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

Outside the Philadelphia International Airport is a shipyard of old and decrepit vessels, but they weren’t always that way. Among these ships are some of the United States Navy’s most storied vessels, heroes of countless wars, and great storied histories. And while their fates are not as glorious as their pasts, one vessel that once rested here is truly the stuff of legend.

IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

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Chapters:
0:00 - Why does Philadelphia have a battleship graveyard?
2:01 - USS Barry
5:45 - USS John F. Kennedy
9:17 - USS Ticonderoga V
11:44 - USS New Jersey

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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter - Gregory Back
Editor - Rishi Mittal
Host - Ryan Socash
This videos is sponsored by Call of War

» SOURCES

» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

Correction: USS Ticonderoga V was scrapped in 2020.

[ShepardUrdnot]

Technically the ship to receive the most battle stars is the Grey Ghost, CV-6 Enterprise. She got 20 while the New Jersey has 19. Liked hearing vets from New Jersey saying that she should be reactivated one more time to earn that 20th battle star.

[gravelydon]

First thing off the bat, there are not Battleships there. A Battleship is a specific class of Warship. Philly only has one. And it isn't really in Philly but is across the river in NJ.

[frankcasey]

I live in Philadelphia and loved this video! I really appreciated all the history on these ships. You can see the New Jersey right across the river from the Philly side at her resting place just a ways up from the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

[raystory]

The last Battleships at PNSY were the Wisconsin and the Iowa.
I was part of the team that drydocked them. I started at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1983 and worked until the closing in 1996. The Battleship New Jersey was never at PNSY in that time frame.
In 1999 there no longer was a Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The location is there but private concerns run the docking facilities, not the USN.

[margaretadler]

Worked at the long beach naval Shipyard in the 1980s and work on the reactivation of both the USS New Jersey and the USS Missouri. Both are the Magnificent vessels!
While in the Navy in the 1970s I served aboard the USS Suribachi AE21, the USS Enterprise CVAN65 and the USS Mckean DD 784
Sam Adler

[brinkadore]

I was an U.S Marine in Beirut Lebanon when the "Jersey was there. It was like the wrath of God when she fired her main guns (one at a time) at a high ground position that was firing mortars at the airport where our headquarters was located. At least once every two days the New Jersey would shut down the shelling from the hills after about six weeks, the shelling stopped because the hills were gone. I also watched the Bob Hope USO tour on the deck of the Jersey, with sailors lying inside the main gun barrels to watch the show from a high vantage point; that's how big the gun barrels are. I feel a terrible sense of sadness that the ship in my memories is no longer there.

[RyuTakeru]

Seriously, every single mothball vessel deserves a spot at one of the many naval museums round this nation.

[breygon]

I was a summer hire PNSY as a teenager (the summers of 70 and 71). I mostly pushed a broom in the Boilermakers shop and later in the Shipfitters shop. The boilermakers would, as needed, head over to one of the mothballed ships, board her and salvage whatever part that was needed, then take it back to the shop and rehab it to use in another ship. Since I was a tall skinny lad and rather flexible lad that had me crawling in the tighter spots to retrieve the part they needed.

[LadyOniaka]

I miss my ship... I served aboard the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY CV-67 from 88-90. It should have been made into a museum ship, not sold like trash at only a penny, to be torn apart for scrap. I can only hope, that a bit of her will be somehow used in the construction of the new USS JOHN F. KENNEDY CVN-79.

Driving through on the interstate, you could see her in Philadelphia. I cried when I saw how she was just rotting away. A sad end to such a noble soldier.

[jonrocco]

I worked at the PNSY in the early 90s. It's true, the decommission ships basically served as a naval junkyard. Believe it or not, sailors were not allowed aboard the ships without civilian escorts. That's what I did. I got to see some amazing stuff aboard those ships like ammo/torpedo rooms, war games, barbershops and Banks, the bigger the ship the more cool things to explore. I spent more than a year on the USS Coral Sea aircraft carrier and took a lot of the Kitty Hawk sailors or board for parts.

[rogercarpenter]

I was on the "Big John" during Desert Shield/Desert Storm and the F-14's that was showed was the planes of my squadron VF-32 Gypsy's.

[daniellapp]

I was a firefighter in the shipyards for 2yrs when the Forrestal was in drydock, I served on her for 5yrs and was on her going up the Delaware River to drydock, it's a whole different experience when you serve on her and then actually walk literally under her in drydock then you see how magnificent she really is, I'm proud to be a squid

[addisonquarrell]

0:24 beginning of video and 2:06 is actually a photo of the Bremerton ship yard in Kitsap county Washington. i drive that road often. just a interesting tid bit the carrier on the far left was the last one we had there. the Kitty hawk. she just left for scrap a month ago.

[Bbuffalofan]

Another great history channel on YT is Battleship New Jersey, great info on the ship and other US navy history.

[revparisking]

Unfortunately you only scratched the surface of some fantastic shops that were or are mothballed in Philly. I was stationed in Philly from 89 to 91. When I was there, the shipyard was still housing WWII heavy cruisers along with regular cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. There were even a few aux ships. It was always awe inspiring walking along the mothball fleet at night (if you didn't mind the dog sized rat that ran across your path a few feet ahead of you every once in a while)

[mrbig]

In the 1970’s the Philadelphia navy yard was running at full capacity and had so many ships in the mothball fleet from various eras in time that when they did a inventory they found the USS Olympic docked down there which was Admiral Dewey’s flagship during the Spanish -American war and was one of the only remaining ships from the great white fleet . It’s a museum piece at Penn’s Landing right across from the USS New Jersey where they look like they are sizing each other up even though the Jersey is a beast compared to the older Olympic.

[jdiluigi]

Thank you so much for making this. Since I was a child we pass over this on I95 to get to the Phillies game once a year and my dad pointed them out to me and I now point them out to my kids. Now I have and even better story to tell. Were going to the New Jersey this summer. They have a great channel if anyone else is into WW2 battleships.

[geographyRyan]

18:17
New Jersey always had 16 inch shells.

[brendakrieger]

I've been past here when it was still operational..I loved seeing the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

[Tomcatntbird]

I was in the US Navy for 8 years 1997-05. Decommissioned 2 ships, USS Guam LPH 9 and USS Peterson DD969. I have been to the mothball fleet twice and can tell you, those ships I went on are NOT A/C controlled. From what I gathered, the ships that remain there usually have systems that are still used in the active fleet or have parts no longer made. Also, the ships that go here arrive with ever space inspected, cleaned, and usually a fresh coat of paint.