Why America's Battleship Graveyard is Forgotten (Philadelphia's Abandoned Ships) - IT'S HISTORY

the philadelphia international airport is a very  busy location serving 31.7 million passengers   every year however just a bit east directly  ahead of one of its runways is a naval base   filled with 31 derelict looking ships it is an  eye-catching site for anybody visiting the area   though perhaps even more interesting is that this  is no ordinary shipyard instead it is one of the   three bases holding many of the united states's  most remarkable and storied vessels all of which   are a part of the so-called mothball fleet named  for their obsolescence and despair their stories   are long and vast yet their fate seems equally  mysterious this is the story of philadelphia's   abandoned battleships i'm your host ryan  socash and you're watching it's history today we will discover some of philadelphia's most  unusual military decay mysterious ships that stand   in stillness but if you prefer action especially  from world war ii you'll love our sponsor call   of war call of war is a free peer versus peer  strategy game where you'll choose a real country   to lead during the second world war fight up  to 100 other players in real time battles that   can last for weeks choose your own strategy to  engage in epic battles conquer the world when you   declare war on your neighbors or forge alliances  with other players i really appreciate how the   action was depicted in game the experiences are  truly memorable so play this game on mobile or pc   get your exclusive gift of 13 000 gold and one  month of premium subscription for free by clicking   my link in the description below act fast because  this offer is only available for 30 days and now   back to the abandoned ships of philadelphia  within this facility are some of the united   states's navy's most impressive vessels and at  one point hosted the most decorated battleship   in history so before examining why they're here  let's have a look at the actual ships and their   impressive service records the oldest vessel  in philadelphia's mothball fleet is the uss   berry dd 933 as a quick aside we will include hall  classifications when introducing these vessels   the letters indicate what kind of ship it is and  the numbers identify an individual ship within a   classification in this case dd means that barry  is a destroyer and 933 is her code barry is a   forest sherman class destroyer laid down on  march the 15th 1954 in bath maine by the bath   iron works corporation launched on october the  1st 1955 and commissioned on september the 7th   1956 berry was fitted with new electronics  and gear at the boston naval shipyard   as november came and went afterwards she went to  guantanamo bay in cuba to continue the shakedown   by may of 1960 she was performing routine  operations off the east coast in june she   traveled to portsmouth england then to kill in  west germany conducting naval reviews and import   sonar demonstrations throughout july her crew  discussed various technological and security   topics with other navies in the netherlands  finland sweden denmark and belgium in 1962 with   the avent of the cuban missile crisis where the  world came rather close to the apocalypse berry   formed part of the blockade around the newly armed  islands in 1965 she also saw deployment to vietnam   earning two battle stars for her valiant service  later she continued operations around the east   coast and the caribbean generally taking training  and demonstrational roles notably she was the   assistant recovery ship for the gemini 4 space  shot nasa's project gemini's second crewed space   flight but then it was time for upgrades so on  january the 31st 1967 she was decommissioned for   refittings over 15 months she received a variable  depth of sonar array and anti-submarine rocket   launchers a new combat information center and an  enclosed bridge not to mention a complete overhaul   of the propulsion and electronic system with the  refit complete and the new commander at her helm   the navy recommissioned her on april the 19th  1968. she continued her standard patrol duties and   in 1974 took part in several operations during the  turkish invasion of cyprus in august in september   admiral james l holloway boarded the berry  during her tracking of a sonar contact as a part   of the destroyer's replacement program the navy  decommissioned her once more on november the 5th   1982 at which point she entered the mothball fleet  she was initially a museum ship in the washington   naval yard in the nation's capital yet with a  lack of attendance and projects that would have   trapped her the navy opted to scrapberry having  her travel to philadelphia on one final voyage   you'll notice a common trend between the ships  in this yard is cannibalization now i know that   might sound bad but the term refers to the  action akin to recycling in a naval context   the navy removes any sensitive electronics drains  the fuel seals the interior and carefully air   conditions it the metal then gains an electronic  charge as a finishing touch so rust has a