"Firepower For Freedom"
Today consisted of tours of the Battleship New Jersey (BB-62) for crew members and setting up displays in the officers’ wardroom to showcase the submarine, the commissioning committee, and US Navy recruiting. Several tours went through the battleship and visitors stopped by to meet the sailors.
The weather was horrendous however, with heavy rain and wind and that literally put a damper on attendance by the public.
The committee deferred to the Navy Week activities today and all crew members from the New Jersey participated throughout the day at a Habitat For Humanity project in the Trenton, NJ area.
Sorry – we don’t currently have any pictures from today. We’ll see if we can get some and add later!
Today we switched out crew members, bringing new sailors up from VA while the original ones headed back to the submarine and shipyard. The XO remained for continuity and oversight to ensure things continued smoothly. While six sailors joined the Navy Week activities at a ‘rescue mission’ in Trenton, the committee began our namesake activities today with breakfast at the Cinnaminson Diner, in Cinnaminson, NJ.
We’re proud of our NJ diners and want to make sure as many crew members as possible are able to enjoy the experience!
Adapting to some schedule changes, committee member John Koehr helped work out a visit for the sailors to the Philadelphia side of the river. But first a tour of the Battleship New Jersey (another regular and important feature of each namesake visit) and signing the banner on board.
After the tour a trip over the bridge to Philadelphia
First stop was the cruiser Olympia (C-6) at the Independence Seaport Museum. She is listed as the oldest remaining steel ship afloat. She was built and placed into commission by the United States Navy for the first time in February 1895 as a state-of-the-art man of war.
source: https://www.phillyseaport.org/cruiser-olympia/
Next up was a visit to the USS Becuna. The Becuna is a Balao-class submarine, now a museum, and is a former United States Navy submarine. She was designated a National Historic Landmark for her service in World War II, for which she earned four battle stars.
The crew then traveled back to New Jersey for “Cinco de Mayo” celebrations at the Bellemara Distillery in Hillsborough, hosted by Camden Winkelstein, the owner, head distiller, and also a former submarine officer. Several members of the committee joined the crew for a relaxing evening. Hillsborough Township Committeeman Frank DelCore attended the event and greeted the sailors from the submarine New Jersey (SSN-796).
The Flounder Brewery (next door to the distillery) also hosted the sailors and kindly offered a share of their sales for the night to the committee. Thanks both to Cam at Bellemara and to Jeremy Lees (President of Flounders Brewing Co., LLC).
Throughout the day crew members were greeted by members of the public and thanked for their service. New Jersey crew members were deeply moved by the public support throughout New Jersey and Philadelphia and impressed by the number of proud veterans and former submariners they met.
Our originally scheduled school visit had to be cancelled due to some issues getting sufficient youngsters to attend. The 12 PCU New Jersey crew members instead joined the rest of the Navy Week sailors at a cleanup operation at Alberta Woods Park in Camden, NJ.
Our own committee member (recently retired) US Navy Captain ‘Timi’ Lindsay, joined the sailors. She can be seen in the photo above.
Our committee’s portion of Navy Week (which we’re supplementing with additional crew members as a ‘namesake visit’) kicked off with a visit to the major defense contractor L3Harris in Trenton, NJ. https://www.l3harris.com/
The folks at L3Harris really rolled out the red carpet and gave us an extensive tour allowing crew members to learn more about the company, it’s product line, and all the work that happens right there in Trenton.
After L3Harris the sailors had lunch and then joined the rest of the sailors in NJ for Navy Week to participate in a Habitat For Humanity project for the remainder of the day.
‘Navy Week’ is coming to Trenton and the surrounding area the week of May 2nd and crew members from the New Jersey will be joining. The committee has managed to double the number of attendees from the submarine and will be combining Navy Week with our own activities to create a week long ‘namesake visit’.
The week will include youth outreach, events on the Battleship New Jersey (BB62), tours of defense contractors in the area, a first pitch at the Somerset Patriots baseball team at TD Bank Ballpark, a clean up operation, work and Habitat for Humanity and more…
Navy Weeks are the service’s signature outreach program, designed to allow the citizens of Trenton to learn about the Navy, its people, and its importance to national security and prosperity. The Navy Office of Community Outreach (NAVCO) coordinates Navy Weeks.