Still Waters, Silent Guns

Some are almost 100 years old. They could be considered antiques, but their relentless patriotism and defiant freedom makes them timeless. In their prime, they trolled the open seas in search of hidden foes or perched off foreign shores while their guns pounded a beachhead. They circled the world time and again, carried heroes in their hulls and delivered democracy to those in need. The memories of a hundred ports, countless engagements and myriad of stories are preserved by those who served on their decks.

Years later, obsolescent, protected and preserved, these World War II battleships are admired by tourists, respected by those that know their stories and cherished by a select few that, for uncertain periods during their youth, called those floating gun ships home.

They are the battleships that fought to victory during the greatest struggle of the 20th century. They stand for democracy in the face of tyranny. They stand for freedom, America, us.

One of this country’s first modern battleships, the USS Constitution, was opened to the public for visiting in 1897, followed by the USS Oregon placed on exhibit in Portland, OR, in 1925. Since then, nearly 100 military vessels have been converted to museums, exhibits and displays around the country (and countless more around the world). They represent every war, every struggle and every period of conflict in our country’s history. Though their guns may be quiet, they’re certainly not forgotten.

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park
2703 Battleship Parkway
P.O. Box 65
Mobile, AL 36601
(800) GANGWAY (426-4929)
(334) 433-2703
Fax: (334) 433-2777
Email: ussalbb60@aol.com
www.ussalabama.com

History of the USS Alabama:

Commissioned on August 16, 1942, the USS Alabama’s first task was to assist the British Home Fleet in protecting convoys on the Murmansk Run, starting from England through the North Sea to Russia. One year later, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and found herself supporting amphibious assaults on Japanese-held islands and protecting carrier task forces from air attacks. Her radar was the first to detect enemy bombers in the Battle of the Philippine Sea at 190 miles distant, which gave U.S. fighters and anti-aircraft gunners the advantage they needed to be able to destroy over 400 planes.

Decommissioned in 1947, the Alabama was “mothballed” in Bremerton, WA until 1964, when she was transferred to the State of Alabama and towed 5,600 miles to become a memorial in Mobile, which opened on January 9, 1965.

Visiting the USS Alabama:

Though they do not offer guided tours of the ships (also on site is the submarine Drum), they do have a self-guided tour route and your admission entitles you to visit both ships and the Aircraft Pavilion. Inside the Pavilion are 23 aircraft, including a B-52, A-12 Blackbird, OS2U Kingfisher, P51 Mustang and many land-based military vehicles. The average suggested tour time is two hours. Open daily (except Christmas Day) from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (October through March) and to 6:00 pm (April through September). Admission fees: $10, age 12 and up; $5, ages six through 11; free, under six; and groups of 10 or more is $8 per person. Advanced reservations are appreciated but not necessary.

Battleship North Carolina
P.O. Box 480
Wilmington, NC 28402
(910) 251-5807
Email: ncbb55@aol.com
www.battleshipnc.com

History of the USS North Carolina:

The current battleship is the fifth such to be named after the state of North Carolina. She was the first of 10 new battleships constructed for World War II, and on the day of her commission, she was considered the most powerful ocean-going weapon ever created.

Although Japanese radio propaganda claimed six times that the USS North Carolina had been sunk, she survived many close calls and near misses and logged over 300,000 miles with a crew that consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men (which included about 100 Marines). On June 27, 1947, she was decommissioned and placed in the Inactive Reserve Fleet in Bayonne, NJ. Fourteen years later, in 1958, she was listed to be scrapped. In 1960, however, a public subscription drive which included nickels and dimes from 700,000 school children, raised over $325,000 to provide a permanent home for the ship.

Visiting the USS North Carolina:

Now moored on the Cape Fear River just across from downtown Wilmington, N.C., the battleship is the state’s memorial to her World War II veterans, and she houses a growing collection of artifacts from all of the ships named after the state and their crews. Painted in her most distinctive “Measure 32” camouflage scheme of the war, the USS North Carolina features a growing museum with many changing exhibits that accurately depict shipboard life of the period for visitors to experience. On board is the Roll of Honor Room, which lists the names of the more than 10,000 North Carolinians from all branches of the armed forces who died in their service to their country during World War II.

Open every day from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (May 16 through Sept. 15) and 5:00 pm (Sept. 16 through May 15), admission fees are $8 for adults, $4 for children six to 11, free for children under six, $7 for seniors 65 and older, and $7 for personnel on active duty. For groups of 20 or more adults are $7 and children (six to 11) are $3.50. Tours take approximately two hours.