more   difficult time growing as the ship awaits  its fate the assassination of president john   f kennedy shook the nation to its very core as he  had many ties to the u.s navy receiving two awards   the navy commissioned several vessels bearing  the late president's name the first was the uss   john f kennedy cva 67 she is a carrier in a class  of her own an alteration of the kitty hawk class   initially a fixed winged attack carrier she later  became a multi-purpose aircraft carrier being   designated as cv67 laid down on october the 22nd  1964 by the newport news shipbuilding and drydocks   company and launched on may the 27th 1967. her  sponsor was the late president's daughter miss   caroline kennedy the navy commissioned this  special vessel on september the 7th 1968 and   placed captain earl p yates in command her initial  years found her on the eastern seaboard the waters   around guantanamo bay and the mediterranean  sea she took part in the naval operations   of the yom kippur war in 1973 and underwent a  year-long overhaul in 1979 retaining operation   in 1980 she served the flagship of carrier group 4  taking part in peacekeeping operations in lebanon   then being overhauled once more in 1984. in july  of 1986 she took part in the international naval   review honoring the 100th anniversary of france  gifting the statue of liberty on the 4th president   ronald reagan visited the ship as did over 8 000  american citizens afterwards she departed for the   mediterranean yet again in 1990 she became the  flagship for the red sea battle force commander   for the persian gulf war during operation desert  shield she blazed ahead of the rest of the baltic   group even outrunning the timetable for deployment  with the last cries for peace drowned operation   desert storm began at that time rear admiral  riley d mixon addressed the ship since she was the   ableist vessel to take action in the invasion you  have trained hard you are ready now let's execute   for the air crews we are all very very proud of  you i wish you good hunting and godspeed between   then and the ceasefire that ended the conflict  the uss john f kennedy launched 114 airstrikes   2895 sorties being the source of a total of  11 263.4 flight hours the crew was exhausted   and understandably so after a stop in egypt she  arrived back in the united states on march the   28th 1991 to much fanfare and celebration 30 000  family members and supporters welcomed big john   as the ship had come to be known back home in a  celebration more enormous than any scene in the   last 40 years the uss john f kennedy continued to  serve into the 21st century participating in the   war on terror however she had become highly costly  to maintain so on march the 23rd 2007 the navy   decommissioned her reaching the philadelphia naval  shipyard on october the 16th 2009. the navy struck   her from the naval vessel register on the same day  and now she remains there awaiting her final fate   the uss ticonderoga resting in the philadelphia  naval yard is the fifth u.s naval vessel bearing   the name after tiganda rogan new york whose fort  saw much of the harshest fighting in the northern   united states during the american revolution the  ingalls shipbuilding division of litton industries   laid down the fifth ticonderoga on january the  21st 1980 initially a guided missile destroyer   with the hall classification ddg-47 however after  she gained flagship capabilities as a part of the   cancelled strike cruiser program her designation  changed to cg-47 becoming a ticonderoga-class   guided missile cruiser first launched on april the  25th 1981 sponsored by first lady nancy d reagan   the navy commissioned her on january the 22nd  1983 helmed by captain ronald g gilbolt his   first exercises took place in the caribbean and  atlantic as she deployed on october the 20th 1983   as a part of the uss independence carrier task  force ticonderoga took part in peacekeeping   operations in lebanon along with the uss  john f kennedy and like the kennedy she had   a role to play in the gulf war she took part in  operation desert shield providing air coverage   and patrols however she returned to port north  folk on september the 12th 1990 for an overhaul   reinforced and ready for action she attached  to battle force zulu to undergo operations   during desert storm acting as the arabian golf  track coordinator she did her duty exceptionally   and after the gulf war returned to the caribbean  for counter-narcotics operations these operations   continued into the 2000s until the 9 11 attacks  where she was redeployed to the gulf coast   to support operation noble eagle preventing any  suspicious aircraft from entering the continental   united states after her final deployment of  more anti-narcotics operations she was sent to   mississippi for decommissioning preparations the  navy decommissioned her on september the 30th 2004   at which point she rested at the philadelphia  naval yard that is until september 2022 where   she traveled to brownsville texas for scrapping  and now the ship is nothing more than a memory out   of all the ships in this yard