Battleship New Jersey Dry Dock
On April 13th, our photographers and reenactors participated in a drydock tour of the Battleship New Jersey at the Philadelphia shipyard.
USS New Jersey (BB-62) is an Iowa-class battleship that features nine 16-inch guns and is 887 feet long. She served in WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and other engagements in the 1980s. In 1991, the New Jersey was decommissioned and became a museum ship on the Camden waterfront in 2001.
After several decades sitting on display in the Delaware River, the battleship needed drydocking for routine hull maintenance. In late March, she was towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard drydock and within a week of arrival, weekend tours began in order to help fundraise the work.
When the drydock tours were announced, we discussed plans of going together as a group to take advantage of the unique opportunity. As soon as the tours went on sale to the public, our group of 6 photographers and 3 reenactors were able to get tickets on the same tour. The reenactors dressed up in 1940s factory/shipyard outfits, which even included details like real WWII shipyard pins. During WWII, Rosie the Riveters were a huge part of the war effort so having our female reenactors was historically accurate.
After an orientation, we descended the steps into the drydock at the stern of the ship. The 4 massive propellers (screws) made for a great backdrop for our reenactors. Once we got our shots at the stern, we were then able to walk underneath the ship to about the halfway point. From there, we walked along the side of the ship and took more pictures. When we got to the bow of the ship, our reenactors used various angles to accentuate the unique shape of the bow of the ship. Finally, back at the top of the drydock, we were able to capture great overview shots of the ship with and without our reenactors to finish out the day.
