July 12th Work Progress Photos Page 1 of 3 |
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Taking advantage of a light workload at my regular job, I made the early morning trek to Camden for another day of volunteering onboard Big J. I arrived at 9:00 as usual and the parking area where volunteers park was full, a good sign. Went onboard, signed in and was sent to the mess hall for duty. As mentioned in an earlier report, the mess decks received some water damage during the ships storage and so the job for the day was removing tile from the mess deck floors. There was about a dozen people working in the area, some operating electric tile strippers, some using long handled scrapers and others, like me, using a hammer and chisel to get into the hard to reach areas. I spent the morning chipping tiles and when lunch rolled around I learned a local pizza shop sends over pizzas on Thursdays, so I was rewarded with free pizza for lunch. I should have looked at the box to see who it was so I could give them a plug here, but unfortunately I didn't. At any rate, thanks for the free lunch and the support you give to the volunteers working on Big J! After lunch it was back to chipping tile followed by some mopping and cleaning up of areas done during the day. Then, as usual, I took the opportunity to roam the ship a little and take some photos. This time I took a stroll down Broadway visiting all 4 engine rooms and several of the Firerooms. I also visited the Plot Rooms, Sick Bay, Barber Shop, Main Steering and Crew Quarters areas. Everywhere I went I felt like I was in a time warp back to the 1980's with memorandums and rosters dated from then still in place on walls and bulletin boards. I commend the Navy for the excellent job they did in preserving Big J!! One more thing before I go, the sand blaster that will be used on the exterior of the ship arrived Thursday afternoon, starting Monday they begin blasting the hull and superstructure of the ship getting her ready for a fresh coat of Battleship Gray. Soon she'll be ready to receive her first visitors, a mere 7 weeks from today. Hope you enjoy the photos. |
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| Work Photos Page 1 | Work Photos Page 2 | Work Photos Page 3 | ||
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Sign onboard and these
guys put you to work quick! These |
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Some of the guys I worked with chipping tiles in the Crews Mess |
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Lots of ladies onboard
doing their share too, it's |
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One of the Brass Team shining the range detectors on Turret #2 |
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The scene early in the morning as volunteers report for duty |
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| Overall shot of the superstructure, painting will start soon | ||||
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Shot taken looking forward from on top of
Turret #3. Don't know what that structure is, but it looked interesting so I took the photo |
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Typical of many topside areas, but nothing a
good blasting and several coats of fresh Battleship Gray paint won't fix! |
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This instrument is showing the wear from exposure to the elements |
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The Ships Bell, looking a little worn these
days, but intact. It was a challenge to climb up and get this shot, but well worth it. The bell is inscribed "USS New Jersey 1943". I expected it to be brass and hoped to volunteer to shine it up but it turns out that its not so I guess it will just be cleaned up and painted Battleship Gray like the rest of the ship. |
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