Down Through 7 Levels of the Battleship's Hull

A video on all of the projects left unfinished when the ship was decommissioned would be really interesting!

Ryan, it might be interesting to hear about the various hazards that the museum staff must deal with, and the protocols you use to mitigate risk. It might also be interesting to hear about the various anticipated emergencies that you plan for (such as sudden flooding of a compartment), or a lost tourist. Thanks so much for the interesting videos.

I was a volunteer on a retired WW2 carrier for years. It had been out of commission a lot longer than this ship. We were NOT allowed to go anywhere unless we marked with a grease pencil where we were on the ship on a big map where we checked in. Reason? Cell phones and radios would not go through the steel and as there was 100's of compartments if you fell or got lost nobody would know. So it was very important to make sure you let people know where you were. It took me a long time to not get lost. We were always told that if you get lost, just go up and you'll eventually make it to the hanger deck. I also remember that even though it had been out of commission since 1970, the whole thing still stank like bunker fuel.

Ryan that's my division (6th) at the 3 minute 20 second mark or so. I'm sn Burns under the meritorious mast and the Master Helmsman category. I was pointer in mount 55 for GQ. Man I miss those days. I think you have the best job in the world!

When my ship (USS Kity Hawk) returned to San Diego for refit and maintenance after a Nam deployment in 1971, I was temporally assigned to the fire watch Div. My job was to follow the civilian welders with a fire extinguisher. I went into almost every nook and cranny of the ship. From the bottom of the bilge to very top of the bridge and the massive hull voids. Seeing the guts of a huge ship and what a complex machine it is was fascinating. I never had to use the extinguisher. The most skate job I ever had in the Navy.

Those grates in the supply space aren't for keeping items from damaging the deck. It's for having an air space. I was a Ship Serviceman for 8 years. Had have to leave an air gap between the deck and bulkheads and the items we were storing.

The letters designate storeroom location, every ship has their own storeroom location system. In the computerized stock management systems that were starting to be used at the end of New Jersey 's career these storeroom locations were all programmed in. Kitty Hawk used 2 digit numbered storerooms, and the John C Stennis uses a number/letter combo. This is what the barcodes are for, you can scan that barcode to get the location of that particular bin for inventory purposes. All the labels of the material in the bins would have bar codes too, so inventory or location audits went faster. S-1 is normally called Stock Control, and is the division that handled financials (operating budgets,) and managed all shipboard supplies in the store rooms. Aircraft carriers split the storage job out to unique divisions, S-6 handles aircraft parts and S-8 handles everything else.

I love tours "off the beaten path" like this, thanks to Libby for all her good work! Oh, and I guess Ryan too...

Your trip down to the bottom of the ship. Memories for as a Customs Officer have searched many an area you showed. Including moving through a double bottom. Stephen

Ryan, My father was on the ship during Korea 1950-1954 and was stationed in turret Number 1. He always told me that he named one of the 16" guns, sailor art (Screaming Joan) after my mother. I believe he was a, gunners mate, first class. I still have his uniform and many pictures from the time he was on board. Are you interested in copies of the pictures? Also is there much left on the ship from Korea era? I have watch almost all your video's, could you do more about the Korea times? My father talked a lot about the ship when it was hit in the Number 1 turret and when the sailor was killed. My father had a 16" shell fall on his foot and broke it. You do a great job, many thanks for the hard work by you and the workers!

"Fortunately, all of our monsters are scared of Libbey" 😂😂

On your next engine room tour, open the reduction gear lub oil sump. It should be roughly the size of the one I had to clean on USS SAVANNAH (AOR-4). You have to open a manhole about 24" high by 14" wide. Maybe annually it had to be drained and thourly cleaned by the "main hole snipes". You will need lots or light for the video. You should be able to see the bull gear, HP pinion, LP pinion, and maybe the thrust bearing. Thanks for all you do.

The Plumbers and Pipe Fitters that install the copper piping on these war ships are truly artists.

Ryan I watched your content since you started and you've done so well in developing how you and we understand the ship. I reckon you are one of the best historic ship curators anywhere in the world. Great stuff, I hope to meet you one day.

Once again Ryan shows why he is perfect for this job. Not many people could find something "interesting" or "cool" to point out in every hull space of an old battleship!

we used to go to all areas of the Battleship Massachusetts before they cordoned off areas in the late 90s. We would get so lost it was maddening lol. I know there are compartment markings to help, but we didn't know about those back in the day lol. great video

A video dedicated to the known " abandoned projects". Things that were in progress and then before completion were just stopped cold turkey. Thanks. Absolutely love this You Tube channel. #1 favorite.

Now we need a video explaining why monsters are scared of Libby! You can't just say that and not expect us to ask.

I always love these videos where you enter the depths™

Loved this video! So interesting to see all the spaces you wouldn't be able to show the general public just due to safety.