its upcoming stop for dry dock maintenance here is one of those times.

The BB-62 deal rates as a “small” contract for Philadelphia Ship Repair, a company that leases the dry dock at the Navy Yard and largely uses it for military vessels.

Donna Connors, the firm’s chief operating officer, says the 45,000-ton (unloaded) New Jersey is notable for the weight of its armor and the sharp taper to its bow but still is “pretty average” for a battleship.

Connors said the work crew might have 40 to 50 people when the New Jersey arrives.

How big? How fast? How much? Battleship New Jersey by the numbers. Here are some interesting facts

“Because there’s a lot of line handling, a lot of services, a lot of stuff that needs to be done,” Connors said. “And then, we’ll probably dip down into the mid-20 area or so and spike up towards the end when we have to undock her.”

Battleship New Jersey has a dry dock history

The New Jersey last was in a dry dock in 1991 when the Navy decommissioned her in California. Work was done on the ship in 1999 at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to make her usable as a museum.

“We were not dry docked during our 1999 yard period,” battleship curator Ryan Szimanski said of the Battleship New Jersey Museum amd Memorial.

“The last time we were out of the water was during our deactivation work” at Long Beach, California, in 1990.

The New Jersey is not the biggest vessel the Philadelphia yard has handled. And its hull shape is not especially challenging in terms of designing and cutting the supporting cement and wood blocks it will rest on during repairs.

“Up in Boston, right now, we’re dry docking a … catamaran-type vessel,” Connors said. “So, we actually have two keel tracks and those have significant shape to them. It changes each block. That one’s a much more detailed build than what the battleship is.”

Why so many battle stars? Battleship New Jersey by the numbers. Here are some interesting facts

The battleship is scheduled for a two-month stay, with repairs expected to cost less than $10 million. The work will be almost entirely external and directed at the underwater portion of the hull. Work below decks will be to systems linked to the hull.

Connors said the basic requirement is getting the battleship into Dry Dock 3, which then is drained of roughly 6 million gallons of water. New Jersey will come to rest on a very specific arrangement of supporting concrete and wood blocks, exposed to a range of visual and mechanical inspections.

Long-submerged secrets being exposed

“We look at all the underwater hull apertures or pieces and parts,” Connors said. “The propellers, the rudders, the skeg. Various areas you typically don’t see when it’s in the water.”

The “skeg,” for example, runs along the bottom of the vessel. It is a tapering or projecting stern section of keel protecting the propellers and supporting the rudders.

The New Jersey, like other vessels, incorporates hull openings to allow water to come in and leave in support of different systems. “Blanks,” or bolt-on covers, are used to seal those openings.

New Jersey got an estimated 132 blanks installed at the 1991 decommissioning, and the museum has said at least one has failed. Pressurized air is shot in to determine whether a blank is holding.

“In addition to that, we’ll be painting the underwater hull to ensure that the hull maintains a good paint job for the next 20 years until she dry docks again,” Connors said.

Connors said the testing of the blanks will happen at the same time as the painting. “The paint is the critical path of the project and will take the longest to complete,” she said.

Getting the maintenance done now is important to avoid more expensive repairs in the future, said Jack Willard, a spokesman for the battleship museum.

“Again, we’re very fortunate we’re in the Delaware where it’s not saltwater,” Willard said. “So, that’s helped things. The ship is in good shape, as far as we know. We’ll obviously learn more at dry dock.”

The shipyard also will do something known as “fleeting,” an old term for ensuring the hull paint job is as thorough as possible.

“Obviously, where the ship sets down on these blocks, you can’t paint,” Connors said. “Right? So, when we’re done painting the entire underwater, and it dries, we’re going to refloat the vessel, shift her back a bit, and reset her down so the spaces that were covered by the blocks are now in-between the blocks. And we’re going to paint them, too.”

A thick, thorough paint job is critical to prevent corrosion and fend off sea life seeking to attack to the hull.

Additionally, New Jersey has about 1,304 zinc anodes bolted on its underwater hull as protection against corrosion.

“When it’s underwater, the water and the biological and the fish and all those microorganisms attack the anodes before the steel because it’s easier for them to eat those away,” Connors said. “And we are changing them out to aluminum anodes for them.”

The dry dock stay also will expose the extent of erosion for the ship’s hull plating.

Connors consider it “very likely” some plates will need replacing. “But again, it depends on the paint system and how long the paint system held, if the anodes were working properly,” she said.

“On an older ship like this, what they call the `wind and the water strike’ is the most susceptible,” Connors said. “And that’s because it’s not 100-percent under water and it’s not 100-percent dry.”

Those conditions can cause “pitting,” or weak spots.

They will be assessed using an ultrasonic testing, or UT gauging, machine on random spots over the hull. About 5,000 ultrasonic “shots” are expected to be done.

“And then, if we find an area that is a little susceptible?” Connors said. “We’ll do more shots in that area.”

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

Have a tip? Reach out at jsmith@thedailyjournal.com. Support local journalism with a subscription.