perhaps the most  prolific is even older than the berry the uss   new jersey classification bb62 this is the united  states navy's most decorated vessel and for a time   she called the naval yard home bb62 classified  as an iowa class battleship was the second ship   to carry the name of new jersey launched a year  to the day of the infamous pearl harbor attacks   on december the 7th 1942 mrs charles edison wife  of governor edison of new jersey sponsored her   the navy commissioned her at philadelphia on may  the 23rd 1943 with captain carl f holden at the   helm she crossed the panama canal on january  the 7th 1944 with her training done and on the   war path she took part in several battles for the  assault on the marshall islands screening aircraft   carriers from japanese attacks however by february  there was a new job for her admiral raymond a   spruance took her as his flagship for the fifth  fleet assaulting a supposedly invincible japanese   naval base in the caroline islands the uss new  jersey performed exceptionally in the pacific   theater while the u.s troops affectionately called  her big j the imperial japanese navy had another   name the black dragon she was of a darker paint  than her fellow vessels and when she fired her   highly explosive rounds breathed fire upon her  prey her most notable service as a flagship was   under william f helsley jr's third fleet in which  she took part in the battle for the philippines   or more specifically the battle of leyte golf  which was the largest naval battle in history   from a manpower stance at this point the imperial  japanese navy had become nearly suicidal in their   desperation they planned a faint attack by a force  of planeless heavy carriers from the north to draw   away the battleships cruisers and fast carriers  the hope was to draw forces away from landings   at the leyte islands then the center forces could  enter the gulf through the san bernardino strait   and play havoc on the landing troops planes from  the third fleet's carriers under the new jersey's   watchful guard opened the battle on october the  23rd by smashing into the japanese southern and   center forces and sinking a battleship admiral  helsi detected the faint force the next day   and began shaping a new course launching planes  to strike at them bluntly speaking they shattered   the carrier force sinking all four carriers  present as well as a destroyer and a cruiser   however something was happening to his south  thomas kincaid commander of the seventh fleet   and general douglas macarthur's maine naval  subordinate had encountered the japanese center   forces in the battle of the cerrigo strait in  that battle he brutally crushed the japanese fleet   but the amphibious land forces only had coverage  from taft iii a task force of six escort carriers   three destroyers and four destroyer escorts  with a staff that small a strike from the san   bernardino strait would turn the landings into a  bloodbath however halsey had an answer for this   task force 34 a force made up of the third fleet's  battleships destroyers and cruisers would cover   the san bernardino straight from the incoming  assaults kincaid began contacting helsi repeatedly   each time more desperate asking where task  force 34 was however task force 34 never formed   it was still within the third fleet  too busy smashing the japanese's   faint force this culminated in admiral chester  nimitz radioing one of the most famous messages   of the war where is repeat where is task force 34  the world wonders that last bit the world wonders   was supposed to be meaningless padding to throw  off japanese code breakers however the radio   operator of the new jersey mistakenly included  it in the final message and helsi took this as a   harsh reprimand from the commander of the pacific  fleet himself helsi dispatched an airstrike at the   japanese center forces and took new jersey and  iowa his fastest battleships along with three   cruisers and eight destroyers after the center  force in a futile attempt to make up for lost time   however the center force had already hit taft  three the flagship of the center force yamato the   largest battleship ever created bore down upon the  small task force aboard one of these destroyers   the uss johnson captain ernest evans reportedly  made this intercom call to his ship this will   be a fight against overwhelming odds from which  survival cannot be expected we will do what damage   we can he then charged the approaching force taft  three's escort carriers launched all their planes   some not even loaded with weaponry just to  stun the japanese forces with everything they   could while the johnson sank along with the  destroyer hull the destroyer escort samuel b   roberts and the escort carrier gambir bay the  sheer ferocity of the americans throughout the   two-hour battle caused the japanese forces to  retreat so by the time the uss new jersey arrived   the center force was long gone rejoining her fast  carriers on october the 27th near san bernardino   they commenced several strikes near the main  island of the philippines the japanese imperial   