San Jacinto State Park
3527 Battleground Road
La Porte, Texas 77571
(281) 479-2431
Overnight info: (281) 542-0684
Fax: (281) 479-4197
Email: barry.ward@tpwd.state.tx.us
www.usstexasbb35.com

History of the USS Texas:

As the last battleship patterned after England’s HMS Dreadnought, the USS Texas participated in World War I, was the first U.S. battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns and the first to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers, analog forerunners of today’s computers. In late 1918, she guarded the German Fleet en route to its surrender and escorted President Wilson to peace talks in France. In 1919, the Texas became the first U.S. battleship to launch an aircraft and also served as a plane guard and navigational reference for the first trans-Atlantic flight by the seaplane NC-4.

From 1925 to 1927, the battleship underwent modernization in Norfolk, transitioning from coal- to oil-fired boilers and receiving numerous other alterations. She received the first commercial radar in the U.S. Navy in 1939. In 1940, the Texas was the designated flagship of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, where she provided gunfire support for the amphibious assault on Morocco and fired on Nazi defenses at Normandy on “D-Day.” She then transferred to the Pacific where she lent gunfire support and anti-aircraft fire to the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

On January 21, 1946, the warship steamed to Norfolk where she soon began preparations for inactivation. The USS Texas was towed to San Jacinto State Park where she was decommissioned on April 21, 1948, and turned over to the state of Texas to serve as a permanent memorial.

Visiting the USS Texas:

In 1948, the Texas became the first battleship memorial museum in the U.S. and was placed under the stewardship of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in 1983. The ship underwent a complete dry-dock overhaul from 1988 to 1990 and began systematic restoration, returning her to the spring 1945 configuration, complete with “Measure 21” blue camouflage paint.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children six to 18, free for children under six and $4 for seniors. USS Texas is a National Historic Landmark and her reciprocating marine steam engines are national Historic Engineering Landmarks.

Home Port Alliance
2500 Broadway, Drawer 18
Camden, NJ 08104
(856) 966-1652
Fax: (856) 966-1883
Email: homeportalliance@aol.com
www.battleshipnewjersey.org

History of the USS New Jersey:

The USS New Jersey (the second ship to share the state’s name) participated in nearly all of the Western Pacific campaigns from her arrival in the theater in January 1944, until the end of World War II. Her first combat action came during the assaults on the Marshall Islands. The New Jersey was directly engaged in the conquest of Okinawa in early 1945, as she fought off air raids, rescued downed pilots and defended the carriers from Kamikaze pilots. Following her assignments in Japanese waters in late 1945, she took aboard nearly a thousand homeward-bound troops for return to the U.S. She was decommissioned at Bayonne, NJ in June 1948.

With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, she was re-commissioned on November 21, 1950, and, during her two tours of duty in Korean waters, she interrupted Communist supply and communication routes, and destroyed supplies and troop positions. The USS New Jersey made deployments to Northern Europe and Mediterranean between 1955 and 1957 when she was decommissioned.

Her third career began in 1968 when she was re-commissioned for the Vietnam War. Operating from her new home port of Long Beach, CA, she fired against Communist targets, destroying gun positions and supply areas. The New Jersey was decommissioned for the third time at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on December 17, 1969. She returned to the active fleet for the final time in December 1982. After mounting a show of strength near El Salvador, she rushed to the Mediterranean in the fall of 1983 to provide fire support for Marines in Beirut, Lebanon.

For the next seven years she served in a variety of roles and was decommissioned for the final time in February 1991. The USS New Jersey was awarded 16 battle stars for her actions against the enemy in three conflicts, making her the most decorated battleship in the history of the U.S. Navy.

Visiting the USS New Jersey:

In 1999, the New jersey was towed from Bremerton to Philadelphia in preparation for final berthing as a museum ship in New Jersey. In January 2000, the Secretary of the Navy announced that Camden had been selected as her new home. She spent the majority of 2001 undergoing restoration while a pier and museum center were built on the Camden waterfront for her permanent mooring. She opened for visitation on September 2, 2001.

Hours of operation are April 1 through September 30, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and October 1 through March 31, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, and admittance fees are $10 for adults, $7 for children under 12, $7 for senior citizens and veterans, and active military personnel in uniform are free. Group rates are available. The tour lasts approximately two hours, and since the tour utilizes the ships original ladders to climb from one deck to another, a video presentation is available if you are unable to complete the tour.

Ryan Lee Price is currently a professional editor and freelance writer based in Glendora, CA.