New Jersey gets her barrels back
New Jersey just received three of her historic 16-inch gun barrels that have been stored at Norfolk for more than a half-century.
The 16-inch/50-caliber Mark 7 guns, each weighing 237,000-pounds, were first installed on the USS New Jersey when she was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in the 1940s. While she used them to good effect in the Pacific and off Korea, the worn barrels were replaced by new tubes, which the battleship still has, and the old wartime vintage barrels placed in storage at Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s St. Juliens Creek Annex for the past 60 years. Now, after a $200,000 fundraiser to move three of the 66-foot long guns from Virginia to Camden, New Jersey, the old battleship has some of her original teeth back.
Surprised that any of these still Exist – I have been a Purchaser of various Surplus Stuff from the DoD for many Years, and I recall seeing a batch of these Gunbarrels being offered for Sale as Scrap, with an Explicit Clause in the Contract that the Buyer had to Cut them into ten-foot Lengths before removing them from the Navy Yard.
…Like they were Afraid someone had a Battleship to Use them on!