navy could no longer interfere with all the losses  taken it had taken on way too much damage and so   it was the sun had set on the rising sun's navy  the uss new jersey continued service through   world war ii the korean war and the vietnam war  the navy decommissioned her in 1948 keeping her   in the reserves in the philadelphia naval  yard between wars but recommissioning when   they needed her in the vietnam war the uss new  jersey was the world's only active battleship as   the rest of the world had adopted carrier primacy  over battleships however despite pushing 20 years   in age she was no slouch in vietnam with her  new 16-inch shells she provided much of the   shore bombardment throughout the conflict notably  shelling the heavily fortified han mad island so   hard that a large part of it broke off and sank  into the sea with her high explosive rounds quite   literally ripping the earth apart the newspapers  reported that the new jersey sank an island she   continued providing shore bombardments throughout  the entirety of the conflict in total firing 5   688 rounds of 16-inch shells and 14 891 rounds of  five inch shells she was deactivated once again   on december the 17th 1969 entering the mothball  fleet with her last commanding officer captain   robert c penston's words still echoing throughout  her halls rest well yet sleep lightly and hear the   call if again sounded to provide fire for freedom  president ronald reagan personally recommissioned   her one last time in 1982 describing her with the  phrase still in the prime of life a galliant lady   the new jersey as part of his 600 shift  navy program in the cold war era arms race   new jersey became the first battleship to launch  a tomahawk cruise missile a harpoon missile   she was also the first battleship to enter the  persian gulf and the first to lead a battle group   in 30 years as the past three ships did she  assisted in peacekeeping in lebanon but with   the collapse of the soviet union president george  h w bush ordered her final decommissioning so she   did not take part in operation desert storm on  february the 8th 1991 the uss new jersey one of   the world's last battleships entered the mothball  fleet for a final time the navy struck her from   the naval vessel registry on january the 4th 1999.  however she wouldn't remain in the philadelphia   naval yard on september the 23rd 2001 she moved  to her current resting place the ceremonial pier   on the camden waterfront in new jersey facing  her birthplace in philadelphia she opened as a   museum ship on october the 14th and for good  reason she is the united states navy's most   decorated battleship winning the most battle  stars out of any vessel in its history   with all these stories covered the question  remains why are the ships here in philadelphia   well this base is one of three nismf's owned  by the united states navy an acronym for naval   inactive ship maintenance facility with  the other two being the puget sound naval   shipyard in brendenton washington and the pacific  fleet's headquarters in pearl harbor's north lock   surprisingly there are 49 inactive ships across  the nation and 31 of those are in philadelphia's   yard as it's a fresh water port which is much  better for preventing rust it remains an optimal   location to store decommissioned ships and well  in theory these ships could be reactivated and   refitted to serve the nation once again in  2019 vice admiral thomas moore reported that   their recommission would be too expensive for  what little benefit they offered with many of   them already cannibalized for other ships it would  simply be too great of an effort to restore these   outdated vessels while the u.s navy is looking  to grow its fleet to 335 ships by the 2030s   it is unlikely that any of these ships will rejoin  them just as when the new jersey returned they   would most likely enter the reserve fleet once  again eventually so although they appear abandoned   and their primes have unfortunately passed  their history was spectacular and therefore   their legacy their stories deserve to live on  and if you feel the same way you can make a   small difference by sharing this video don't  forget to subscribe to its history join our   memberships and a huge thanks to call of war for  sponsoring this video let's show our appreciation   to the sponsor by clicking the link in the  description below this is ryan socash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 1,520,497

Keywords: Philadelphia Ship Yard, Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, NISMF, World War II, Vietnam War, Lebanon, USS Barry (DD-933), Cuban Missile Crisis, USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67), USS Ticonderoga (CG-47), USS New Jersey (BB-62), Big J, Black Dragon, Willam F. Halsey Jr., Battle for the Philipines, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Imperial Japanese Navy, Taffy 3, Chester Nimitz, The World Wonders, USS Johnston, Bremerton, Washington, Pearl Harbor, United States Navy

Id: XXB1rBGWhW4

Length: 22min 37sec (1357 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 10 2022