The USS New Jersey is a WWII Iowa Class Battleship. BB-62's specifications are:

Length: 890 feet
Beam: 108 feet
Draught: 36 feet
Crew: 2,700
Displacement: Surface - 45,000 tons (52,000 tons fully loaded)
Max Speed: 33kts (38mph)
Fuel Capacity: 2,400,00 gallons of fuel oil
Armament:
 9 16" 50 cal. in 3 turrets
 20 5" 38 cal. in 10 turrets
 80 40mm Bofors AA
 50 20mm Oerlikon AA
 In post war operations many of the smaller mounts were deleted and Phalanx gatling gun mounts and Harpoon missile launchers were added
Armor: 16" at the sides
Aircraft: 3 Vought Kingfisher Seaplanes with 2 Catapults
Power Plant: 12 oil fired boilers powering geared steam turbines driving 4 screws with 200,000 Shaft Horsepower
Launching Date: February 22, 1943 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
Cost: $100,000,000+

You can visit the Battleship USS New Jersey in Camden, NJ across the river from Philadelphia. When I visited in May of 2006 a guide was included in the museum admission price. If you are interested in getting good exterior photos, go early in the morning (the museum opens at 9:00am). The battleship is really quite striking then and much bigger in person than you'd imagine. When you walk out of the parking garage and get your first good view of the ship from the shoreline walkway you'll say "Wow!" A few people have written asking when these were taken as there was a big awning under the bridge when they visited. In the summer months as it gets warmer an awning is set up on the deck just aft of the number 2 turret to provide a bit of shade for the volunteers working on deck. It kind of obstructs part of the lines of the USS New Jersey in my opinion. If you want to avoid this, go anytime from the fall to the spring, or call ahead to see if the awning is in place. I got there at 9, and the guide said it was the best time to go. There were only 2 other people in my tour on that spring morning. I can't speak for all the guides but ours gave us a good 2 hours of his time. And they are all volunteers.

The interior compartments of the Battleship USS New Jersey that are currently open to the public have been restored to a very high standard. The bridge and surrounding compartments were freshly painted and it was apparent the staff had done a good deal of work to get as much of the original equipment in place as possible and looking good. I especially liked the crew's artwork. Keep an eye open as you make your way around the ship for them. My favorites were located in the main sixteen inch turret that is open to the public.

Our tour guide Dave was not a Battleship USS New Jersey vet, but he was a WWII Marine, and knew the ship well. One story that Dave told us was of the blast damage to a maintenance shack on the stern deck of the ship. The battleship's main guns were test fired with the barrels a bit too close to the shack. The side of the shack is buckled in from the shockwave of the muzzle blast and you can see that and the cracking it caused to the interior of the maintenance shack (have a look at the Aft Deck gallery to see photos of the blast damage). He said that all crew personnel were cleared of the decks before the main 16 inch guns were fired. He also told us of the single casualty the Battleship USS New Jersey had in wartime. The ship was off the coast of Korea during the Korean War. A North Korean artillery crew on the shore fired a round that impacted on or near the number 1 turret, killing a crew member. When the ship returned fire the area the artillery crew had been in was obliterated and the firing from the shore ceased.

When I visited the USS New Jersey a second time in December of 2007 I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of new areas that had been restored. The barbershop was open for visitors as well as the brig and laundry areas. A lot of time and care had gone into the preparation and restoration of those compartments. Also there was a small commissary open where you could get a hot sandwich. I got a "pulled pork" sandwich. I was going to get something else, but two other staff members who had just ordered it said it was pretty good and they were right. The commissary is in the galley area and prices were pretty reasonable.

A couple of people have written asking why my photos didn't have the large awnings you may see at the forward sections of the ship. Those are erected in the hotter summer months to give the volunteers some relief as they wait for and greet visitors boarding the ship. They are removed in the winter months so if you want to get shots of the USS New Jersey without them, go in the winter. Visitor traffic is very light at that time. Also the photo of the starboard side of the ship were taken from the USS Olympia museum across the water in Philadelphia.