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New Jersey

Nightmare at NY Penn as train fire halts NJ Transit, Amtrak service for hours

Published

7 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Nightmare at NY Penn as train fire halts NJ Transit, Amtrak service for hours

New Jersey and New York City commuters are facing extensive delays in and out of New York Penn Station Friday, with intensifying ripple effects, after an Amtrak work train car on one of the hub’s tracks caught fire.

The FDNY says it was called to the Midtown scene on 31st Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, around 1:30 a.m. Nearly 100 personnel responded. Five civilians were evaluated at the scene by EMS, officials say.

It’s not clear what sparked the fire involving Amtrak’s contractor maintenance vehicles in one of the Hudson River Tunnels. It was knocked down well before 6 a.m., but service on New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and more was expected to see heavy impacts well into the morning rush, with Hudson River trains operating at reduced capacity. Amtrak said it didn’t expect to lift its suspension until at least noon.

Travel Advisory: Due to unforeseen track and signal maintenance resulting from a now extinguished fire in the New York area, all services traveling south of New York (NYP) are temporarily suspended. This suspension is anticipated to be in place until noon at a minimum. Services…
— Amtrak Northeast (@AmtrakNECAlerts) May 29, 2026
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New Jersey Transit and LIRR also announced delays and cancellations. Cross-honoring and diversion programs were in effect as the situation developed. Complete LIRR service at NY Penn had resumed by around 7 a.m., Friday said, though equipment issues were causing cancellations. Get the latest transit information here.

Video from outside Penn Station showed smoke billowing in the pre-dawn hours, as emergency personnel stood by with stretchers awaiting any potential victims.

Amtrak is investigating the cause of the fire.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause,” the agency’s latest announcement said, pledging to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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New Jersey

Violence reported at Delaney Hall in N.J. Calls to shut it down are growing

Published

19 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Violence reported at Delaney Hall in N.J. Calls to shut it down are growing

How are detainees at Delaney Hall being treated?

A statement issued by DHS said detainees receive comprehensive medical care and all are treated well.

“They are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries. Illegal aliens also have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Certified dieticians evaluate meals,” the department wrote.

The release accused Sherrill, Booker and U.S. Sen Andy Kim, as well as U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez, Nellie Pou, LaMonica McIver, Frank Pallone and Analilia Majia, of continuing “to peddle falsehoods about ICE facilities,” and “spreading smears about ICE law enforcement and the Delaney Hall ICE facility in New Jersey.”

Sinha said the assertion that individuals being arrested and taken to Delaney Hall are dangerous criminals is false.

“This is an administration that has repeatedly lied to us about what’s going on in immigration enforcement and immigration detention facilities,” Sinha said.

He added while Sherrill does not have the legal authority to enter Delaney Hall unannounced, that fact that she was denied entry is concerning.

“The federal government has denied her repeatedly, and it makes you question, ‘What is the federal government trying to hide?’” he asked. “They have no allegiance to any rule of law or semblance of democracy; they’re trying to rewrite the Constitution for people who are noncitizens.”

On Thursday, Sherrill issued a statement saying the New Jersey Department of Health attempted to conduct a inspection of Delaney Hall, but officials were only allowed to inspect only a limited part of the facility.

“We will review and share the department’s findings from the limited portion it was allowed to inspect, and we will continue to pursue all appropriate avenues for demanding transparency and ensuring humane conditions for the individuals being held at the facility,” she said in the statement. “As I’ve said repeatedly, refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view.”

Sinha said a hunger strike among those inside the facility is continuing because they are being given spoiled food and inadequate medical care in deplorable conditions.

“People shouldn’t have to starve themselves to make their dignity known; people shouldn’t have to starve themselves to have their rights protected, but that’s what’s happening here,” he said.

Reports of escalating violence

Late Thursday afternoon there were reports of violence escalating within Delaney Hall.

Nedia Morsy, the director of Make the Road New Jersey, an immigration advocacy group, issued a statement saying multiple sources within the facility reported ICE agents attacking detainees and causing serious injuries.

“Right now there are ICE agents inside of Delaney Hall violently beating the hunger strikers,” Morsy said in the statement. “Someone will be killed if no one intervenes and shuts this down. These masked agents are acting as if they’re above the law. This is a modern-day concentration camp, and history will not forgive silence in this moment. We need to shut down Delaney Hall and free everyone inside.”

Resistencia en Accion, another immigrant rights group, also released a statement, calling for violence against detainees to end.

“We express our utmost disgust with the violence perpetrated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today, May 28. Reports at approximately 1:40 p.m. reveal that ICE agents attacked the hunger strikers inside with batons and tear gas. Family members outside received calls from inside, confirming that there were people screaming, and according to their loved ones inside, unconscious detainees and blood on surfaces. ICE is the sole responsible actor for the escalation that has led to several wounded people inside and outside this week,” the statement reads.

WHYY News reached out to DHS late Thursday seeking comment about the reports of violence at Delaney Hall. A written statement was emailed to WHYY that said ICE agents had responded to a physical altercation involving detainees.

“In accordance with established ICE policies and their training, staff used the minimum amount of force to safely deescalate the situation,” DHS wrote. “Following the incident, all affected detainees were promptly evaluated by on-site medical personnel and were cleared with no serious injuries.”

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