FIREPOWER FOR FREEDOM – New Jersey Art
The New Jersey Submarine Commissioning Committee engaged renowned maritime artist and Battleship NEW JERSEY veteran James (Jim) A. Flood to create the commissioning portrait, Firepower for Freedom.
The portrait features the newest USS New Jersey (SSN 796) steaming on the surface approaching Sandy Hook, New Jersey. In the background she is escorted by the two previously commissioned U.S. Navy battleships bearing the name New Jersey: the original, BB 16, and the most decorated U.S. Navy warship in history, BB 62. BB 16 is shown in her Great White Fleet configuration and BB 62 is displayed in her Vietnam era configuration. Our national insignia and the New Jersey state flag fly proudly from all three vessels. Dolphins, the traditional attendants of Poseidon, swim playfully ahead of the submarine in the calm sea, as the New Jersey returns home from the depths to the shore. The portrait’s name, “Firepower for Freedom,” is the BB 62 slogan, which has also been adopted and lives on with SSN 796. The original portrait, painted with acrylic on canvas, measures 30 inches by 48 inches, and is framed in teak wood from the deck of Battleship New Jersey (BB 62).
Prints of “Firepower for Freedom” are available so you, too, can share in honoring the legacy of the USS NEW JERSEY and supporting its future. https://ussnjcc.myshopify.com/products/firepower-for-freedom-signed-lithograph-print
Jim Flood is a U.S. Navy veteran who served as Quartermaster on the battleship New Jersey (BB 62) during the Vietnam era. He later served as a deckhand on Miami River tugboats and ended up in the Art Department at Eastern Air Lines until he embarked on his real calling, creating paintings and models of the history of the sea. He lived for years on the Miami River, painting, modeling, and watching island freighters make their way up and down, wrestled by those tugs he had worked on as a young man.
Jim was born in Philadelphia and grew up not far from the docks. His passion for ships dates to his first memories, and, from the beginning, he pursued his dream to surround himself with models and images of ships.
The painting was framed by Lars Thurrell, uncle to Lt. Matthew Dods, one of a handful of crew members born in New Jersey. Lars dedicated countless hours to cleaning and sanding the original teak from the deck of BB 62 to prepare it as framing material and has been a tremendous supporter of the commissioning committee. Lars worked closely with Jose Rios who immigrated to the United States in 1981 and now owns Rios Heritage Woodworking to finalize and mount the painting.
As mentioned, prints of “Firepower for Freedom” are available so you, too, can share in honoring the legacy of the USS NEW JERSEY and supporting its future. https://ussnjcc.myshopify.com/products/firepower-for-freedom-signed-lithograph-print
